London - South Bank

A number of years ago I learned the lesson that if you are thinking of going out to see a concert or show at night in London, get your tickets in advance so that you have an incentive to get on your tired feet and go out rather than staying back at the hotel say you are too tired. So I had bought tickets for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton conducting, and Freddy Kempff tickling the ivories.

We took the tube to the Embankment tube station and walked across the new Golden Jubilee pedestrian bridge replacing the old pedestrian part of the Hungerford Bridge.

I've always enjoyed crossing over to the south bank on the way to Royal Festival Hall in the late afternoon. The city is just laid out before you and the Thames lies below. This is London!

At half time at the concert, we walked out on to the balcony area at the concert hall and took some photos. Here you can see the new modern pedestrian bridge and the new Charing Cross station.

The first half of the concert (Glinka - Russlan and Ludmilla, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #1 was not too inspiring. Kempff played well but it was obvious that Litton was not a natural Tchaikovsky conductor. He appears to be at his best when the music is fast and loud, but seems to have no idea of how to really shape a phrase when the music is slower. We were sitting behind the orchestra and could see how he interacted with the orchestra. He just looks bored and waggles his wand morosely when the music is slow.

The Rachmaninov Symphony #2 in the 2nd half went much better and the orchestra responded better to him. Obviously, there was a lot more rehearsal for this piece, which is quite normal in concert programs. The orchestra played well, but their string sections are no match for Philadelphia and sounded quite scratchy by comparison. The Philly Orchestra is just made to play Rachmaninov with much more power and a deeper sound. I hope Litton does not become Philly's new conductor.

Interestingly, I thought the Royal Festival Hall was not as big as I remembered.

The London Eye and Big Ben.

One of the two new pedestrian bridges on either side of the railway bridge. There used to be only one pedestrian bridge on the east side of the railway bridge.

The bridge makes for interesting photos.

The next morning we headed off from the Bayswater Underground Station to the south bank at Westminster. One of the features of underground stations used to be looking at the advertisements that lined the walls of the stations. The economic downturn seems to have affected advsertizing budgets since there were not too many advertisments now.

C lived in the house where the Police van is standing.  The James Bond version was known as M.

You can't go to London without taking a photo of Big Ben.

An so, on a gloomy and cold day, we headed off towards the London Eye on the south bank.

The front of the old County Building across the river from Big Ben. It was an area seldom visited by tourists but now there is a constant stream of tourists all along the south bank to Tower Bridge.

The tires on the red device revolve and cause the big wheel to slowly revolve. Watching it, you get the curious sense that the red thing is moving and the big wheel is stationary.

One of the pods was naughty and tried to swim away but it was recaptured.

Underneath one of the new Golden Jubilee pedestrian bridges. The old pedestrian walkway was situated on top of the right hand side of the big red pier that the railway bridge rests on.

Look at the inscription on the seat (click the photo).

Stairway at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The bus stop on Waterloo Bridge where Georgi Markov was shot with an umbrella.

A Pieminister 'moo and blue' pie. It was a pretty good pie but different from an Aussie pie. Here the pastry is not so flaky, the gravy is runnier and the shape of the pie is deeper.

Some colour.

The outside of the former Bankside Power Station which now houses the Tate Modern.

Kids in the old generating room. This was a week of school holidays and the place was overrun with school children. We did not linger and headed on.

The new Millenium Bridge for pedestrians heading over from tate Modern to St Paul's Cathedral. We did not bother to walk on it however since it was quite cold and windy.

Unfortunately, the Globe Theatre was not open so we didn't get to go inside. Perhaps next time when we are in London we will get to go there.

I liked the slogan on the icecream truck. Despite the cold and wind, there were plenty of people licking their icecreams. Only the English!!

Replica of Drake's Golden Hind. We could hear a group of children being sworn in as pirates as we walked past. They seemed to be enthusiastic.

When I first came to London in 1974, this whole area was docks and warehouses. Now the docks are gone and in this case, the dock has been filled in, a fancy roof added, and it is now a shopping arcade.

So on past HMS Belfast which I explored years ago and on to Tower Bridge.

But first we have to walk past the end of a big pickle.

Using Google Earth, I calculated that the walk along the south bank was just two and a quarter miles but in reality it is a lot more as you have to go out of your way in a number of places and of course you don't wlk in a straight line when you are site seeing. Expect to walk over five miles from the Embankment tube station to the Tower Bridge tube station. For a fee you can take a tour of the bridge and an associated museum which I did years ago but not this time. If you are interested in how the bridge works, it is worth it.

The centre of the bridge where the spans separate and lift up.

Mind the gap!

The moat at the Tower of London. You only go there once as the crowds are always horrendous.

Dinner at Kiasu on Queensway. Mine in front is the Nonya Laksa which I merrily splashed all over my shirt. The white rice noodles were deliciously crisp. In the background is whatever Marianne ordered. It wasn't as good or splashy as the Laksa.

 

For one pound you could order their durian icecream. If you don't know what it is, read the link to see why I felt I needed to try it once. When I had finished it, the waitress came over to see what I thought of it. I'm not sure how I would go eating the fruit by itself, but made into an icecream, it was quite edible but as Marianne said, it reminded her of onions. Definitely better than the black sapote icecream Robin and I tasted in Australia that made you think you were eating excrement.