The Shard

You would need a head for heights to work way up there! Hope your appt at Guys went well.

Very well thanks Dwyllis. Visiting the viewing gallery when it opens is on my to do list.

It's a fantastic view !

No Hywel, you cant have one in the garden. Blodyn wouldnt like it.

LOL :D I was just thinking one of those would make a nice focal point in my garden ;o) ... but if Blodyn wouldn't like it, I'll have to do without ;o)

Brilliant photo's, incredible buildings, thanks for showing them

Wow! - hope everything's OK with you Denise.

Thank you for your blog, it was fantastic

wow! stunning aerial view:-)))

An amazing building but I wouldn't want to work there , I would have nightmares of the twin towers !!

Yes, it's certainly change in Lon don Bridge area since I worked there as a school leaver in 1975.It was such a run down area around Guys Hospital(Borough High Street and up to Elephant and Castle etc) but unrecognisable now...much smarter.
My office in St Thomas street was right opposite an entrance to Guys!
Smashing photos DRC

Everything was ok thanks Sheilar. You already have great views Hywel.
Yes it is an amazing building I really fell in love with it and it seems very tactile and reminds me of the inside of Superman's Fortress of Solitude with those wonderful shards of ice. I would adore to live in it just for the experience of entering it everyday and of course those views also the visitors who would want to come and stay.

Wow, interesting blog Drc, I wouldn't want to clean all those windows!!!!!

Great photo`s Denise, I`m not usually bothered by heights but think that one I might have to think twice about, I don`t think I could ever live anywhere like that though....

Well Denise, I have seen the shard a lot recently as my hubb was in St Thomas' for eight days, back home now, glad to say and much better, his bed was by a window in his ward right next to the London eye and big ben, such a great view at night time.
Love the Shard view from Guys though, a much different angle than the one you get in the train!! We are going to go up to the top one day, think the opening is February @ £25 pp. quite a lot I think, but suppose they need to glean back some revenue!

Great pics Denise, don't think I'd like to live there though. Doesn't everything look lovely wih a blue sky background:-)

Glad thats over for you grandmage. I do hope to go up it next year. The London Eye is £18 so for a new attraction the price is comparable, ok if its only for one but for a family it is steep.

Fab views Denise - The London skyline always looks far more interesting on a bright sunny day. I went on the London Eye for the first time in September for my Birthday. I couldn't believe how far you could see - We clearly saw the Shard and the Gerkin and I was pleased to see the 1986 Lloyd's of London Building where I used to work! Life before floristry :o)))

It is lovely to see the city Petal. I love the London Eye too, and could see the old Westminster hospital where I worked for 10 years.

I had to go and check in my movies form the London Eye if I would see anything, but no... I was there in August 2009, just 4 months from the beginning of the construction...
It is an interesting blog, thanks for sharing.

I did my first teaching practice in Borough High Street in 1966 - this certainly highlights the passage of time since then!

London use to be full of Londoners now a days everyone is from somewhere else! I miss the London I knew although I love the new buildings and the new events such as the New year fireworks but its a lot less safe.

Great pics Denise! We certainly have some iconic structures in London now..beats those awful concrete "blocks". Glad to hear everything ok with you.

Looks Great I'm not One For Height's but great Veiws.

Neither am I Lynda!!!

I thought of you a few weeks ago, Denise. OH and I were staying at an hotel in Southwark and could see the Shard out of the window - looks great at night.

I love London at night Melch though I have yet to see the Shard at night.

I told my son how nice it was to have a view of the Shard (and the Gherkin) out of the window. He seemed to think you would be hard pressed to find a room that didn't! I don't believe it! ( Well - we wouldn't have had one if we'd been on the other side of the hotel!)

I know what he means though for when I drive in London the Gherkin seems to be at the end of every road.

Lol! I know what you mean! I admire you for driving in London. It's about 3 years since I last drove there (south of Finchley, anyway, which doesn't really count!)

I only drive the areas I know such as NW1 and SW1 and around Bow.

It's not quite so bad if you know the area - once you know which lane you need! Even the North Circular can be a bit hairy, and the South Circular...!

I so agree, nowadays I hate driving anywhere new unless I have someone to help read the signs.

Absolutely. I find Google Streetview very useful when I am planning a particularly "interesting" journey. I suss out all the junctions that look at all confusing on the map. (I'm a great map-reader - bedtime choice sometimes ) I find it good to be able to see if there are lights, etc, and even spot the lane markings. When we went to Southwark, we took the train. Very unusual for us. It might well be car again next time. (We stay somewhere like Finchley and then tube the rest of the way) Mind you, we did choose the weekend of the great storm and thought we might have to stay an extra day. In the event, by the time we were due to leave, on the Monday evening, things were pretty well back to normal so we had no problem.

I do love my forays back down to London (I was born in Wembley) and went to college there in the 60s. Our eldest spends most of his time there now, so there's always an excuse!

I lived in london as a single girl for 10 years in the 70's and now my daughter has a flat in London. I still miss it though it is very different to my day. We are only 40 mins from the M25 also the train in our village has an hourly service with the last train getting here at 1am so we can get home and dont need to stay over night which is sadly so costly now adays.

I'm very happy not to live in London, but there's just something about it. It's certainly very different now, though - you're right there. Many places are so much smarter than they used to be. My mother finds it hard to believe that any part of Islington can possibly be at all posh!