Saturday, December 4, 2010

The Thames River


   
Coincidentally, "The Thames" happens to be the name of the paint color that I chose for our kitchen, a soft but pretty green that I like very much. Not too different from Westminster Bridge green as seen below.
The London Eye and the Aquarium
Our first view of the river was after emerging from the underground. We walked along a river sidewalk through a beautiful park where city workers were having lunch, sitting on the grass and on benches. It was a lovely sunny day! There is always so much to look at in a large city and London did not disappoint. People speaking many foreign languages, interesting statues and architecture as well as groomed gardens and birds begging a free lunch. There were buskers playing music as well as dancers and mimes. Some with silver paint on their skin and their clothing stood so still they looked like statues until someone threw in a coin and they started moving. One man had a little monkey trained to do tricks. Some were very talented musicians and I wish we had had time to listen longer....Street vendors sold  hot roasted nuts, fish and chips, foot long hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy, all cooked on location. Despite all the food and people, London was very clean, almost litter free. Impressive!





Pigeons in a city park




London Eye showing the car below ours along with Golden Jubilee Bridge
   The London Eye had quite a lineup but we got our tickets and things moved along quite quickly. You have to board while it is moving which was not difficult. Our car was not overcrowded so we were able to move about and trade places with other riders.


Looking downriver from the London Eye

Birdseye view of the Aquarium


Upriver view from the London Eye. The building on the left housed the London Aquarium
 

Jerry by Westminster Bridge and the Parliament buildings





After our ride on the London Eye, we found a place for some lunch and a rest. From that side of the river we had a great view of Big Ben along with Westminster bridge and the parliament buildings. Because the Aquarium was right beside the Eye we headed inside!












Love to watch tropical fish swim! Their colors amaze me!




Sharks are even more fun to watch. There was viewing  from a glass tunnel inside the shark tank and also from above.


Shark Tank




Jerry went aboard one navy ship for a tour but most of it was under maintenance and closed to tourists. Too bad. Time for ice cream then! They put little round chocolate stick treats into their ice cream. And raspberry sauce for me, chocolate for Jerry. I should have taken a photo. Delicious!






London Bridge
Another day, we walked past the tower of London but did not go inside as we had done the tour in 1977 and it was warm and sunny outside! But when we arrived at London Bridge we decided to see the guts so to speak. Tourists can go inside and view the gears which make the bridge raise along with a fantastic view from the upper level.


Gears to run London Bridge
Not that I understand how these large gears work, but likely Jerry and the boys do. Interesting to see how clean and oiled they were kept though, not dirty as I would have imagined.  It was also much quieter than I would have thought.












The bridges along the Thames were all painted pretty colors. Bright pink posts or burgundy and gold, green with red, bright blue. Very detailed including white bolts on a burgundy support or gold medallions. Some bridges had crests painted in great detail. The view below shows what it was like to be"on the river" It was very busy at times like rush hour traffic.

Going under Blackfriars Bridge.
 


The buildings seen from the water were so interesting. Old warehouses, modern condominiums, heritage stone and glittering glass. One thing they all had in common was plants and flowers. Container gardening taken to a new high!The Captain Kidd building had flowers on small balconies.








As you can see, these condos had large trees growing on their balconies. I wish I could have had a tour.

Cher owned the penthouse suite at one time. Why is no one sitting on those chairs?






The large building at left is Charing Cross Train Station. We walked past it but did not go inside. We did however walk across the bridge where there were 2 buskers playing music. I loved that!!
The O2 Millennium Dome seen from our cruise

The London barrier prevents tides from flooding the riverbank. Our tour went as far as the barrier, circled it and then headed back up river.

One evening we walked all the way down to the river from the flat. It was warm and sunny so there were lots of gardens to see along the way. There were houseboats moored in a group. How intriguing! To live in London on a boat! A little boy came along and went inside one. He lived there!! And in case you didn't notice they had plants growing on their decks!! This one is quite conservative but some were painted funky colors.

 One day trip we made was by train to Hampton Court Palace to see the home of King Henry the 8th. The walk from the station gave us a wonderful view of the river. It made me wish we had bicycles to ride along the pathway all the way back to London.

The Thames at Hampton Court


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