The sun was (is) shining through partly scattered clouds and there was a modest cool breeze. On such a morning, surely the system would be happy and all would be right with the world. But THE SYSTEM did not get the message. As I strolled toward the bike shop to inquire about a bike for hire (when in London talk, like the Londoners), I passed another bike station and tried again. Strike two. A resident with a quick pass also had no luck. The bike shop did not hire out bikes but he gave instructions to a place he thought did. I passed another bike station. Strike three. On to The London Bicycle Tour Company located by The Thames. At first, I thought that I would just rent a bike for an hour to get in my daily ride. But, as I thought about it further, I did not need to have the continued hassle over whether the bike station would work, especially on Thursday when I plan to do a very early ride before heading to Paris. Or, given that I was up to 2:00 AM last night, a midnight ride. So, a two day rental it was.
I had a great exchange with Josie, who helped with the hiring of the bike at London Bicycles.
Okay. I'm back. Everything above was written in the late morning as I waited for Carol to get back so that we could go out and about. I have lots of pictures, it's already 10:15PM and I don't want to be up till midnight working on this, so, I'm going to rush through the remaining text.
After I got the bike, I rode along the walkway along the Thames for a bit and all felt right with the world on my new rental. A big load was taken off my shoulder not having to worry if the bike stations would work or not. In a tunnel, I came across an accordion player whose music was actually agreeable to me as I'm not usually a fan of the accordion.
And, here is my obligatory picture of Big Ben and The Parliament Building which was rather striking from my view along the Thames.
I was only able to get in about half of my ride before I had to get back to the hotel to meet up with Carol. But with the sun setting at 9:00, that gave me plenty of time. On the agenda today was St Paul's Cathedral and The Tower of London. St. Paul's was indeed impressive and I liked it much more than Westminster Abbey. Though, what I liked the best was the climb to the top of the dome which was 87 meters or about 270 feet high. Once at the top, we walked on a small concrete catwalk of sorts around the top dome. I have a fear of heights and I was nervous at first but before I knew it, the fears melted away and I was having a great time up there taking pictures.
I liked the building above that reminded me of a Faberge Egg.
I wondered if this was an old plaza that eventually became surrounded by modern buildings.
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| The Eye and Waterloo & Westminster Bridges on The Thames |
I liked the looks of this building which reminded me of Cubism painting.
Millennium Bridge
Kylie was trying to take a picture of herself with The Thames in the background so I offered to take one for her with her camera. We continued talking and I found out she was from New Zealand, via a 2 months trek through the U.S. which she enjoyed immensely. I asked her to pose again for me.
It was with much regret that I descended back down. I felt as if the most spiritual part of the building was there at the very top. But, down I went.
We then made our way over to The Tower of London. Along the way we passed a monument by Christopher Wren in commemoration of the 1666 fire that burned down virtually all of London.
We arrived at The Tower with only an hour before they closed. I found the sign by the ticket window a bit amusing.
While seeing the Crown Jewels was interesting as was the old structures, all-in-all the visit there was disappointing as it seemed very touristy.
We finally arrived back at the hotel and I was exhausted, almost falling asleep when I lied down for a moment. Since the traffic was still so heavy, Carol had the great idea that we go eat dinner before I squeezed in the remainder of my ride. It was an excellent suggestion as by the time I was on the road around 8:30ish, the traffic was much lighter and it was very enjoyable pedaling around. Here was yet another time, where I was amazed how invigorated I felt being on the bike even though 30 minutes before I felt so wiped out. It was a great ride.
The elevators in the hotel are glass and look down on the dining area. I couldn't resist taking a picture.
Today's Ride: 65mins. 8 miles. 60 degrees. Miles YTD: 3,473.69
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