Dragons, Furries and a Special Guest Star

Yesterday I finally got off my lazy behind and took a long walk through London. I did this because a Special Blogging Guest Star has come to town -- Sharon of Phoenix Daily Photo! So yay to Sharon for giving me some motivation!

I met up with her at her stylish hotel, the Fitzroy on Russell Square. Our original plan had been to go to the National Gallery, but as it turned out the weather yesterday was amazing -- bright blue sky, lots of sun and shadow. Given that the next couple of weeks are going to be cloudy and rainy, we figured we'd better carpe diem and spend the day outdoors.

So we set out instead for the City of London, and it was indeed an incredible day for photography. We stopped at the Holborn Viaduct, an ornate bridge over a roadway. I've photographed those dragons before but yesterday, in the sun, they really glowed!

I love days with no particular agenda. We kept wandering and crossed Paternoster Square, in the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral. The light was so perfect that I felt like every time we turned a corner we were presented with an amazing photographic opportunity.

It wasn't that cold, but this little pigeon decided to hunker down on a spotlight in a patio. Maybe it's not for warmth. Maybe that pigeon simply believes it has star quality and needs special lighting. "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."

We wandered into the church of St. Mary le Bow, which I'd never visited before. We were starting to think about lunch and there's a cafe in the crypt beneath the church, but as it turns out it's only open on weekdays. So we simply enjoyed the church's modernistic stained glass windows and airy vaulted space. Much of it was rebuilt after heavy damage in World War II.

It's the church that gives definition to the term Cockney -- supposedly, to be a true Cockney, one has to be born within earshot of its bells.

We finally found food not far away at a rather downmarket Costa coffee shop, where I got a "Hog Roast" toastie. I handed it to the cashier for toasting, and when he brought it to the counter a few minutes later, he announced that it was chicken. I didn't pick it up because I assumed it was someone else's sandwich; when I asked where mine was, he pointed at it. "Oh, I had the pork," I said. He replied, "There is no pork. You had that one."

So then I was completely confused about why a toastie called "Hog Roast" would contain chicken. I looked at the ingredients list before we left and of course it doesn't. I don't even know why I'm telling this story except to declare that I AM NOT INSANE and the sandwich called "Hog Roast" is, in fact, pork.

When we emerged onto the street we noticed that we were near the Fenchurch Building, home of the Sky Garden. We thought we might try to go up, but there was a long line and the ticket agent said we needed to pre-book.

So we kept walking, and a few blocks away we happened to look up and see a colorful building with people roaming around on the roof. Well, that looks like an observation deck, we thought -- and it is, a completely free one on the top of 120 Fenchurch Street. No pre-booking necessary!

We went up and enjoyed fabulous views over all of London. That's Sharon in the beige jacket, with the towers of Canary Wharf in the background.

Here's another perspective, including the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. How can you argue with a view like that?!

By this time it was mid-afternoon and we'd been walking a while, so we decided to catch the bus back to Sharon's hotel. We'd no sooner boarded and sat down than we passed a large group of people in furry animal costumes walking down the sidewalk.

That's a terrible picture, because it was taken from a moving bus, but you get the idea. It's a Furry parade!

We eventually made our way back to the Fitzroy and I dropped off Sharon before heading home myself. I enjoyed the bus ride so much that I took buses all the way back to West Hampstead, rather than getting on the dreary tube. Gotta maximize that sunlight while it's around!