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.
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