Sunshine, lollypops and ferris wheels

I had just composed a masterpiece befitting of a Bloomsbury resident (as indeed I am!) but somehow lost the mongrel thing.  This is an abbreviated version.  Gggrrr!

Today we had a very l-o-n-g but splendid walk along the south bank of the Thames.  We met Geoff's friend Larry and his wife Helen and son Kier at the London Eye, and look, here's a pic of me en route to our meeting place:

Directly across the river from The Eye (which probably isn't quite as blecch as I have said but I'm still not paying for a ride on it!) there was a spendid view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  

 

We headed east and walked past the Tate Modern, the new Globe Theatre and HMS Belfast.  Across the river we could see St Pauls Cathedral.  We were lapping up all this history and loving every minute when a blot on the landscape suddenly emerged - a great ugly glass skyscraper monstrosity called The Shard.  Oh, it was simply horrible among all that magnificent ancient architecture.  We did a take a pic but  I can't upload it.  Hopefully I'll be able to get another one later.
It has to be seen to be believed.  I'm sure it would look right at home in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, where petrodollars will buy big and spectacular, but rarely good taste. To add insult to injury, it costs 25 pounds (about $40) to go to the top and check out the more tasteful architecture around it!  Whoever was responsible should be hung, drawn, quartered, stood in a corner, deprived of lunch and shot.   

We then crossed the river at Tower Bridge and walked past the Tower of London. Up round the corner we came to a major thoroughfare, where we waited to catch a bus to Trafalgar Square.  Across the road, in an otherwise unremarkable grass verge, stood a large remnant of the Londinium Roman wall. Talk about understated!  It didn't even seem to be signposted. There is apparently an even bigger remnant of the wall at the Barbican, which we will check out later in the week. 

We capped off our long distance trek with a refreshing ale at a Covent Garden pub called The Harp. Splendid!   And now that we're home, foot-sore and exhausted, a Radox bath and a cup of Bovril will be just the ticket.