The interior of Waterloo Station, a huge open space lined with ticket booths, shops and restaurants, and filled with travellers.
After breakfast, we took a bus to Waterloo Station: (w)
The interior of Waterloo Station, a huge open space lined with ticket booths, shops and restaurants, and filled with travellers.
...where we caught a train to a suburb of London, where we went to the Mitre Hotel:
A red brick building with ivy covered walls.
A map showing the location of the hotel, about 13 miles southwest of London.
...where we had an elegant British afternoon tea:
Lucia sitting at a small round table, sipping tea from a china cup. On the table is a three tiered serving platter, decorated with flowers, and loaded with finger sandwiches, cups of butter and clotted cream, and pastries.
...with a nice view of the Thames:
Terry enjoying a finger sandwich and a glass of champagne. Behind her, through the windows, we can see the Thames, and houses on the far side of the river.
As we left, I took a picture of the pub next door, just because I liked the name:
It's called The Mute Swan.
We went back to Lucia's flat, where I did laundry. Then later that evening, I decided on the spur of the moment to go walk across Tower Bridge:
Another view of the arch leading the bridge, this time from ground level, and at night.
One of the towers, as seen from the sidewalk.
As I passed underneath the first tower, I was delighted to discover that the drawbridge was open:
Two views of the raised drawbridge, as seen from behind the gate blocking traffic. The roadway is hinged at both ends, and splits in the middle.
I stood there with a crowd of other pedestrians, as we waited to see what river traffic caused the bridge to open. Eventually, they came by - two ordinary sailboats. A guy next to me exclaimed "All for that?" It was sort of anticlimactic.
Standing at the base of the second tower, I took this picture looking up:
...and this picture of the upper deck:
A view of the twin upper walkways, as seen from ground level, looking up.
I had hoped to walk back on the upper deck, but alas, it's closed in the evenings. Yet another reason to go back!
From the bridge, I took these pictures of London at night:
Both pictures show the river lined on both sides with brightly lit buildings.
Tower Bridge gets its name not only from its two towers, but also because it's right next to the Tower of London - which is, of course, not really a tower, but a fortress complex. I took these pictures:
Three pictures of the Tower of London, as seen from the bridge. The tower is made of beige stone, and is a not a single tower, but a complex of towers and other buildings, surrounded by a wall. In the third picture, we can see an obviously newer building within the walls.
I was interested to note the mixture of old and new in the last picture.