London has been breathtaking so far. Everything we have visited so far has not been short of amazing. The three places that stood out to me on the first three days of the trip were St. Paul’s Cathedral on day one, The ArcelorMittal Orbit “Twizzler” on day two, and The London Eye on day three. These three sites particularly stand out to me due to their access to view the city from above. What makes it really amazing is that these are three very different structures in different locations around London. All three sites give you a completely different view of the city.
KEEP IT MOVING!!!!
On day one we went to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and it was defiantly worth the 528 step climb to the Golden Gallery at the top. The 85m view of the city gave me a sense of how big London really is. I was amazed by the views looking out from St. Paul’s, but it was also really interesting seeing the openings left in the planning for to city to preserve the views of St. Paul’s. I was so amazed by the view, that I had to take one last photo and in the process of taking it we got yelled at by the worker in the picture to keep it moving.
Bottom of the twizzler looking up.
The 80m tall observation deck that looks over Olympic Park
On day two we went to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and went to the top of the “Twizzler” to go down the curly metal slide. I was not able to get a photo from the top because we couldn’t bring any personal items on the slide. Once we got up to the 80m tall observation deck I was able to get a birds eye view of the Olympic stadium, swimming pavilion and the city from far away.
View from the top of the London Eye.
On day three of the trip we rode The London Eye, the pod took us up 135m to give a nice view of the city and the River Thames. This 360 viewing pod gave me a perfect view of the city from every angle and helped me understand the scale of everything in the city a little bit more.
Wow! Totally cool! Somehow we missed seeing The Twizzler! London is a fantastic city and it sounds like you’re having a great time!
Love you,
Grammy
Flying over the city on Friday really gave me an initial sense of the size and density of London. After having a few days on the ground, visiting sites, and understanding all the ways of getting between them, it’s great to revisit their relationships from above. Rarely do we get to experience a bird’s eye perspective in person. Being able to see the city unfold and trace its development from multiple points of view has been a wonderful opportunity in understanding London’s richness and complexity.