Oh Dear, Barney is on television here...
Apart from that slight mishap, HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE! Hope you all had a great one.
I spent New Years Eve on my own private exploration of London. I caught the tube to Tower Hill where, incidentally, I found the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower is just AMAZING! It's very expensive to get in though, and Alice told me her housemates have some cheap passes, so I think we'll go with them in a few weeks. It's just so old! Despite the £13 price tag, I was still very tempted to go in. It's just incredible. So i've posted a few photos of the exterior below, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to report on the inside.
From there it's a very short walk to the Tower Bridge, painted light blue because, apparently, that was the Queen Mother's favourite colour. It's also an incredible thing to see, and walk on! It cost £5 to get in, although I'm not quite sure if that was particularly worth it. You only get to go to a certain level in the North and East towers, but you do get to walk across the east and west walkways from there, which have some pretty good views of London. One of the things I noticed from this position was just how flat this country is! No hills really in sight, although I'm sure there will be some further north. Back to the bridge however, and the detail on it is just spectacular, though nowhere near on the scale of St Paul's Cathedral, which was my next stop.
I walked to St Paul's from the bridge along the Thames, coming across this crazy sort of shopping centre on the way. I can't remember the name of it, but it's something to do with nautical nonsense. Apparently it used to be an open dock onto the Thames. Now they've turned it into shops and cafes.
St Paul's is just incredible. The detail inside is amazing - everything from the floors to the ceilings, windows, doorways, edgings - nothing has been spared from detail. There are mosaics and murals on the dome, which is one of the largest and oldest in the world. You can climb to the very top of the dome which apparently affords fantastic views of London, but that involves 530 stairs, and I'm quite sure my knees and lungs wouldn't have made it. HOwever, I did climb to the Whispering Gallery, about a third of the way up, from where you can have a bird's eye view of the cathedral below. It's called the whispering gallery because if you whisper against the wall on one side, a person on the other side can hear you. It was a great vantage point for the murals above, which are currently in the process of being restored. The outside of the cathedral is in the process of being cleaned, so half of it is white, the other a grimy brown and green.
The Crypt was probably the most incredible part of the cathedral. Underneath the main floor, in runs the entire length and width of the cathedral, so it's much like an entire cathedral under a cathedral. Here, in the floors, lies a whole bunch of dead people who were apparently special. Of special note is the coffin and final resting place of Winston Churchill. You basically walk over the graves of the deceased, some of which date back to the 1700's. It's just incredible. Unfortunately so many years of people walking over them mean a lot of the inscriptions are now worn off. They've also 'done up' some of the crypt which really doesn't suit the rest of the decor. It's quite modern looking, which was dissappointing.
After this, I went to Covent Garden and met up with ALice, where we did a spot of shopping. It's in the theatre district, so there are playhouses everywhere, and a really awesome atmosphere. We walked from there to Leceister Square, which also had a really buzzing atmosphere, undoubtably because the New Year's celebrations were not far behind.
Indian Bagpipers busk for donations for the Asian Tsunami appeal in Leceister Square.
Back home, and we got all dolled up for New Year's Eve! Our plan was to go to Trafalga Square, and when we got there the place was packed, not just with people, but with Police. The terror threat over here really can impinge on the celebrations. We saw this sign on a lamppost:
We ended up along the Thames, just down the road from Big Ben, across the river from the London Eye where the most spectacular fireworks display happened at Midnight. Apparently it was done by the same guy who did the Athens olympics. It was just amazing, I've never seen anything so cool. And you think it's crowded at Southbank on New Year's Eve? Try being in London with 25 million other people, let alone catching the tube back!
So that's what's been happening so far - yesterday was spent generally lazing around, and I suspect today will be much of the same:). Tomorrow is a public holiday, and the Harrod's sale starts. Haven't been to Harrod's yet, and I'd love to go, but it's probably madness. I guess we'll wait and see what happens.:)
For now, signing out.
I spent New Years Eve on my own private exploration of London. I caught the tube to Tower Hill where, incidentally, I found the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower is just AMAZING! It's very expensive to get in though, and Alice told me her housemates have some cheap passes, so I think we'll go with them in a few weeks. It's just so old! Despite the £13 price tag, I was still very tempted to go in. It's just incredible. So i've posted a few photos of the exterior below, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to report on the inside.
From there it's a very short walk to the Tower Bridge, painted light blue because, apparently, that was the Queen Mother's favourite colour. It's also an incredible thing to see, and walk on! It cost £5 to get in, although I'm not quite sure if that was particularly worth it. You only get to go to a certain level in the North and East towers, but you do get to walk across the east and west walkways from there, which have some pretty good views of London. One of the things I noticed from this position was just how flat this country is! No hills really in sight, although I'm sure there will be some further north. Back to the bridge however, and the detail on it is just spectacular, though nowhere near on the scale of St Paul's Cathedral, which was my next stop.
I walked to St Paul's from the bridge along the Thames, coming across this crazy sort of shopping centre on the way. I can't remember the name of it, but it's something to do with nautical nonsense. Apparently it used to be an open dock onto the Thames. Now they've turned it into shops and cafes.
St Paul's is just incredible. The detail inside is amazing - everything from the floors to the ceilings, windows, doorways, edgings - nothing has been spared from detail. There are mosaics and murals on the dome, which is one of the largest and oldest in the world. You can climb to the very top of the dome which apparently affords fantastic views of London, but that involves 530 stairs, and I'm quite sure my knees and lungs wouldn't have made it. HOwever, I did climb to the Whispering Gallery, about a third of the way up, from where you can have a bird's eye view of the cathedral below. It's called the whispering gallery because if you whisper against the wall on one side, a person on the other side can hear you. It was a great vantage point for the murals above, which are currently in the process of being restored. The outside of the cathedral is in the process of being cleaned, so half of it is white, the other a grimy brown and green.
The Crypt was probably the most incredible part of the cathedral. Underneath the main floor, in runs the entire length and width of the cathedral, so it's much like an entire cathedral under a cathedral. Here, in the floors, lies a whole bunch of dead people who were apparently special. Of special note is the coffin and final resting place of Winston Churchill. You basically walk over the graves of the deceased, some of which date back to the 1700's. It's just incredible. Unfortunately so many years of people walking over them mean a lot of the inscriptions are now worn off. They've also 'done up' some of the crypt which really doesn't suit the rest of the decor. It's quite modern looking, which was dissappointing.
After this, I went to Covent Garden and met up with ALice, where we did a spot of shopping. It's in the theatre district, so there are playhouses everywhere, and a really awesome atmosphere. We walked from there to Leceister Square, which also had a really buzzing atmosphere, undoubtably because the New Year's celebrations were not far behind.
Indian Bagpipers busk for donations for the Asian Tsunami appeal in Leceister Square.
Back home, and we got all dolled up for New Year's Eve! Our plan was to go to Trafalga Square, and when we got there the place was packed, not just with people, but with Police. The terror threat over here really can impinge on the celebrations. We saw this sign on a lamppost:
We ended up along the Thames, just down the road from Big Ben, across the river from the London Eye where the most spectacular fireworks display happened at Midnight. Apparently it was done by the same guy who did the Athens olympics. It was just amazing, I've never seen anything so cool. And you think it's crowded at Southbank on New Year's Eve? Try being in London with 25 million other people, let alone catching the tube back!
So that's what's been happening so far - yesterday was spent generally lazing around, and I suspect today will be much of the same:). Tomorrow is a public holiday, and the Harrod's sale starts. Haven't been to Harrod's yet, and I'd love to go, but it's probably madness. I guess we'll wait and see what happens.:)
For now, signing out.
posted by Melanie at
3:18 am
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