Reflections

Hello! You know how yesterday I said I woke up pretty peacefully and it was really nice? Yeah. Today, not so much. Just about every morning, except Sunday, there is a jack hammer going down the little alleyway that our window opens up on. Usually that's the only noise and I can ignore it. Today, that jack hammer was joined by a terrible sound. Imagine taking a metal hammer and pounding really hard on a metal door while standing on the other side of the metal door. That's pretty much what it sounded like. What made it more infuriating was that it was on weird intervals so you never knew when it was coming next. Just terrible. That's not how I want to wake up ever again. It did get me out of bed quickly and on with my day which was nice I guess (I'm a glass half-full type of person). I did my usual routine but this morning for breakfast I made my usual toasted bagel with nutella and peanut butter and I cut up my banana and put it on the bagel. Heaven. Just divine.

So as I also mentioned yesterday, I have a little list of stuff that I HAVE to do before I leave London for good. Well another item on that list is "ride a boat on the Thames". So that's what I did today. It was really, really warm out when I was getting ready but I didn't wear my shorts (not that anyone cares) which ended up being a good thing because throughout the day, it got cooler. I decided to walk from my flat to Westminster and take a boat from there to Greenwich. To get to Westminster, I walked through Hyde Park and saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain (picture 1) which I had never seen in operation before. Seems odd with all the times I have walked through Hyde Park but it's the truth. The sun was shining and the fountain was very pretty. There were tons of people in the park which always makes me think, "Do people here have jobs?" Apparently not. The clouds were also extra spectacular all day. I continued on through Hyde Park Corner and along Green park. Lots of people there too. You could definitely tell that Spring has Sprung here. I could really tell because I was sweating buckets while I was walking. It was kind of disgusting. I am just not used to the warm temperatures yet. So I walked by Buckingham Palace and then cut through St. James's Park on my way to Westminster. St. James's Park was packed with people, just like it was when Mom and I walked through it a couple weeks ago (today, in fact, wow, it seems like it was just yesterday... anyway). Then I arrived at Westminster and went down to the boat dock.

There are boats that run along the Thames River in both directions. The farthest west the boats go, as far as I know, is Hampton Court. That's a palace/castle. The farthest east they go is the Thames Barrier which is a dam. In between are Kew Gardens, all the usual London river sites, and Greenwich. I decided to take the boat to Greenwich because I really wanted to go back to Canary Wharf on a weekday that was sunny which was today. The ticket was only 5 pounds which isn't bad at all. I got on the boat and got ready to go (picture 2). The boat ride was very pleasant with a nice breezy and sunshine. We passed by all the usual sites including the London Eye (picture 3, I love this picture). One of the workers did a tour guide type thing over the PA system. He was very funny and did a very good job. He would make comments about the buildings we passed. There was one building that he said, "I don't know much about this building but someone told me once that it was designed by two unemployed window washers" (picture 4). It was funnier on the boat I think. We passed under the Tower Bridge (picture 5). Seeing the the stuff from the river level was different which was fun. We continued on to Greenwich. This section didn't have the attractions of the earlier part but was still nice. I ate my lunch on the boat, adding to my collection of cool places I have eaten a PBJ sandwich. The apartment buildings we passed were very strange looking. One of them was shaped like a right triangle and had the elevator on the hypotenuse. After about an hour on the boat, we arrived at Greenwich.

Some people may remember that I did a trip a lot like this back in January. That time I didn't take a boat though. Just to refresh, Greenwich is where Greenwich Mean Time comes from and still maintains a small town feel. I didn't want to walk around Greenwich again but I did stop in the Greenwich Market. Quite a bit different from the chaos of Camden. Still nice. I caught a DLR (Docklands Light Rail) train to Canary Wharf, the place I really wanted to go. I got off the train a little bit before the main station so I could walk around and into the Wharf instead of arriving right in the middle of it. I still really like the place. It is completely, utterly, totally different from anywhere else I have been in London. The architecture and design of the buildings, especially in the sunshine, was so beautiful (picture 6). They LOVE glass in Canary Wharf. All the glass on the buildings created a stunning reflection of the other buildings and the clouds. Simply awesome (picture 7, I love this picture too). Last time, it was a ghost town and was cloudy and drizzling the whole time. This time, there were people and it was sunny. Another thing I noticed is that there are no churches anywhere in the area, at least that I saw. Canary Wharf is a bunch of office buildings and luxury apartments so I wasn't very surprised but I didn't see even a steeple anywhere near to it really. Seemed strange. I walked through the same park that I did the last time. The eyes that were in the water and grass were gone though (picture 8).

There are 6 different "districts" to the Wharf which all have 6-8 office or apartment buildings in them. I walked around all of them. I spent most of the time just soaking it in and marveling at all the design that went into the whole area. I will say that all of the districts seem pretty much the same. The other thing I noticed was all the construction. There are probably 5 buildings within Canary Wharf that are still being built. It was interesting seeing all the construction workers walking around next to people in full suits. Someone who knew something about Sociology might be able to say more about it. Both groups of people did share one thing in common, smoking. Yikes! With all the open space and nice weather, there were tons and tons of people outside smoking. I felt like I was Spain again, except that there were sidewalks here. I walked along each of the water areas that surround the Wharf and walked around the underground mall some more as well. As I said, I really like it here. My favorite part of the whole place is Canada One Square. This square gives the best view of the three tallest buildings in Great Britain (picture 9). They look so cool standing together like that. They remind me of three tough guys standing together with one just a little bit forward, like on a movie poster or something. I'm sure it was planned that way and I applaud the planner's efforts. I walked around the docks some more and then decided it was time to leave.

I hopped on the DLR to Tower Bridge. From there, I switched to buses and got on one of the old Route Masters (picture 10). These are the old double decker buses which you board from the back and stuff. Mom and I rode one of these when she was here and I have ridden one on my own once before also. The novelty never wears off. They are just too awesome. The bus rode past all the major sites, St. Paul's, Fleet Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, etc. As I passed all these places I have grown so accustomed too, I realized just how much I have grown comfortable with London. i think it's that comfort that has helped my like/love of it grow. I miss everyone back home but I really like this city. Anyway, I got back to the flat and made dinner. I had a Cajun chicken flavored pizza with peppers and onions on it. It reminded me of Chipotle and how much I REALLY WANT SOME! Only 8 more weeks... Tomorrow we are doing our last group excursion and it is to Stratford-upon-Avon where we are seeing The Merchant of Venice. I won't be back until late but, you know me, I will get a post up. :-)

Hoşça kalın! (Turkish for goodbye)