Photo Pest: Embankment Stroll

Thursday, October 27, 2022

A map of London at the Shard was detailed enough to identify the location of our Airbnb, at the end of Church Street closest to the Thames.

We began our leisurely stroll east on the Chelsea Embankment. Even London's park benches are done.

Grand homes line the embankment on the north side of the Thames. The south side is more industrial.

We passed the Tate Britain, where we'd seen Hew Locke's "Procession" Sunday afternoon

. . . the Victoria Tower of Parliament

. . . an entrance to the Palace of Westminster

. . . Big Ben

. . . Whitehall Gardens

. . . and the Eye.

I'd ridden the Eye with Tom and Audrey but when no tickets were available, I booked a lunch reservation at the Shard so Tom would get another aerial view of London.

We crossed the Thames on the Golden Jubilee Bridges.

Southwark has a grittier feel.

A 2:30 p.m. lunch reservation abbreviated our tour of the glorious Tate Modern, which I had visited in 2016. "If ever there was a temple of art, this is it," I told Thom.

After lunch, we wandered through nearby Borough Market.

Redevelopment and restoration seem to have taken Southwark by storm in equal measure. It was almost as touristed as central London, especially once we found Queen's Walk to Tower Bridge.

I can't decide if Tower Bridge or Big Ben is more iconic. We couldn't have crossed it at a better--or busier--time. It really felt as if the entire world had descended on London!