Saturday 1 June 2013

Theres no place like London!

Hello everyone - at least the sun is shining and here we are in June!

As threatened promised last week, I'm back with some photos of my wonderful day out in London last week with my DH.  Some of the photos I wanted to share were taken in the incredibly expensive but oh so lovely Fortnum and Mason, but my phone (which I was using to take sneaky pics) has packed up :( got very wet on a sponsored walk with my students.  We did however raise over £150 for our chosen charity so that was very good.  And my students don't usually walk much further than the nearest corner shop to get ciggies and energy drinks so 15 mile walk, in torrential rain with no moaning was an incredible achievement.  We were very proud of them all.

You might want to grab a cuppa and even a cheeky biscuit as quite a lot of photos will follow....

Anyways, back to London!  Back in January I booked tickets for us to visit The View from the Shard as part of our Silver Wedding Anniversary celebrations.  I thought "if the Queen can have a year of celebrations so can we!!".  So last Saturday saw us staring up at this astonishing building

Currently the tallest building in western Europe

 
It takes seconds to get up to the 72nd floor
 
 


And once up there, wow what a view....


So here we go, some of the most famous sights in London, seen from a birds eye view....

Canary Wharf

The Tower of London

The BT Tower

Wembley Stadium, the Champions League final was happening the day we were there.  Both teams were from Germany, and the fans were so well behaved.  Great atmosphere!

St Pauls Cathedral

Southwark Cathedral.  The line of green marks Borough Market, which we visited when we got our feet back on the ground.  Yummy food - we had falafel sandwiches, always a great favourite of ours!

River Thames, rolling away towards Westminster

River Thames, rolling away towards the East End

The Olympic Stadium and the Orbit

Greenwich

Sun sparkling on the 30 St Mary Axe, more popularly known as the Gherkin

The Monument, marking the site where the Great Fire of London started in 1666.  We visited the Monument last August, when the Shard had just been finished.

The London Eye, with Buckingham Palace in the Background


Tower Bridge - I had to wait a while to get a red London Bus passing over the bridge, but I was happy with the result!


With our feet firmly back on the ground, we took a river cruise back to Westminster and then walked around to take in a few more of the sights
 

  The Houses of Parliament

 Horse Guards Parade, getting all ready for the Trooping of the Colour


London Eye

Buckingham Palace - and look, the flag is flying so Her Majesty was at home!


Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Then, after a slap up meal the sun started to set and we decided to go on a leisurely stroll along the Thames















An absolutely wonderful day out with my DH.  I love visiting London, I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, the sound of all the different languages from visitors from all over the world...I don't know if I could cope with the pace of actually living there...but I would love to be able to go down to visit every month - if only I could afford it!!

I think you deserve another cuppa (and possibly even another cheeky biscuit!) for sticking with me to the end of this quite lengthy post.  But I hope you enjoyed joining me looking back at my visit to "the Smoke".

Enjoy your weekend, hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

Helenxx

PS I don't know if any of you are Sweeney Todd fans, if so you will know which song the title of my post comes from :)

 
 

17 comments:

  1. Those photos look amazing and I love the colours in the night time ones :) Looks like you spotted lots of different landmarks up at the Shard!
    I'm going to London soon and I can't wait.
    Hermione's World ;)

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  2. I have always wanted to visit London so I thank you for taking me along with you. Beautiful sights to see.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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    1. If ever you do get a chance, please visit, you would love it!

      Helenxx

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  3. I loved seeing these photos! I SO miss London! Glad you had a lovely day!

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  4. Fantastic photo's. I love going back for a couple of days but I agree I couldn't live here anymore.
    Gillx

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  5. I'm the same as Meredith - I've never been to London and may never get the chance as my husband has no interest in a trans-Atlantic flight.. plus it would take us all the way across the USA to get to NY. So... thanks for showing me the sights there. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  6. Wow ... what views!!! Congratulations on your silver wedding anniversary, I love London too ... I must go back down soon ... my sister keeps telling to me to go and visit!! xxx

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  7. I'm amazed you know the names of everything, It certainly puts things into perspective seeing it all from above, although with my fear of heights, I've no intention of going up there myself!
    Hope your enjoying this weather :)
    Sue Xxx

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  8. Hi - thanks for your comment on my blog.

    I loved those photos from the top of the Shard - what incredible views!

    Gillian x

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  9. looks like you had a wonderful day! The views are amazing, will have to go up The Shard soon! I noticed that you refered to the Gerkin as 30, St Mary Axe, which I do to. My Dad had his office in the Baltic Exchange, 30 St Mary Axe, until it got blown up by the IRA.

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  10. Wow! I'd love to take a trip up The Shard.

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  11. what great photos! I'd love to see the sights from the Shard - one day perhaps!
    BH x

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  12. I lovely range of photos - I have never been up the Eye - even though we lived in London for decades....never visit things on your doorstep (though realise it has not been there that long!)

    Best wishes
    Jenny

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  13. What great views, it looks like a lovely day out!

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  14. I love London too and I loved seeing all your interesting pictures! Such a wide variety of shots, and you captured the feeling so well. What a lovely way to add to your anniversary celebrations too.
    Helen x

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  15. Hi, Helen!
    TY so much for the sweet comment you left on my blog:) I LOVED your photos of London--especially the ones at night! Thanks for sharing!
    Blessings, Aimee

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I love to read your comments!