Got to sleep at 2am.
London is such a treat, we have visited it a couple of times so we don’t feel the need to ride around on Big Busses to hop off at all the tourist places. We woke up with no plans for the day and just headed out.
Our first visit was to The Shard, the tallest building in the UK. It has a Neo-futurist architectural style and 95% of its construction materials are recycled. The building has 11 000 glass panels, with 6 permanent abseiling window cleaners to keep it clean. We caught 2 lifts up to the 72 floor at a speed of 6m/second. The views of London, the Thames and London Bridge were spectacular.
From there we wondered through Hays Galleria down to the Thames and London Bridge.
We then caught a river taxi to St George’s Wharf, taking in sights along the Thames.
Then it was a tube back to Green Park and a walk through the park to Buckingham Palace. It was a hot summers Saturday and lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine.
We then strolled up to Wellington Arch and through Hyde Park, more people and families out having fun in the park. We headed up to Speakers Corner, expecting to hear some ramblings about Trump, Brexit and the state of the nation but to our disappointment, no one was there.
We crossed over to Marble Arch, passed the Dorchester and the little cars in the car park and walked back to Shepherds Market, for lager and cider on tap at the Pub. Well deserved after walking around for 10km. Poor Gray is getting about 3km to the voltaren, his hip is bone on bone.
We were lucky to get a last minute cancellation at Benares, Atul Kuchhar’s Michelin Star restaurant. Before we left, we had booked at Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant, Dinner, but unfortunately due to a fire a few weeks ago it is closed. Benares was an amazing substitute, the service was friendly and professional, the food was to die for, especially the desert and the gewurztraminer complimented the Indian flavours perfectly.
We strolled home, ending a perfect day.
Pandas in Africa 