Galleries and Views

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

Today the sky was blue and sunny, but still cold outside. First stop was the Tate Gallery of British Art. This was an okay gallery only because I didn't know many of the artists. Walked past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben chimed. Saw the London Eye close up. I am in no rush to go on it. I will wait until I better know the city. Walked along the river and came across Cleopatra's Needle. It was made in 1500 BC of pink granite in Egypt and came to London 1819. It has a twin in New York.Caught the tube to the Monument. Today I was going to get this climb over and done with. The Monument was built after the Great Fire and designed by Christopher Wren. Standing at the bottom and looking up I realised this was going to be a bugger on my knees. I frequently stopped on the way up to admire the view and catch my breath! I was a bit scared and imagining that today was the day this old thing was going to collapse. 311 steps later I was up the top and holding onto the railing. It was a great view of the city, especially of Tower Bridge. Did a lap and stayed away from the windy side of the viewing platform. Then made my way down. As soon as I got out of there is started to snow and on my dark coat it looked like chunky dandruff!!Then caught the tube to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery. This was an excellent gallery, with many works and artists that I have heard of. It was also free entry which meant that it was quite crowded. I really enjoyed this gallery and next time will get an audio guide to learn more about the artists and their works. The gallery had lots of couches and places to sit which were very tempting, but I knew that if I sat it would be a struggle to get up. So I walked around and then headed home to rest my feet.

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Photos

01 Thames
Looking east along the river towards central London.

02 Eye in the Distance
The London Eye is in the distance.

03 Tate Britain
The Tate Britain gallery.

04 Tower
The view of Elizabeth Tower as I get closer to the Houses of Parliament.

08 Eye
The London Eye as seen from Westminster Bridge.

09 Elizabeth Tower
At the top of this tower is the famous clock - Big Ben.

10 Houses of Parliament
The Houses of Parliament as seen from the other side of the river.

14 Tower Bridge
A great view of Tower Bridge from the top of The Monument.

19 Tower Bridge
The beautiful Tower Bridge as seen from the top of The Monument.

21 Spiral
A spiral pattern as I look down the staircase in The Monument.