Today we woke up bright and early and got some great free breakfast (coco crispies and toast) before we left for the Tube. Today we went out to the London Tower where we walked around for a good while. Before we got there we stopped at a pretty fantastic Navy/Merchants Memorial as well as the Trinity Building; also known as Poseidon’s Lair (according to us) because of the absolutely gigantic statue standing in it.
From there we walked to the Tower (please note that it is in fact much more than a tower, I would call it London Castle…). We started by walking around the remains of the outer wall where there were many small exhibits as well as awesome statues. From there we moved down into the main courtyard where we got to see the various smaller buildings and the remnants of the inner wall. The main part of the castle (the original “tower”) houses multiple levels of arms and armor exhibits. There we saw the world’s largest suit of armor (6’8”!!!!!) and a sword that was taller than me. My favorite part was seeing the toilets that emptied directly into the courtyard below…yikes!!! After that we went to the Crown Jewel exhibit which had all kinds of gaudy British nonsense like the “Coronation Spoon” and a tub-sized solid gold punch bowl with a ladle that had to have been made from an entire tusk’s worth of ivory.
After we finished up there we left the tower where we found a very cool complex of buildings with a giant glass atrium connecting them. Unfortunately we were yelled at for taking pictures again so we had to scurry away. After that we explored All Hallows Church (no Harry Potter though…) that had a pretty amazing crypt exhibit with a fantastic sanctuary church as well as remnants of an original street from Roman times.
From there we found a small fish and chips place that was half the price and twice the good of the fish and chips we had yesterday at the “nice” restaurant. Next we walked along the Thames to the Tower Bridge exhibit where we got to see engine rooms as well as amazing views of the city from the very top. Once we finished there we walked along a back street where we found a pretty fantastic little secret staircase down into the Thames. The street we walked on had amazing bridges crisscrossing overhead all over the place, left from when it used to be a spice market area. On that street we found a small little bakery where I had some amazing Blueberry Chantilly. We ate our dessert on the waterfront before heading to the Design Museum.
There we checked out a pretty cool exhibit on new developments in technology, architecture, art, and science (one cool thing was a drink developed by Google that makes your poo change colors when the first signs of dangerous diseases like cancer are released by your body; this would aid in rapid responses and earlier recognitions). But the best part was running into Doug Graf, our theory professor, completely by chance. We talked for a while and he gave us some tips on good places to see and eat, which was amazing!
After we finished there we walked a little ways to their new City Hall and the surrounding square and complex of fantastic buildings. There was also a pretty amazing café made out of wood that had been layered vertically to create a sort of topographic estimation of curves, which seemed to reference the many curved buildings in the area. There was also a pretty great water feature that ran the length of the complex, very similar to that of the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn (which I urge you all to look at, it is one of my favorites of all time).
After we left the square we walked to Lloyd’s Building which was an amazing example of the style of architecture made famous by Renzo Piano where the structure and the support systems like HVAC and piping are exposed on the outside, leading to a fantastic sci-fi mechanical look. Next we saw the most famous (sadly) of London’s new buildings: The Gherkin. While I appreciate the look that it has and the juxtaposition of its massive steel and glass composition with the stone and brick buildings around it, I cannot allow myself to endorse a gigantic and misplace Faberge egg shaped like a you-know-what. However, Sylvia Lavin wrote one of my favorite articles on architectural theory about it, so it isn’t all-bad.
Next up was a quick trip through Leadenhall Market, which was pretty great, and a trip to The Monument, which was interesting not only because of its simple name but the way it was jammed in a tiny square between buildings. We ended up wandering around this area for a long time looking (and not finding) for St. Stephen Wallbrook’s Church. When we finally did find it we couldn’t get in, so we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. To our chagrin it was also closed, so we sat on the steps and relaxed while we watched the double-decker busses zoom through the very busy square in front. Our last adventure of the day was to Tempio, an Italian restaurant (we just couldn’t wait!). I had the spaghetti carbonara, which was fantastic! From there we walked about 3 miles home along the river where we saw the National Theatre and other buildings around it all lit up. When we finally made it home, we collapsed from another great and exhausting day!
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