More London sights

We put in a full few days in London last week in addition to our day trips, and were fortunate in the weather most of the time. Some of our sight-seeing was constrained by errands needing to be run, such as picking up some forgotten souvenirs from the Stonehenge-Bath bus. Their office was near the Tower Bridge, though, so it was easy to combine the trips. (Plus we found a good inexpensive eatery—The Cat and Cucumber—in between bus lot and bridge for lunch.)

After walking across the Bridge (and taking many more photos of this incredibly photogenic structure) we headed upstream toward our main target, St. Paul's. Hal and Sally had heartily recommended climbing to the top and we found that to be good advice. It was a somewhat taxing climb, but the views, both at various points along the way, and at the summit, are fabulous. I was also quite taken with the details of the church itself, like the golden pineapple/acorn/or whatever in the picture above. I took this picture, I believe, from the Stone Gallery, which is the next-highest stopping point.

Here's a look at the view from the top (the Golden Gallery) of the lovely Thames, Blackfriars Bridge, The Eye, and points in between. What great weather for distance viewing!


The interior of the church is quite impressive, too, of course, and unbelievably huge, but no photos are allowed. The American Chapel on one end was a highlight for me. After walking all around we took some time to just sit and soak in the atmosphere (and also rest up from our climb).

We still had time for more sights, and since the Millennium Bridge is right there, leading to the Tate Modern, we went there for a quick visit. Here is a view of the Bridge from the Stone Gallery of St. Paul's. You might notice there's not much traffic on the footbridge. I didn't notice it until later, when we were crossing. There was a sign saying it was closed for a good bit of the day for inspection and maintenance. We trust they found no structural weaknesses!

Our visit to the art museum was brief, but about long enough for art that we old fogeys don't find as interesting as the older stuff. I did enjoy it more than I expected, however, particularly finding a gallery of Soviet propaganda posters quite fascinating. And the building itself is quite a marvel. Plus, it's so perfectly located in London! Here's a lovely sunset view from the Bridge heading back to the north bank, which is better for bus and tube catching.