Walking Tour

I didn't get out of the flat until 12:30 today because I was doing some laundry, which is a bit of a trial. First I had to figure out how to work the machine. Then doing one load took about 1 hour and that was just the washing. I left the drying to be done while I was away and kept my fingers crossed that the load would be dry when I got back. (It was). Anyway, I decided to take the bus into town just to get a better idea of where I was in the universe. But the bus left me off about half an hour from where I wanted to be which was the Embankment station, where I hoped to take a London Walks guided tour.

I am now passing places I have been before without really knowing how I got there. Here is the Sherlock Holmes Pub, where Will and I had lunch one day. I passed it on my way to Embankment.
The tour was of areas of London supposedly not often visited by even Londoners. But most of it was along the Thames and I have to believe that those pathways are heavily traveled. Our tour guide was Stephanie, who was very personable and amusing.
We crossed the Thames at Golden Jubilee Bridges, which are not that old. They are pedestrian walkways along the Hungerford rail bridge. You do get a great view of the London Eye from the bridge. Stephanie says there are 32 capsules, representing the 32 boroughs of London, but there are 33 places for capsules. The one missing, which you can see in this picture, is #13, for obvious reasons. There is also one capsule that is orange, which I thought I had in the picture (apparently not) that can be reserved for a romantic ride.

Just over the river is this building, which is not a prison, as you might think from the architecture, but rather the National Theater, where Ceci and I will see the new version of Frankenstein in April.
One block off the river, is this cute market square with some very funny-looking seating.
This, believe it or not, is low income housing.
And, yes, there are palm trees growing here in the center of London.

The tour was great fun. I have some other pictures; maybe I'll put them on the blog later. But on my way to a place to get a tube home, I passed Westminster Cathedral and it got me thinking about how it has changed since I first saw it and maybe since the last time I saw it. It's clean! It was always so dark and dirty. Apparently the London authorities have discovered how to clean this building, St. Paul's and many other places in this town that used to look their age. Now they just look beautiful.
And speaking of beautiful, how about this pub, near Westminster. It's called the Albert and it is gorgeous.
Stephanie says that because of increases in the value of land/property, changes in the drinking habits of Londoners and other reasons, three traditional pubs close each week here. What a shame. I intend to keep up my part by visiting as many of them as I can.

By the way, if you are reading this could you just comment and say hi, so I know someone is paying attention. Thanks.