Battersea Bridge to Westminster

We had sunny weather again yesterday, and it looks like we might not have that again for a while, so I seized the opportunity to walk another portion of the Thames Path. I walked about four miles from Battersea Bridge to Westminster, along the river's south bank.

I started the walk by meandering around on the foreshore of the Thames, because the tide was out and the pebbly river bottom was exposed. It was very firm here, unlike farther downstream when it becomes perilously silty and muddy.

Then I got up on the riverside path and headed toward Battersea Park. Above is the beautiful but relatively fragile Albert Bridge.

The plants along the walkway were sending out their fat springtime buds.

I revisited the Battersea Power Station, where there were lots of people reclining on the grass and enjoying the sun. I didn't go inside, but Dave and I have made it a goal to go up to the viewing platform in the smokestack sometime this week.

This fun pavement game adorns an outdoor patio. It looks like the adults enjoy it as much as the kids!

I finally, FINALLY got to see the Sky Pool near the U.S. Embassy. It's 25 meters long and spans a gap between two residential buildings, 115 feet in the air. No one was swimming yesterday -- it's still too chilly -- but I can still imagine what a bizarre experience that must be. It's open only to residents of the surrounding buildings who are members of a fancy rooftop club, so I will probably never know for sure.

I was taken with the crazy reflections in this window of an office tower farther along the path. It's like a funhouse mirror. The yellow and white squares at left are full-sized passenger buses parked across the street!

I had a nice view of Westminster Palace and the Houses of Parliament across the river. You can also see the two white towers of Westminster Abbey, just to the left of the palace's tall Victoria Tower.

This is the National Covid Memorial Wall, which bears 220,000 red and pink hearts, each one representing someone who died with Covid on their death certificate. Anyone who thinks Covid is a mild illness should see this -- it's a good representation of the heavy toll the virus took, particularly in its early days.

And finally, near the Westminster tube station, this guy was handing out free Qur'ans, which seems like a potentially provocative thing to do on Easter. (Maybe he's always there.) But as he says on his signs, Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet -- just not the last or most important one. I liked the unifying approach of the message.