Thames Day 3: London Bridge to Bermondsey...

This was the first time that I’d ever been east of Tower Bridge, which I couldn’t help but photograph from these new angles many times. It was incredible that we completely left the crowds of tourists behind and entered a different era in history: the time of sailing ships and warehouses.

This area once was home to the worst slums in London. The warehouses and wharves were targeted during the Blitz of World War II and fell further into decline after the war. It has clearly now been revitalized and is home to many cool upmarket residential buildings.

Couldn’t help but think that this looks like something owned by a super villian in a James Bond movie...

...especially considering the looks of most of the boats along this stretch of river.

This three-part sculpture by Diane Gorvin in 2014 is entitled Dr. Salter’s Daydream. Here is his wife, Ada, who was the first female mayor of the borough in 1922...

...their daughter Joyce, who died of scarlet fever when she was eight...

...and the doctor himself, Alfred, who treated his poorest patients without charge and entered politics to try to effect changes in the squalid environment of Bermondsey.

Thames Day 3: Good Morning...

We woke up early on Sunday morning to grab some breakfast at the nearby Wetherspoons Pub before heading out for our final stage of our trek across London. While Jimmy and I would be spending one more night at the Hub, Kent had to carry their big bag as they’d be flying home that evening. 

It was nice to just be able to walk to where we finished last night. Along the way to our starting point across Tower Bridge, we happened upon these wire lions. From the 1200s until 1835, the Tower of London had a Royal Menagerie, essentially the first zoo in London, as a result of medieval monarchs exchanging rare and strange animals as gifts. These lion sculptures by Kendra Haste in 2010 commemorate the former inhabitants of the Tower.

We also saw a great view of The Shard...

...and London Tower under beautiful clear skies.

Thames Day 2: Tate Modern to Tower Bridge...

I didn’t take a lot of photos on the final leg of that day. Here’s Southwark Bridge, an arch bridge built in 1921...

...and here’s some shots of The Shard’s modernity in sharp contrast to Southwark Cathedral’s steadfastness.

We stopped at London Bridge to have drinks with Jan and Andrew, who were visiting the UK from South African...

...and then carried onto Tower Bridge, our endpoint for the day with a total of 8.75 miles (14K).

It’s always impressive to see the Tower of London lit up for the night.

We had been looking forward all day to going to the pie shop near our hotel which had a big board outside advertising their large variety of pies. Imagine how disappointed we were to discover after opening our bottle of wine that they only had beef pies left. Needless to say, we left after finishing our wine. Considering it was Saturday night, we didn’t have high hopes of getting a table when we went to the pub next to our hotel with a rather ominous name: Hung, Drawn & Quartered. Not only did we manage to get a table and our choice of delicious pies, but we also got incredible service and a free pint glass to take home.

Thames Day 2: Tate Modern

We couldn’t walk past Tate Modern without popping in to check out some of the free exhibits. In the immense Turbine Hall was Fons Americanus, a 43-foot (13-meter) tall working fountain inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace by American artist Kara Walker.

It was made using an environmentally-conscious production process out of recyclable and reusable cork, wood and metal. How surprising to see a temporary piece of art of that massive scale with folks sitting on it.

Walker says this piece serves as “an allegory of the Black Atlantic, and really all global waters, which disastrously connect Africa to America, Europe and economic prosperity.”

It was damn impressive from all angles. 

Upstairs in the Artist Rooms we saw some great painting and prints by American artist Ed Ruscha.

About Our Flag, 2017, Ruscha said “any flag that flies for 250 years is bound to get a little ragged and tattered, especially if we help it along.”

Shinjuku Station was taken in 1962 by Chinese photographer Hiro. I was especially drawn to this as I’ve been to that station in Tokyo in 2015.

Made in 2016 by Polish artist Monika Sosnowska, Pavilion is painted steel weighing over two tons. It depicts the failure of building during the era of communist rule in Poland, including the use of lower quality materials than those intended by architects and making changes which contradicted the architects’ original utopian vision. 

Despite the gray skies, I was happy to bring the others to the 10th floor open viewing deck since none of them had been there before.

Thames Day 2: Lambeth Bridge to Westminster Bridge...

The current day Palace of Westminster, otherwise known as the Houses of Parliament, dates to 1876. The earlier medieval palace complex was destroyed by fire in 1834. As you can see on the right, Big Ben was completely covered in scaffolding; the renovation project is slated to be completed in 2021.

Kent proudly carried his South African flag all day.

Everything changed the second we passed through the tunnel under Westminster Bridge and officially entered South Bank, an entertainment and commercial district in central London. Not only were there crowds everywhere, but also tacky tourist sites like The London Dungeon.

The London Eye

The Hungerford Bridge is a railway bridge that opened in 1864. It is flanked by the Golden Jubilee Bridges, two cable-stayed pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge’s foundation piers that opened in 2002. 

Under the Southbank Centre is the Southbank Skatepark, which has been used unofficially for over 40 years. I was much more interested in the urban art than the skateboarders.

Over the logo of Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement that utilizes nonviolent civil disobedience, was Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist who at 15 started a school climate strike movement that went global in 2018.

Since the Thames is tidal, a beach appears twice daily at Bankside, which allows for temporary sand sculptures.

Thames Day 2: Battersea to Lambeth Bridge...

The next bridge was Vauxhall, a steel and granite deck arch bridge which opened in 1906.

Little did I know when I took this photo of a tourist’s unusual outfit, that masks would be much more than a fashion statement just a few months later.

Four statues, depicting such disciplines as Science, Fine Arts and Architecture and each weighing two tons, were installed one year after the bridge opened, only to be seen from the river banks or river itself.

We couldn’t pass under the bridge due to a big construction project surrounding the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) Building, which you might remember from recent James Bond movies. I was so intimidated by the incredible number of surveillance cameras around the building, that I failed to take any photos as we skirted around the impressive building.

The next bridge was Lambeth, built in 1932, with the first glimpse of Victoria Tower at Westminster Palace, built in 1860.

Just before we reached Lambeth Bridge, we stopped for lunch at Tamesis Dock aboard a converted 1930s Dutch barge.

It was cozy inside and the food was affordable and yummy.

It was also pretty funky, which was a nice change from the usual pubs.