Europe2016

Christmas Market in front of the Tate Modern, the Shard tower in the distance. The inside of the Tate Modern looks to be worth another trip: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern

bubbles...

Still a working river... Taken from near the Tate Modern, with the London Millennium Bridge barely visible on the right side of the picture. And, of course, the ubiquitous construction cranes.

Blackfriars railway station/bridge, the world's largest solar-power bridge. This link has some interesting pictures of it from overhead: www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/22/worlds-largest-solar-powered-bridge-opens-in-london

The insignia of the London Chatham and Dover railway, one of the very many private rail transportation companies that came into being in the mid-1800's, were eventually nationalized into British Rail, and then re-privatized into the current network. This became part of what is now the Southern railway, a private company experiencing labor problems when I was there. (Embedded in this rather cursory explanation is volumes of issues regarding private/public owndership and operation of infrastructure).

London Golden Jubilee bridge ..there's actually two pedestrian bridges here with the Hungerford railway bridge in between. The pedestrian bridges are basically hung from the piers of the railway bridge.

I find the Eye more appealing looking during the day, more like a monument and less like a giant amusement-park ride.

Paris has the Eiffel Tower, London has the Coca Cola Eye? Like Coke, it's visible everywhere. Riding it would provide an interesting view, but for some reason I could not get interested in paying over £ 20 do it. Taken with my pocket camera, which is easier for night photography than my regular camera.

Even more reason I couldn't bring myself to riding the Coca Cola Eye -- the proximity of American amusement industry.

You can't seem to escape The Eye or construction cranes in London, this taken from near Blackfriar's bridge (auto/pedestrian) on the north bank of the Thames.

Taken from east of London Bridge, in the distance is construction of 1 Blackfriars, 274 units from £1,150,000 (roughly $1.42 million). See: www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/new-homes/london/southwark/one-blackfriars

The red color scheme in this bridge is said to match the color of the chairs in the House of Lords.

"274 Luxury Apartments For Sale" -- not quite yet. Construction at 1 Blackfriars (see #0094, nearby)

The City of London is guarded by 12 dragon statues, this is the one on Victoria Embankment. See: bringingdragonstolife.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/the-city-of-london-dragon-boundary-mark-story-2

The Shard, taken from somewhere near Tower Bridge.

Jet contrails over The Shard. I'd just missed a shot where The Shard lined up directly with the junction of the two contrails. Taken from near Tower Bridge.

The Shard, just south of London Bridge, at 95 stories the tallest building in the UK. Designed by Renzo Piano, it opened in 2012. The tenants are a mix of offices, residences, hotel, and shops, plus an observation platform at the top. Photo taken from Millenium Bridge. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shard