Posted Oct 24, 2022, 2:14 PM
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Hong Kong
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 8,696
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hkskyline's 2022 in LONDON
London has always been a very special place for me. Going way back, I used to make annual visits to see friends and springboard into the rest of Europe. While those visits have dwindled in recent years as I chose more convenient and cheaper places to transit, this place has that certain level of familiarity.
Getting here is an adventure in itself. From Hong Kong, we used to get plenty of daily flights but with the pandemic restrictions persisting, I already thanked my lucky stars the 21 day hotel quarantine on return has changed to 7 in early 2022. I took the gamble and booked a flight despite the airline not resuming flying here yet. Then came airport chaos in Europe as they re-opened to normality, but I arrived unscathed without delays in the early summer.
Despite being a frequent visitor, I start with the traditional tourist circuit with a walk along the Thames. With cool summer weather as I came before the heat wave, I noticed tourist crowds have returned and life has gone back to normal.
Big Ben started ticking in 1859 and the structure was covered in scaffolding from 2017 to 2022 for restoration that costed 80 million pounds. Can you see the dials are now back to their original Prussian blue?
Continuing down Victoria Street, I passed more government offices and veered into the side streets for the surprisingly nice entrance to St. James's Park Tube station.
Queen Anne's Gate is a quiet side street with grand homes in Queen Anne architectural style. Their backs face into St. James's Park, and the street's tidiness suggests it's not a cheap area to live in.
A short walk away is the serene Royal Military Chapel. During World War II, the church was bombed and destroyed but the 6 silver candles on the main altar had not gone out, and have been kept lit since. The current chapel was built in 1963.
I then headed back to Parliament Square along the leafy Birdcage Walk to see the monumental government buildings along Whitehall. This area was actually a royal residence back in the 16th and 17th centuries until a great fire took out almost everything in 1698.
Nice promenades line both sides of the Thames and it is a comfortable flat walk all the way to The City.
The City's skyscraper developments have irked some conservationists all the way up to the royals. The Gherkin is almost entirely overshadowed by many taller neighbours. It wasn't long ago when it dominated the skyline.
Unfortunately, Tate Modern's viewing deck was not open today. With clearing skies, I decided to see the museum exhibits on another, likely rainy, day.
I had a grand plan to head past Tower Bridge along the South Bank, but the blue sky lured me to cross the Thames here to see St. Paul's and into The City to look for historic alleys now wedged between skyscrapers.
I actually quite like the modern and historic mix in the financial district. Even some of the new buildings respectfully keep to the neighbourhood heights to give it a bit more intimate human scale, although there are a few blocks where things get a bit more crazy and out of proportion.
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 with a mission to serve the people as the government's banker and debt manager. The current building was a redevelopment completed in 1939. Note that a lot of central banks store their gold in the basement vaults here.
Across the street from the bank is the Royal Exchange, which was established in 1566 for trading stocks, taking inspiration from the Bourse in Antwerp. The current building is a third generation that was opened by Queen Victoria in 1844. It was extensively renovated in 2001 and is now a shopping mall.
Despite many modern skyscrapers in the area now, there are still a number of narrow alleys in the road plan. A bit hard to imagine what they were like hundreds of years ago though ...
I somewhat stumbled across Leadenhall Market, and it was a lucky discovery. Despite having walked around these streets a number of times before, I didn't realize how beautiful this place is. There were a lot of bankers enjoying a drink here during mid-afternoon. Interestingly, this isn't a scene we would see in Hong Kong, where bankers would be huddled high above the city in harbour-view offices to encourage rich folks to hand over an ounce of their wealth.
But this would be a nice place to have a drink and see what my bankers have to offer me.
Next door is an architecture fan must-see. Lloyd's services facilities, including staircases, elevators, toilets, and pipes, are placed on the outside of the building to facilitate maintenance. Just 25 years after it opened, it was listed as a Grade 1 building in 2011. If you are a VIP and want your leg or arm insured, this is the place to go to.
More photos coming on the next part or visit my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/london.htm
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