Walk Down The River Thames

Even though it gets dark at 4 p.m. (11 a.m. your time) there is time every day to note the splendor of this old city the people call: London.

Today, as a group we met at the House of Parliament for a guided tour with our British Life and Culture professor, Lyndon Sly.

We started as he explained the architecture and history of the Palace of Westminster as the House of Parliament is also called, detailing that although the present building is not yet 200 years old, a palace has set on that ground for nearly 1000 years.

He told us that it once was an island with a tributary wrapped around the North side of where the palace now sits. However, as people used to dump their waste into the river in the old days, said tributary would be really smelly, as you can imagine what was floating in it.

We then walked on the south side as Lyndon explained the modern architecture that in most cases has now become classic and the city of London works to restore. Examples of buildings being restored after their initial use are: Tate Modern (former power station) Dali Universe, London Aquarium (old County Hall).

We passed by some statue people, for lack of better tag, which would move only if you put money in there hat below their feet.



We stopped for a good view, where one could see St. Paul's Cathedral, Ministry of Defence, OXO Tower, and just the beautiful view down the Thames.

We stopped for about 30 min. at the Tate Modern, where Alex and I took a few minutes to survey the exhibits on the 2nd floor. There I saw paintings by Rene Magritte, Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso among others. I'm planning to go back to survey more, perhaps this weekend.

We continued on and crossed the Millennium bridge, a foot bridge built in 2000. Once we were on the other side we took a walk down the north side of the river before stopping to survey the south side, including the H.M.S. Belfast, the Tower Bridge and the new London City government building, a very modern building, that purists of London do not like seeing popping up.

We walked further down to our destination at the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Passing by the Tower of London, originally built in 1076, was surreal because of the history of the Tower including the be-headings of traitors to the crown, to the many wives of King Henry VIII.

We saw Traitor's Gate, where the condemned were brought, after arriving from the river. The gate originally was raised in the year 1230.

After passing and taking more pictures than I need, as I will definitely be back to that spot, we reached our final destination, upon the Tower Bridge, where I took more pictures, as you can see it here.



Every day there has been a new adventure with new happenings. I hope to bring you more soon. Thanks for reading.