Shard

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Cruising on London’s River Thames with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

We took the tube to the Tower of London stop.  A short walk brought us to Tower Millennium Pier.

Tower Millennium Pier

This is the Tower Bridge from the pier.

Tower Bridge

This is our first time in London, so everything is new and exciting for us.   On the river boat, we watch the River Thames.

River Thames

And the sights of London.

Government building

An unusual government building.   And another bridge.

We will pass under this bridge

We were told we would pass under 8 bridges.  We like the modern buildings.

Modern buildings

They are mixed in with so many old historic buildings.   Here is the Shard.

The Shard

This tallest building in the Western Europe is visible from most of London.   We appreciate the wall to protect buildings from the River Thames.   

Even the wall looks old.     This obelisk is Cleopatra’s Needle, a gift from Egypt.   

At the base you can see two sphinxes that guard Cleopatra’s Needle.  Egypt also gave obelisks, also called Cleopatra’s Needle to the United States and to France in the 1800’s

We love seeing cities from the water.   Here is Big Ben.

Big Ben

The scaffolding is needed for repairs to the building.   This is our exit stop.  We enjoyed our time on the river.   Next time we will take you on our walk to explore part of London.

 

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London. The Colorado Traveling Ducks are Here

Good morning London.   We, the Colorado Traveling Ducks, left Denver, flew to New York, and then flew on British Airways all night to start our day in London, England.   We are taking a tour, so we were met at Heathrow Airport and are now taking an orientation tour of London.  This is the Albert Memorial.

Albert Memorial

Located in Kensington Gardens, the memorial was commissioned by Queen Victoria, in memory of her beloved husband who died in 1861.   Across the street is the Royal Albert Hall, a concert hall.

Royal Albert Hall

This concert hall was opened by Queen Victoria in 1871, and also dedicated to the memory of her deceased husband, Prince Albert.   What is this?   Near the southern entrance to Hyde Park you can’t miss this sculpture of a rhino.

Rhino at Samer Halimeh boutique

The Knightsbridge Flagship Boutique of jeweler, Samer Halimeh, has an extraordinary rhino sculpture by Stefano Bombadieri.  Samer Halimeh, the jeweler, made trips to Africa for a rare pink diamond.   He produced a documentary about the experiences and this sculpture is for support of the Save the Rhino cause.  Samer is the jeweler to the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Brunei.  We were driven to Jubilee Market in Covent Garden.   The present market building was finished in 1904.  Here we had lunch, changed money, and found some new cousins.

Zeb and Soapy with our new English cousins

Aren’t they a great additional to our family?  Back to the bus and our next stop.   A great view from a sixth floor to see St. Paul’s.

St. Paul’s

And we didn’t even have to climb the stairs.   Look at this.

The Shard

This is the Shard.   The tallest building in the European Union.   The Shard is 1,016 feet (309.6 meters) tall.   The Shard has offices, restaurants, retail outlets, and a viewing platform   As you can guess, this is often referred to as the Shard of Glass.  After resting at our hotel, Double Tree Islington, we took the London tube.  After a couple tube changes, and grateful for our guide for getting us here, we walked near the Tower of London.

Tower of London

This is a Roman wall from the 2nd century.

Old Roman Wall

This wall is from the 2nd century.   We are now in the 21st century.   That’s old.   And now Trinity Square Gardens.

Trinity Square Gardens

It has been confirmed that at least 125 people died here, including St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher and Thomas Cromwell.  These gardens are also in memory of 24,000 merchant sailors who died in both world wars and have no known grave.   Next time we will take a boat ride on the River Thames.  We hope you join us.