16 Aug 05: Walking from St Pauls to Tower of London

After departing from the St Paul's Cathedral, I tried to figure out how to walk towards the Millennium Bridge. SH had told me that the Millennium Bridge is nearby St Paul's Cathedral and I should try to walk it if I were nearby the bridge.

It took me a while to figure out the right directions to head to the Millennium Bridge. Would anyone believe me if I were to tell them that I could find satisfaction in finding my way about when I am out for walks alone? It is as if a test of one's resourcefulness and sense of direction. Maybe like Mystic have said, I enjoy having the boost of ego? I don't know if she's right anyway, but let her be. I don't think it is such a big matter to be argued over, furthermore with a good friend.



Watching the activities on the streets as I head for the Millennium Bridge. The light of summer seemed to have make everything looks more beautiful.

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Self-taken photo of myself on the Millennium Bridge. The cathedral in the background is the St Paul's Cathedral.

The Millennium Bridge has a very contemporary and futuristic look. However, it was one of those bridge that I felt shaky on. There was a feeling that the bridge may rock and throw me down if I was not careful.
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I passed by the Tate Modern museum. Now I regret not visiting it. I had thought that I may not like contemporary art styles, but I realised I do like to see the works of certain artists whose works are being exhibited in Tate Modern. Hopefully I will have a chance to make up for this loss.

As I walked along River Thames towards the direction of Tower Bridge, I passed by the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. As I was not a fan of Shakespeare, I decided to give it a miss. But I know of Shakespeare's fans who would have wish to visit Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

It felt peaceful to walk along River Thames that day. I found myself enjoying the scenes along the river. The water from River Thames seemed to have soothing powers that beckoned one to slow down a bit. Out of the spur of the moment, I decided to walk along the stretch of River Thames, via Tower Bridge, to the Tower of London. This walk proved to take much longer than I had thought, but I decided to see the plan through.

Please refer to: The walk on 16 Aug 05 on my other blog to view the photographs that I have taken along the way.

It felt hungry along the way, and decided to buy myself lunch nearby the London Bridge tube station. I had soup and bread that afternoon for my lunch. It was alright, but I like the food from the Soup Spoon food outlet in Singapore much better. At this rate, I may soon earn myself the reputation of being the most unforgiving and candid food critic.



Tower Bridge.
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I finally reached Tower Bridge after walking for quite a while and figuring the way to the Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge was completed in 1894, after 8 years of construction. I was browsing online and found out that Tower Bridge is lifted approximately 1000 times a year to allow tall ships, cruise ships, naval vessels and other large craft to pass through. The schedule is available on: http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/TowerBridge/English/BridgeLifts/.

The question on my mind was how the traffic would be aware of the times that the bridge would be lifted so that no vehicle nor person would be left stranded on the lifting bridge. I am not joking, it happened before. (Click this link and read the section Interesting facts about the Tower Bridge, under 1952.)

Crossed Tower Bridge, and found myself outside the walls of the Tower of London.