London is…fun to explore.

After two days of graduation activities we started exploring the different sights we wanted to see while we were in London.

The “Walkie Talkie” building and an iconic double decker bus.

One highlight for me was the Sky Garden on top of the skyscraper nicknamed the “Walkie Talkie” (because that is what the building looks like).

A view of the Sky Garden on the 35th floor of the”Walkie Talkie” building, which offers scenic overlooks of London.

The elevator quickly brought us to the 35th floor, to the viewing platform where you see terrific views of London from on high. There is also an indoor garden on top, which was very pleasant.

On a side note – I asked a question of a man standing next to me looking out over London, and after talking awhile I found out he grew up in Northfield!  And the amazing thing is, the last time I was in London in 2013, when I was still working at St. Olaf, a student recognized me on a street corner in London, and came up to talk with me. It’s a small world.

Buckingham Palace.
Outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. The Queen was not in this day.

On this trip we also visited Borough Market, the oldest fruit-and-vegetable market serving the current community for over 800 years, but it started in a different location over 1,000 years ago*. There were many stalls with all different types of food offerings, in addition to fruits and vegetables. It was a great place to walk around and buy lunch before going to the Sky Garden.

We also walked to Buckingham Palace, toured Westminster Abbey, rode the London Eye and went to the Natural History Museum.

A partial view of the front of Westminster Abbey (north).
Inside the north door of Westminster Abbey.

The London Eye is a “revolving observation wheel.” The glass enclosed capsules move slowly and continuously. As a capsule reaches the bottom platform there are two sides: on one side people enter the capsule and on the other side people exit the capsule, without it stopping. It’s an interesting experience and offers more unique views of London. It is on the Thames River.

The London Eye.
A enclosed capsule on the London Eye.

The Natural History Museum is mammoth (it holds 50 million specimens) and is housed in a beautiful Victorian, Neo-Romanesque building that was built in the 1870’s specifically for the museum. Although it’s been awhile since I’ve toured a natural history museum, which I enjoy, seeing this magnificent building was the highlight of the museum for me. It was stunning. 

The magnificent Natural History Museum building.
An interior door in the Natural History Museum.
The kids looking at a display in the Natural History Museum.

Additional Photos:

The changing of the Horse Guards, a daily ceremony before heading to Buckingham Palace.
In Covent Garden market.
A view of the Tower of London, along the River Thames, from the Sky Garden.

*Rick Steves London, 2017

10 thoughts on “London is…fun to explore.”

  1. Very much enjoying seeing and hearing about this trip. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Vicki

  5. Thank you for this wonderful tour. London certainly offers a wide array of interesting places to appeal to all interests. I especially like the idea of a garden in the observation space. And visiting the market had to give you a good local experience.

    It truly is a small world. My second daughter and her husband were vacationing in Arizona last week and struck up a conversation with a group. Turns out one of the men grew up in Faribault.

    1. Yes, London does have a lot to offer, and though we’re not usually ones to visit cities, I really enjoy this city. I’ve been there three times now.

      I don’t recall meeting anyone from MN on our first trip to London, but it was a couple years after 911 and I remember I asked a woman for directions and the first thing she said to me was she was sorry…it took me a minute to figure out what she was taking about.

      It’s always fun to make connections with others…especially when traveling.

Comments are closed.