More London, Thu 30 Jun

Another day of exploring the area around Kate's apartment. Down towards the river is a monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666, when four fifths of the town was burned down.

Onwards and across the London Bridge, which did not fall down and hasn't for some time. Good views of the Tower Bridge from here though.

Under London Bridge (well, sort of under, plus a bit) is the very famous Borough Markets which I had never heard of but apparently I must be the only one. Great markets though, with a big range of food. Rather expensive and definitely directed to the 'designer' end of the market with many refined cheeses with exotic names hard to pronounce and prices to match; dessert cakes and biscuits worth running a few kilometres for, plus quirky other things.

Just around the corner is the ship of Sir Francis Drake, the Golden Hinde. 

A bit further on, along the southern banks of the Thames, is the Globe Theatre. Looking forward to seeing 'Taming of the Shrew' there, in a few weeks time.

We were headed for the Tate Modern Art Gallery, just on past the Globe. A huge but ugly building with so many levels either side of a vast open space in the middle. Obviously, the cost-efficiency experts didn't see the plans before it was built or the vast open spaces would have had to be put to better use. 

Several Picasso paintings were hanging.

A few Andy Warhol paintings also....

.... and the vast open spaces I mentioned.

The only art piece in the middle space was a tree by Ai Weiwei, a dissident Chinese artist who had (maybe still has) an exhibition at the Art Gallery in Melbourne.

Walking back from the Tate over the Millenium Bridge is quite an experience. The bridge has a lovely flowing shape and lines up with St Paul's Cathedral. The views are spectacular all the way.

Closer to Kate's, the Leadenhall Market is a lovely space, with beautifully restored shops, bars and cafes.

.... and one of its small branches may be familiar to Harry Potter fans. Supposedly, this was Diagon Alley.

It is hard to believe the amount of building going on in London. There are building sites on every second corner and cranes dot the horizon over the City. Not bad for a city which is going so badly they needed to 'Brexit'. Guess a lot of this will shut down as funding dries up.

And many of the buildings are quite spectacular in shape. The 'Walkie-Talkie' in the right side distance of the photo below gets a mention later.  The Thames River and foreshore areas have been cleaned up quite a lot.

The 'Shard' dominates the horizon of London, particularly the southern side of The Thames.

Exploring London, Wed 29 June

How true was the comment that 'if you're tired of London, you're tired of life.' There are so many places, lanes and 'pockets' which have a story to tell. One cannot see them all, so you soak up what you can.

Kate lives in an apartment near the Spitalfield Markets so is in walking distance of many fascinating spots. We took the chance today to explore or wander around the eastern part of the 'Square Mile' or the City of London (as compared to the city of London). This is the financial hub, with all the large banks and financial institutions of the world; probably second to Wall St, but certainly interesting. Went to the Museum of London, but the precinct reminded me of the London Olympics marathon (or was it one of the yearly London marathons, or a road cycling race?). Whatever, it is a distinctive section of road.

The Museum of London is built over the roundabout.

The Museum chronicles the history of London, from Iron and Bronze Ages, through Roman occupation, 1066, the Great Fire, the Black Plague and all that. The original 2012 Olympic cauldron, made up of many individual copper torches is there.

A fascinating aspect I had not heard about previously is the London Wall, the remnants of the city wall built by Romans. Part of it is just near the Museum, with the round fortresses the most common surviving element.

London Wall

The Spitalfield Market near Kate, houses a variety of stores, including a healthy food chain called Leon. Couldn't resist!

There are some benefits!

When we returned in the afternoon, a big band was providing music for dancing and there were all ages involved, but predominantly older groovers and wannabes. I now know what happens to aging ballroom dancers in London. They turn up at Spitalfield Markets on Wednesday afternoons. It was really great to see though.

Heading off

Late June 2016. Heading off to see Kate in London, plus going to Iceland, a place which was on my bucket list before I knew bucket lists existed. Why? I hear you ask. Because Iceland is essentially the only spot on the earth's crust where a spreading ridge, tectonic plate margin is above sea-level. This is where the Eurasian plate is separating from the North American plate, with the added complication of a hotspot or 'mantle plume' under it. Messy and far from straight-forward.  I have spent a lifetime (well, alright, quite a few years anyway) teaching about Iceland, using examples from Iceland, having students plot data from Iceland such as palaeo-magnetic anomalies, age of basaltic rocks, earthquake intensity etc. It's about time I went there. Looking forward to it!
But firstly, the long haul to Europe, this time through Singapore.