UK: England and Cornwall Trip 2000

2. London

London Eye and Big Ben

One tourist attraction visible from much of the city is the London Eye. A Ferris wheel in a city should look out of place, but the London Eye looks like it belongs.

London Eye reflected

Eurostar at Waterloo International

I photographed the eye reflected in a window near Waterloo International Station, where the Eurostar trains leaves for Paris. I made a quick trip to visit from here to UNESCO in Paris for lunch.

Smart car sales center in Chiswick

One contrast in going from Sydney to London is the scale. In Sydney a car yard, is a sprawling open site. In Chiswick I took this photo of a tiny site selling tiny Mercedes Smart cars. But then later I saw one as a police car in Sydney.

Palm House Kew Gardens

A more usual tourist attraction are the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. For me the great attraction were not the plants (they have better plants in the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens), but the Palm House.

This nineteenth century greenhouse was one of the precursors of modern glass and iron architecture. Part of the design of its glass barrel vaults are reflected in the design of the European Parliament Building in Brussels.

Barrel Vault of the Palm House Kew Gardens

The Palm House was built by architect Decimus Burton and iron-maker Richard Turner between 1844 and 1848, and was the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron. The Temperate house, which is twice as large as the Palm House, followed later in the 19th century. It is now the largest Victorian glasshouse in existence.

From "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew", Wikipedia, 2006

St Paul's Cathedral

A walk along the banks of the River Thames, is a way to see many attractions. Unfortunately all I could do was look at the Millennium Bridge, as it closed for repairs short after being opened.

Millennium Bridge

A similar footbridge is planned from the National Museum of Australia across a lake in Canberra. Hopefully it will work first time. More successful was the Tate Modern Art Gallery.

Tate Modern

Tate Modern is Britain's national museum of modern art in London and, with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St. Ives, a part of the Tate Gallery.

Tate Modern Tower

The galleries are housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. The power station closed in 1981. The building was converted by architects Herzog & de Meuron and stands at 99 m tall. Since its opening on May 12, 2000, it has become a very popular destination for Londoners and tourists. Entry is free.

From Tate Modern, Wikipedia, 2006

In a way it is a shame this excellent building has been spoilt by filling it with modern art.