Monday 28 November 2011

London on a July Sunday Pt.2



Having come across the bridge onto the South Bank we see the Globe Theatre. It is a faithful reconstruction of the open-air playhouse, first built in 1599, where Shakespeare worked and for which he wrote many of his greatest plays








photograph from website as obviously one is not allowed in during performances



The foyer area is modern and quite a contrast









walking back to the bridge - seen here behind the Silver Birch


Where we wonder if she has changed her mind!!
But no, all is well - just waiting for a film crew 



The invisible man



The old and the new





Lots more to come on this day yet
St. Paul's Cathedral next





Friday 25 November 2011

Back to the 2012 Olympic Site & More

Had occasion to revisit the new Westfield Mall at the Olympic site this week and once we had enjoyed our coffee we decided to visit the viewing tube for the whole site leaving our shopping until after lunch


Just one stop on the Docklands light railway
a driverless computerised train



alighting at Pudding Mill Lane where we make our way over to the viewing area


The main stadium


and a structure to support a revolving restaurant


A massive building site which ever direction one looks



the covered over viewing tube





with lots of local history depicted on the walls plus pictures of the end results
Here we see the projected Olympic park


and the stadium lit up at night


the outdoor running track which Alan says is for practice


Back to the Mall  where we are looking out of the window onto the bridge that spans the railway lines while we have lunch



an unusual jewellery display in a window



There are lots of outside shops as well as the indoor mall
which I have shown in recent posts


Yes I did - afternoon tea - lemon & orange cup cake
Alan managed to spend some of his recent birthday money on a very smart jacket & trousers
My only purchases (bought by hubby of course) were from Hotel Chocolate
6 packs of Caramel Cheesecake chocs
I limit myself to one each evening so they will last well into the new year

On a completely different tack
My dear husband Alan went to visit a friend this morning who had broken his arm right up into his shoulder when riding on a Sedgeway.
I think he must have been trying to compete as I arrived home from a walk to be greeted with "you're just back in time, there's blood everywhere"
He had been drilling through a wall to connect a cable when he stood up and cut his forehead in 2 places against something that should have been moved first - he then fell back against the drill and cut his hand in 2 places while along the way managed to open up a Basal Cell Carcinoma on his leg that he is waiting for surgery for. He was bleeding in 5 places! Quite a clean up job.
Why do these macho men dive straight into a task without checking safety issues first?
More of London in my next post





Wednesday 23 November 2011

Happy Thanksgiving USA



Happy Thanksgiving to all my American blogging buddies

I bought this Thanksgiving table runner about 17 years ago when driving through the mountains travelling from
 Gatlinburg in Tennessee to North Carolina
and have often thought to use it as a greeting
Have a great day

Sunday 20 November 2011

London on a July Sunday Pt.1

It is hard to imagine that I am posting on July - the time just flies by and I am not the only one saying that


Here we have just parked on the Embankment and it is always good to start our day with coffee at one of the restaurants at
Somerset House (where all records are kept)
Here we are looking at Tom's that looks out over the river



It's quite early for a Sunday so not many people around yet



We are today going in the opposite direction to my April postings
we are walking in an easterly direction along the north side of the river to begin with
If you like walking then come with us - it is going to be a long day


Looking back


Waterloo Bridge



walking under the bridge


Lots of refurbishment on Blackfriars Bridge


Then we come to the Millenium bridge
when this was first built it swayed so much that some people became dizzy so it had to be stabilised


Southwark Bridge


To the left of the bridge are the steps up to St. Paul's but we will be leaving that until later
instead we are now going to cross the bridge onto the South Bank



This new 'not yet finished' building called The Shard can be seen from home. Will eventually be the tallest building in Europe


stabilisers on the bridge


Many apartments along the riverside


Looking up the river towards Tower Bridge


and now down on to the South Bank for the next post
Alan likes people watching