London, Random Thoughts and Info

London, proper, is 625 square miles with 30 boroughs and 2 cities: the one square mile of the City of London, and the Monastery to the West, now referred to as the City of Westminster.  2000 years ago the Romans settled Londoninum and built a wall around the one square mile city with six entrances/exits.  Most of the wall is now gone, although some segments are still around.  Each of the original six entrances/exits are now remembered and marked with dragons on plinths.  If you see the dragon's behind you are leaving the original city, if you see its face you are entering through one of the original gates.  They are rather cute, although I never managed to get a decent picture.

The population of the UK is 66 million soles, the population of the Greater London area (625 square miles) is 8.6 million.  Lots of people live in London.  It's an interesting looking city, juxtaposed ancient buildings next to modern high-rises.  Looks, to the uninformed, as if the city fathers/mothers couldn't make up their minds.  Keep and relish the old, dump that dump and put up a new structure.  They can no longer built out due to the green belts, so they are building up.  But why demolish the older structures you ask to put up new.  So odd looking.

Well, the truth of the matter is Britain was bombed to smithereens during the blitz of WWII.  Much was random, but some was very specific.  The buildings that were now badly hit were rebuilt, those that were demolished (and it was an enormous part of the city) were cleared and modern buildings replaced those.  The integration of the new with the old is an oddity to be sure, but they are making it work.  Our tour guide described it as a Modern City with little bits of an ancient city. 

We drove by Cheapside.  Whenever I have heard that description I always thought of it as a pejorative.  Today I learned that Cheap = Market.  It means Market Area.  Sounds lovely and, in fact, it is.

We stopped to walk over the Wobbly Bridge.  Before you get to the bridge is an "arc" of wands.  Evidently it was an homage to Harry Potter and the various character's wands. 

This is a very poor shot of eight wands for each of the 8 important characters (not that I care about any of them), in front of the Wobbly Bridge.  It is called that because the architect who designed it did a poor job and when it was finished and people attempted to walk across it only to discover that it was not stable.  They quickly shut it down and spent four months making it safe and stable -- however the nickname stuck and it is still called the Wobbly Bridge.

An eight wand arch before the Wobbly Bridge

Harry Potter's plaque for Lori, even though I could have cared less :)

We saw Westminster Abbey and Big Ben (shrouded in scaffolding and canvas as it is being repaired/cleaned scheduled for an unveiling in 2021 

 Then we went off to see The Eye.  This is interesting because it was originally built by British Airways as a temporary attraction for the millennium.  It was due to remain at the waterside for six months.  18 years later it is still here, still a strong attraction for locals and visitors alike and now owned and operated by Merlin Entertainment a Madam Tussauds subsidiary.

We didn't have time to enjoy The Eye, but what is interesting is that it NEVER stops.  Each capsule holds approx 24 people and it goes so slowly that the tube can disembark and reload without skipping a beat.  The full circle takes approximately 30 minutes, we had 15.  I'd like to be back one day to experience the Eye!  Well, that's what these trips are all about, to whet your appetite in hopes to entice you to return and spend some quality time exploring the things you found most intriguing.  That exact philosophy lead to my falling in love with Paris.  Perhaps the UK is next on my list?

That's about all I can manage tonight.  We have an early morning call and Gary is already knocking out those snores.  As usual, I've been exhausted all day but when it's time to sleep I'm wide awake and only want to write!

Good Night!