If there is one thing that all my friends and family know about me, it's that London is one of my true loves. I can't get enough of that city. I go as often as I can which is usually once every few months. I have had some amazing opportunity's given to me involving visiting London, but mostly it's just a much needed visit with a friend of mine. Last weekend was one of those much needed visits. Last weekend I was staying with my cousins in Tunbridge Wells, and on the Saturday we got the train to London after booking tickets to go up The Shard. For someone who is head over heels for London, this is a big thing.
Once there and waiting in the queue to get in, my cousin Philippa and I spotted this doggy napping outside his owners flower shop. He was so cute I had just had to take some snaps of him, though I think we may have disturbed his snooze! Inside the building itself, the Shard is very polished and snazzy. At first glance, it looks very professional, but despite this, they could do with improving their queuing and ticket system, and perhaps the speediness of the security procedures. But this disorganisation was the only hitch!
We went to the first viewing deck, which is on Level 69 (!). This is where the champagne bar is, and if you know me, you know that champagne is my alcoholic beverage of choice. But considering you can get champagne in many places, but amazing London views in a only a few, I decided to ignore the champagne on this occasion. However, I did stop and take a photo of a giant champagne bottle. You can't really tell how big it is, but if you look at the vase of regular corks and bottles of water next to it, you can probably get a good idea. Anyway, enough on the champagne.
Of course the first thing I did was rush over to the nearest unoccupied space by the glass. It was so high. I'm sorry, there is no other way to put it. It was dizzying. The trains coming in and out of London Bridge station looked like little caterpillars and the hundreds of people looked like ants. I'm not scared of heights usually, but I couldn't stop myself imagining being on the other side of the glass and looking down. The deck was equipped with little monitors dotted all around the edges of the room. These, I found out, were ''Tele:scopes''. Highly interactive with touchscreens, they could identify nearly every famous landmark you could see, all you had to do was point the viewfinder at it and it would tell you the name.
Onto the next and last viewing gallery now! This was the one I was most excited for and all because it was partially an open air gallery, and the highest public level of the building.
Once on level 72, the first thing I noticed was how strongly I could smell food. And really good smelling food as well. It made me think of a barbecue. But no barbecues were to be seen, though I'm sure the top level of the Shard is a good a place as any for your summer BBQ! We came to the conclusion that it had to be a mix up of all the food cooking all over London. That ridiculous notion kept me satisfied. I was far to excited to ponder over it!
This was my favourite part of the 360 view. The curve of the Thames and Tower Bridge in the foreground is just brilliant. The photo does not do it any justice if I'm honest. I just stood at each corner of the platform and looked for all the places I loved and visited every time I made a trip up to London. Usually I soak up the atmosphere of London as soon as I arrive through Victoria Station and walk down the street. This was a very different kind of atmosphere. Being above all the noise and the busy people puts it all in perspective. The city itself looked like a clockwork model, and all the people and vehicles had been chucked in after it had been finished. I've been to the top of Canary Wharf which was fantastic, but it didn't give me the kind of thoughts that the Shard did. The next stop is going over London in a helicopter! Perhaps I should add it to the bucket list...
After spending two or more hours there, we decided to exit via the gift shop to go and have dinner. Needless to say I was reluctant to go, but my cousins were getting hungry. I bought a postcard from the giftshop, though there were tons of things to make tourtists spend extra money; t-shirts, stationary, books, posters, chocolate bars with Shard themed wrappers, you name it.
OH and another important detail if you're visiting the Shard anytime soon! (It's going to sound very weird but keep reading) Make sure you go to the loo! Bear with me on this one. The toilets in The Shard are quite unlike any other. Why? Because one of the four sides of the cubicles is a wall of glass. Yes.
You can do your business whilst looking over the Thames and the city beyond. Lovely. For those of you who are a little concerned about your privacy, closing the blinds at the push of a button is an option. I, however, was feeling brave. Besides, it's not like I'm going back to The Shard anytime soon!
Now onto dinner. My cousins had booked a table for three at The Brigade on Tooley Street. I should point out that this was the first time I had ever been so lucky as to have dinner in a nice restaurant in London. I had always told myself that when I had enough money I would treat myself and some friends to a very posh dinner in my favourite city. But now it was happening. I didn't know what to expect, except this particular restaurant obviously used to be a fire station. From the outside it appeared old fashioned with a brick facade, but on the inside it was very modern and fancy. Looking back at it now, I would thoroughly recommend it. I decided to play safe and steer away from all the exotic sounding meals and stuck to what I knew I would love - The classic 'Brigade Burger' with salad, cheesy chips and spicy chutney. To drink I had the special cocktail of the day - prosecco, elderflower, lemonade and mint. Both the meal and the cocktail were divine. And I am picky when it comes to meals. It was utterly delicious. The fact that the chips came in a little basket and the chutney was in an adorable little jar told me it was going to be good before I even started. The chutney itself was so good I was tempted to sneak what was left in the jar away with me.
Despite the fact that I was close to falling asleep I was so full, I decided to finish off with a salted caramel and chocolate sundae. It was worth it.
Well...that's all for now. I had an absolutely marvelous time, and hopefully it was one of many days I will want to write about. I don't know if anyone will read this. If you do, I hope it interests you and you come back again!
x
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