Platform 9 3/4 and a tour of London on July 7th

We picked up Steven, our guide, this morning and took off to see more sites of London. 

He pointed out 'the Shard" a building that just opened July 5th in London.  It is in the shape of a spire and is now the tallest building in Western Europe.  It cost about 25pounds to go to the top - we didn't go...

We went to St. Paul's Cathedral and walked on the Milleniun (spelling?) bridge.  St. Paul's has had a church on that site since 604 A.D.!  St. Paul's was started in 1675 and took 35 years to build.  Wren (Thomas?) was the architect, and unusually, stayed with the project until it's completion...a bit unusual we were told.  In contrast, Westminster Abby took 150 years to build! 

 St. Paul's Cathedral

 Jane on the Millenium Bridge with the Tower Bridge in the distance...

St. Paul's Cathedral taken from the Millenium Bridge

The Millenium bridge is often called "The Wobbly Bridge" because when it was first opened, it had to be closed because it wobbled too much.  It was closed for 18 months to stabilize it.  Lord Norman Foster was the designer...and he blamed the engineers for it wobbling...and the engineers blamed Foster...so he ended up disassociating himself from the project! 

Double decker buses were everywhere.  Steven told us that London has always had them, even when they were pulled by horses! 

Talking about the architecture of the city, he told us buildings built during a king or queen's reign, is known by that name.  Ex.  Victorian architecture was built/designed during Queen Victoria's reign. 

A highlight for many, was going to the Underground station called King's Cross.  This is where Platform 9 from Harry Potter was.  There was Platform 9 3/4 with half of a buggy attached to the wall where MANY photos were taken.  Cute!  We didn't ride the tube, but he told us that London's Underground is the oldest and largest in the world! 

London is so diverse...he told us there are over 400 languages and dialects spoken in the city.  As you know, London is getting ready for the Olympics, which most are NOT looking forward to.  Many streets are being shut down...which will really impact the tourist trade.

London was a very important Roman city.  The north side of the Thames River was developed by the Roman's first because it had bedrock to build on.  The south side was marshy, so in the 5th or 6th century, it was drained so it could be built on.

The Changing of the Guard was next...although many didn't see too much of it.  There must be 1 million people there...it's crazy.  We got separated into two groups (by accident) but each group had two leaders!  Kim and I were with one group of only two...Dyana and Emily (Redding).  We held Emily up so she could film part of the ceremony going on inside the palace grounds.  The Changing of the Guard happens everyday at 11:30 a.m.  The regiment that guards all the Queen's places changes...one regiment leaves, a new regiment comes...that's the changing of the guards.

From there we went to the Imperial War Museum...fascinating!  They also have a piece of the Berlin Wall there.  What you see in Europe is the education on WWII.   Europe was obviously so impacted...so destroyed in parts...that the topic is a common one...people know so much about it, much more than in the United States. 

 This is part of the Berlin Wall...

 Lane was stuck!  (just kidding!)

Back on the bus we got...and said goodbye to London, England.  We then took off on about a 2.5 hour drive to the Isle of Wight....where the United Kingdom Sailing Academy is located.  We took a ferry to the Isle...(about an hour ride)...then got off, boarded our suitcases into a van...and took a 'chain ferry' across some more water to get to where we are now. 

We had dinner...the delegates were given an orientation for the next two days...we had dinner...and then everyone hung out until about 10 p.m. 

It is the end of Day 9...

and I'm caught up with the blog!  The photos are slow...some won't even load...but I'll do what I can...all of them, well, maybe not all (I think I've taken about 900 so far) will be posted once we're back in the states.