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Tuesday 26 November 2013

Not quite according to Plan!

 Yesterday I went up to London to meet up with a couple of friends.  We met at Waterloo station just in time for elevenses which we had at Carluccio's on the station concourse where we sat and enjoyed our coffees and biscuits and caught up with the gossip. Our plan was to visit Dennis Severs House which we'd heard about and which sounded intriguing and we duly arrived there at noon only to find that we'd picked a day it wasn't open!  We did ring the bell and the chap who came to the door was very apologetic and suggested we might like to visit the Whitechapel Art Museum not far away instead.  So we duly set off.

Passed this lovely pond reflecting the autumn colours.  We noticed how many modern buildings there are in this area of London and the juxtaposition of the old and the new was interesting.

Here is the Art Gallery which, wouldn't you know, doesn't open on Mondays!

Never mind it was a nice day, if rather chilly, and our main objective had been to meet up so we contiunued walking towards the river coming to St Katherine's Docks where we found a place to eat lunch enjoying the view across the marina.


Here is the Royal barge used in the Jubilee Celebrations last year - much smaller than I imagined it would be.



We continued our walk towards Tower Bridge an amazingly ornate edifice over the Thames.  I am always struck by how our ancestors didn't ever seem to go for the easy option but used all their crafts skills to decorate whatever they built.  Here the stone masonry is breathtaking and considering it would have been done with simple hand tools and without modern scaffolding and so on all the more amazing.

Boy was it cold though out there above the river!


View of the Tower of London - what tales that building could tell but maybe we'd rather not know all of those!

A lovely red Victorian postbox still in use - looks like something from a Christmas card doesn't it?

Along the South Bank of the river we turned to look at the Tower again.

On past Winchester Palace or what remains of it - built in the early 13th century it was once one of the largest and most important buildings in Medieval London now somewhat dwarfed by the modern building surrounding it.....


.....past the Globe Theatre with its thatched roof.


More decorative work on one of the many bridges - no simple signs for those 19th century artists and builders back in 1864!

The iconic St Pauls seen across the river.

We eventually reached the Christmas market on the South Bank looking very festive in the late afternoon light with Big Ben in the background.  We didn't linger long and didn't buy anything either and before long we reached Waterloo where we bade each other a hasty goodbye as a train to my friends' destination was due to depart in the next few minutes.  I meanwhile had half an hour to wait so went for a cup of tea and a sit down till it was time to board my own train home.

We might not have done what we set out to do but we had enjoyed each others' company and had plenty of fresh air and exercise along the way whilst seeing parts of London I for one had never visited before.  Dennis Severs House will still be there for another time no doubt!

17 comments:

  1. What a lovely day. Thank you for sharing it.

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  2. You had a lovely day despite the plans you made didn't happen.
    Julie xxxxx

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  3. My son got married in a room in Tower Bridge - nice to see it again!

    Penny
    x

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  4. What a lovely day out and great photos. We will be doing pretty much the same walk when we visit London in a couple of weeks time! M x

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  5. Brilliant photos Jane, the one of the market is lovely...very festive!
    V x

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  6. I loved walking through London with you. So much history. Like you, I often think of the work our ancestors put into those buildings and bridges - they built them to last for a very, very long time, unlike much of today's construction.

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  7. Lovely views of London. Old buildings always amaze me the craftsmanship from basic tools.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  8. That is always the trouble with Mondays, most things are closed, even
    restaurants. Glad you enjoyed yourselves anyway.

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  9. Beautiful pictures, that looks like a really wonderful day.

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  10. We visited Denis Severs house a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed ir, be good to see it at Christmas time x

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  11. Hah! One of those days when it all turns to ...., but you had a lovely time regardless, and as you say, meeting up was the main thing. And the weather was with you! Cold is cold but wet is miserable. Lovely photos, thanks for posting. Lx

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  12. Looks like you still had a great day though. London is such an interesting city, there's always something to see qand do.

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  13. Your photos across the Thames from the southbank look like oil paintings Jane! x

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  14. such a shame about Dennis! Maybe we could schedule it in for the mole bags/marigold outing? Love C x

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  15. Hello Jane, thank you for the interesting walk and all the sights along the way. I like that blue trim on the Tower Bridge.

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  16. A day out in London is always wonderful - but so tiring. Worth the sore feet though! Great photos.

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  17. It's so nice that you can take a train for your transportation and not have to drive a car in a busy area!

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