the Monument

Last week, Wiley and I headed to the City with a friend and her mom to see the Monument. After arriving at London Bridge Station and being a bit turned around, we asked the London Dungeon man with fake blood on his face for which way to go to cross London Bridge. He directed us to Tower Bridge. We didn't fall for it. So often visitors here (and I've certainly never had any of these confused friends...haha) think London Bridge (very boring bridge) is Tower Bridge (very beautiful bridge). He must have heard our accents and assumed we were confused tourists as well. We were only directionally confused semi-locals, thank you very much.

After running into Wil and Grant near Leadenhall Market, we grabbed lunch at a stand there (delicious Mediterranean meze plate) and a sandwich for the children and headed down to Monument again. Thanks to semi-often trips for a curry in the City this summer, I was able to get us to Leadenhall and back again, which is always fun. Not that it is particularly hard! :-) We annoyed the City suits trying to take in a peaceful lunch as the children chased pigeons all around the Monument.

Here it is! 313 steps to the top! I did it at almost 20 weeks--and the fact that I'm proud of this may or may not be a bit pitiful. Needless to say, the children and mamas were tired after this day of walking.

The Monument was built as well, a monument, to the Great Fire of London 1666 and the consequential rebuilding of the City. The Fire destroyed a major part of the City including damage done to St.Paul's Cathedral. The column itself is the exact distance (202 feet) between the itself and the site of the beginning of the fire on Pudding Lane. Built and designed by Christopher Wren, who also designed St. Paul's, the column was initially used by scientists to carry out experiments, but thanks to traffic, it was not stable enough to measure accurately some of those experiments. Today, for 1 GBP for a child and 3 GBP for an adult, you can climb the stairs, enjoy a great panoramic view and get a certificate at the end that says "You did it!"

Looking towards (from left): Canary Wharf (far left, tall buildings), Tower of London, Tower Bridge (not London Bridge), and Southbank area...

Looking towards Parliament (far, far left, tiny tower-like building), London Eye (big circle!)

Looking towards St. Paul's (dead center)

We waved to Wil when we looked this way! Looking at the Gherkin (pickle shaped or as Wiley says rocket-shaped building), Lloyds of London is directly in front of it with blue cranes on the top. It is an inside-out building with all of its "insides" like plumbing on the outside.

Wahoo! We did it! My friend (the mom) got a picture of the 4 of us with our certificates, hands in there, jubilant looks on our faces, V for victory signs, you name it. When I get that I'll be sure to brag, I mean show you that, one too.

All in all, I am feeling less and less inclined to do the London Eye when you discover a few other ways to get the Panorama of the skyline of London that doesn't involve hoards of people. For a cheap and quick way to see the City in particular, and Parliament from a distance, check out the Monument!