Exploring London in October 2018 [Day 3/3]
How does time work? I thought my previous post was last week, but apparently 2 weeks went by already! I'll round up my series of picspams from that London trip with this post.
Today most of the Covid restrictions were lifted in the Netherlands; we still need to wear masks on public transport, but it's no longer a requirement anywhere else. I still put mine on in the supermarket this afternoon though, we'll see how I feel about it next week. My office is opening to 50% capacity; I've been going to the office full time since February already, next week more co-workers will come back, yet most will only go a few days and about half will continue to work from home all week (eventually they will have to go to the office at least once a week, but we don't know when the office will open fully yet). I suspect I will always have the office all to myself on Fridays, since there are only five people working then and they prefer to do that from home. (Most of the 30+ team work 32 hour weeks, so only Monday through Thursday)
Last bit of news: in April I will be going on an international business trip to the Czech Republic, to my very first conference about geodata collection! I've never been to one of those and I will also do a presentation, so it's a little bit nervewracking. The company is handling all the travel arrangements and that's both a comfort and a source of stress for me, as I prefer to have control over all the things;-) I'm mostly excited over the whole thing though!
Anyway, let's go back in time to my final day of my London trip in October 2018: I went on a boat trip on the River Thames and I took a peek at Downing Street, where there happened to be a Very Important Guest...
Wednesday October 24, 2018
Last English breakfast and they had sweet danish at the buffet!
I so love the colours of the Russel Square Tube station.
I had explored the riverbank the day before, so I knew where I wanted to go, but I remember having to walk a lot further underground than expected. I did end up exactly at the right exit eventually:)
Good to be above ground again, it's always nice on the riverside (never mind the trashy area at Westminster Pier, look at that cool seagull :-p)
Had plenty of room on the boat and a great view of the river from the start: across the water is County Hall and the London Eye
The big building at the end of the Hungerford Bridge and the glorious Golden Jubilee Bridges is Charing Cross Station.
Did I mention I love bridges? Look at them!
The Jubilee Bridges are walkways along the Hungerford railway bridge, recommended walk for the views on the River (see Day 2 picspam)
OXO Tower is dwarfed by the big sky-scrapers in the background (the oddly shaped glassbuilding is One Blackfriars (170m, 2013), on the right is the Southbank Tower (151m, 1972 (extra floors in 2015) The OXO building was originally constructed as a power station to supply electricity to the Royal Mail post office, built towards the end of the 19th century. It was subsequently acquired by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company in the 1920s, manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes.
View of constructions on the North side of the river.
Another favorite bridge coming up... Going underneath the current Blackfriars Bridge, you can see what's left of the old one!
The old support structures are still up, right next to the railway bridge.
Look at all the people on the Millennium Bridge!
St Pauls' Cathedral on the North side.
Shakespeare's Globe theatre on the South side.
(On top of my list for my next visit to London, I really want to see a play in this replica of a circular Elizabethan theatre!)
Great colours on the Southwark Bridge (an arch bridge built in 1921)
View on the Northside of the Cannon Street Railway Bridge.
London Bridge (1972) is just functional, it's not very pretty.
Ooh, but look what's ahead, behind HMS Belfast, the floating museum on a Royal Navy cruiser! The bridge that makes every tourist's heart bounce...
It's Tower Bridge!
And on the North bank of the River Thames: the Tower of London. Officially the castle is called Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London. The Tower that gives the castle its name was build in 1078. The castle was used as a prison and a palace and had several phases of expansions under different kings in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge built between 1886 and 1894 (designed by Horace Jones)
Good view of the Tower of London with on the left skyscrapers Tower 42, Twentytwo and The Gherkin.
Now, endulge me for a special Tower Bridge picspam section.
Tower Bridge is definitely the best bridge; I couldn't stop taking pictures. This is also where the boat turned around.
I love this bridge, okay.
One final close look of Tower Bridge *happy sigh*
On the South side of the River you can see the Shard sticking out (plus another view of the HMS Belfast floating museum with next to it Dutch patrol ship Zr.Ms. Zeeland)
View of Grant's Quay Wharf with Old Billingsgate Market in the front and the Sky Garden in the background; I went up there in April 2015.
A close up of the weathervane fish on top of the Old Billingsgate Market, which was a large fish market in the 19th century and is now an events venue. This Victorian Building was build in 1875 and designed by City architect Horace Jones (just like Tower Bridge!)
Back at London Bridge again with in the distance the tower of Southwark Cathedral.
Another view of Shakespeare's Globe theatre and the OXO tower.
Going underneath Blackfriars bridge again towards a spectacular view of the Southbank.
Cleopatra's Needle in front of the Victoria Embankment Gardens. This granite obelisk was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis around 1450 and moved to Alexandria in 12 BC. The obelisk was gifted to the UK in 1819 but the British government declined to fund the transport. In 1877 Sir William James Erasmus Wilson, a distinguished anatomist and dermatologist, sponsored its transportation to London. (Read more about its journey at Wikipedia)
Final view from the River Thames, what an excellent boatride!
Back at Westminster Pier I decide to explore this area of London further by foot, starting in Bridge Street.
Big Ben and Westminster Hall are covered in scaffolding for renovation.
I walk along Westminster Station to Parliament Street.
This area is called Whitehall and it has several buildings from the Tudor period.
King Charles Street houses the Cabinet War Rooms.
In the middle of the street stands The Cenotaph, a National war memorial & remembrance site.
At the end of Parliament Street I noticed a crowd at Downing Street...
While I was looking around at the Cabinet Office building, I heard a lot of Dutch amongst the people that were hanging around the gates; apparently my King and Queen were visiting Downing Street no. 10!
So I decided to join the waiting crowd:)
Yes, I caught a glimpse of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Maxima in a bright pink dress! I did see them up close when their car drove by, but didn't get a picture of that.
After this excitement I continued my walk down Whitehall.
The Women of World War II monument and the Field Mrahal Earl Haig Memorial.
The Household Cavalry Guards. Why are people so dumb? I was very impressed by the stoicism of the horse and the guard. I wouldn't have remained this calm. (Although I think the horse is rolling its eyes;)
The Household Cavalry Museum and the Old War Office Building (Winston Churchill's former war office) on the corner of Whitehall Court and Horse Guards Avenue.
Walking back to Embankment passing the Ministry of Defence building.
Then I took the Tube back to my hotel to pick up my bags and from there I walked to the station along Euston Road:
Sculptures (glass reinforced plastic with a bronze powder coat) by David Breuer-Weil (1965) in the garden of St Pancras New Church (1854).
Left: Alien (2012)
Right: Brothers (2016)
The four graces on the outside of the Crypt of St Pancras Parish Church. Build and used for coffin burials from 1822 t0 1854, when crypts of all London churches were closed. In 2002 this became a gallery space.
View of Euston trainstation with King's Cross in the background.
King's Cross station and the Eurostar home!
The end.
J.
Day 1: Monday October 22, 2018 | Day 2: Tuesday October 23, 2018
X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/572778.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)
Today most of the Covid restrictions were lifted in the Netherlands; we still need to wear masks on public transport, but it's no longer a requirement anywhere else. I still put mine on in the supermarket this afternoon though, we'll see how I feel about it next week. My office is opening to 50% capacity; I've been going to the office full time since February already, next week more co-workers will come back, yet most will only go a few days and about half will continue to work from home all week (eventually they will have to go to the office at least once a week, but we don't know when the office will open fully yet). I suspect I will always have the office all to myself on Fridays, since there are only five people working then and they prefer to do that from home. (Most of the 30+ team work 32 hour weeks, so only Monday through Thursday)
Last bit of news: in April I will be going on an international business trip to the Czech Republic, to my very first conference about geodata collection! I've never been to one of those and I will also do a presentation, so it's a little bit nervewracking. The company is handling all the travel arrangements and that's both a comfort and a source of stress for me, as I prefer to have control over all the things;-) I'm mostly excited over the whole thing though!
Anyway, let's go back in time to my final day of my London trip in October 2018: I went on a boat trip on the River Thames and I took a peek at Downing Street, where there happened to be a Very Important Guest...
Wednesday October 24, 2018
Last English breakfast and they had sweet danish at the buffet!
I so love the colours of the Russel Square Tube station.
I had explored the riverbank the day before, so I knew where I wanted to go, but I remember having to walk a lot further underground than expected. I did end up exactly at the right exit eventually:)
Good to be above ground again, it's always nice on the riverside (never mind the trashy area at Westminster Pier, look at that cool seagull :-p)
Had plenty of room on the boat and a great view of the river from the start: across the water is County Hall and the London Eye
The big building at the end of the Hungerford Bridge and the glorious Golden Jubilee Bridges is Charing Cross Station.
Did I mention I love bridges? Look at them!
The Jubilee Bridges are walkways along the Hungerford railway bridge, recommended walk for the views on the River (see Day 2 picspam)
OXO Tower is dwarfed by the big sky-scrapers in the background (the oddly shaped glassbuilding is One Blackfriars (170m, 2013), on the right is the Southbank Tower (151m, 1972 (extra floors in 2015) The OXO building was originally constructed as a power station to supply electricity to the Royal Mail post office, built towards the end of the 19th century. It was subsequently acquired by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company in the 1920s, manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes.
View of constructions on the North side of the river.
Another favorite bridge coming up... Going underneath the current Blackfriars Bridge, you can see what's left of the old one!
The old support structures are still up, right next to the railway bridge.
Look at all the people on the Millennium Bridge!
St Pauls' Cathedral on the North side.
Shakespeare's Globe theatre on the South side.
(On top of my list for my next visit to London, I really want to see a play in this replica of a circular Elizabethan theatre!)
Great colours on the Southwark Bridge (an arch bridge built in 1921)
View on the Northside of the Cannon Street Railway Bridge.
London Bridge (1972) is just functional, it's not very pretty.
Ooh, but look what's ahead, behind HMS Belfast, the floating museum on a Royal Navy cruiser! The bridge that makes every tourist's heart bounce...
It's Tower Bridge!
And on the North bank of the River Thames: the Tower of London. Officially the castle is called Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London. The Tower that gives the castle its name was build in 1078. The castle was used as a prison and a palace and had several phases of expansions under different kings in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge built between 1886 and 1894 (designed by Horace Jones)
Good view of the Tower of London with on the left skyscrapers Tower 42, Twentytwo and The Gherkin.
Now, endulge me for a special Tower Bridge picspam section.
Tower Bridge is definitely the best bridge; I couldn't stop taking pictures. This is also where the boat turned around.
I love this bridge, okay.
One final close look of Tower Bridge *happy sigh*
On the South side of the River you can see the Shard sticking out (plus another view of the HMS Belfast floating museum with next to it Dutch patrol ship Zr.Ms. Zeeland)
View of Grant's Quay Wharf with Old Billingsgate Market in the front and the Sky Garden in the background; I went up there in April 2015.
A close up of the weathervane fish on top of the Old Billingsgate Market, which was a large fish market in the 19th century and is now an events venue. This Victorian Building was build in 1875 and designed by City architect Horace Jones (just like Tower Bridge!)
Back at London Bridge again with in the distance the tower of Southwark Cathedral.
Another view of Shakespeare's Globe theatre and the OXO tower.
Going underneath Blackfriars bridge again towards a spectacular view of the Southbank.
Cleopatra's Needle in front of the Victoria Embankment Gardens. This granite obelisk was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis around 1450 and moved to Alexandria in 12 BC. The obelisk was gifted to the UK in 1819 but the British government declined to fund the transport. In 1877 Sir William James Erasmus Wilson, a distinguished anatomist and dermatologist, sponsored its transportation to London. (Read more about its journey at Wikipedia)
Final view from the River Thames, what an excellent boatride!
Back at Westminster Pier I decide to explore this area of London further by foot, starting in Bridge Street.
Big Ben and Westminster Hall are covered in scaffolding for renovation.
I walk along Westminster Station to Parliament Street.
This area is called Whitehall and it has several buildings from the Tudor period.
King Charles Street houses the Cabinet War Rooms.
In the middle of the street stands The Cenotaph, a National war memorial & remembrance site.
At the end of Parliament Street I noticed a crowd at Downing Street...
While I was looking around at the Cabinet Office building, I heard a lot of Dutch amongst the people that were hanging around the gates; apparently my King and Queen were visiting Downing Street no. 10!
So I decided to join the waiting crowd:)
Yes, I caught a glimpse of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Maxima in a bright pink dress! I did see them up close when their car drove by, but didn't get a picture of that.
After this excitement I continued my walk down Whitehall.
The Women of World War II monument and the Field Mrahal Earl Haig Memorial.
The Household Cavalry Guards. Why are people so dumb? I was very impressed by the stoicism of the horse and the guard. I wouldn't have remained this calm. (Although I think the horse is rolling its eyes;)
The Household Cavalry Museum and the Old War Office Building (Winston Churchill's former war office) on the corner of Whitehall Court and Horse Guards Avenue.
Walking back to Embankment passing the Ministry of Defence building.
Then I took the Tube back to my hotel to pick up my bags and from there I walked to the station along Euston Road:
Sculptures (glass reinforced plastic with a bronze powder coat) by David Breuer-Weil (1965) in the garden of St Pancras New Church (1854).
Left: Alien (2012)
Right: Brothers (2016)
The four graces on the outside of the Crypt of St Pancras Parish Church. Build and used for coffin burials from 1822 t0 1854, when crypts of all London churches were closed. In 2002 this became a gallery space.
View of Euston trainstation with King's Cross in the background.
King's Cross station and the Eurostar home!
The end.
J.
Day 1: Monday October 22, 2018 | Day 2: Tuesday October 23, 2018
X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/572778.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)