CRUISING ALONG THE CANAL

The day was billed as part of the first nice weekend however, it didn't start out very nice. In fact it started off as drizzly and grey. Luckily the day went from a bad start to a nice sunny 18 C.

Alan, Daisy, Mike and myself decided to go on a trip along the canal in a modified canal boat.

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At one point the canal boat went into a tunnel.







Thankfully when we emerged from the darkness it was still a lovely day.

We saw a lot of different sights from the canal boat including this once grand floating Chinese restaurant.

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Unexpectedly, we saw someone's idea of a joke - a very large Homer Simpson.







We went under many bridges, often with quite a lot of people who are enjoying the sunshine and the greenery which was before them.


This particular trip went past the bird house in the London Zoo.

CAMDEN MARKET

As our canal trip ended at Camden Market at lunch time we decided to take advantage of the market's offerings by heading to the food section and grabbing a bite to eat.

Once fed we decided to explore the market and we noticed that one of the renovated areas was now open - the Horse Stables.







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I'm impressed with the sculptures. Mike, Alan and Daisy were impressed in other ways.

We noticed that Cyberdog was reopened. We were disappointed as the new store was very sterile and not as grunge, raw, nor welcoming as the old one.

Despite this, Daisy managed to bag 2 trendy dresses in another part of the market.

City Discovery

After visiting the markets we decided to wonder around the city.

We chanced upon this view of the Gherkin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_St_Mary_Axe). Its a very interesting contrast between old and new architecture.

In London, like most other cities, if you look above street level you are rewarded by some interesting architecture. I liked these statues.








Your never very far from the contrast in ages; you just need to look at things differently (or a from a different angle).










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On our walk we went past the Leadenhall Market which was closed(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadenhall_Market).

This is a prime example of how the facade of a building is kept and a new one is built to incorporate it.

As we wondered we discovered that the scaffolding on the Monument had been taken down. It is now clean.

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From Monument we walked down to the Thames river bank and then along it.

As we walked we decided to take some arty pics of the bridge spans that we passed.

Frighteningly, we discovered that one bridge (this is a major bridge with heavy vehicles passing over it) was actually being held up by acro props.

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This was intriguing as we couldn't work out was the 'commonality of mystery of the vintners' was. I've subsequently found this http://www.vintnershall.co.uk.

I'm not sure what the mystery is though.

The reflections in these windows were amazing so we decided to see if we could pose in them.







Opposite the Globe and the Tate Modern we discovered this plaque.




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We saw a whole heap of wood in the mud and assumed it was recent until we saw this plaque.

There is extensive work being down at Black Friars station. There is an underground pass which allows passengers to cross the road.

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Scarily, this is one giant acro prop which I am standing under; there are trains, trucks and cars passing over my head.

MARKET EXPLORATION

During the bank holiday we decided to go into town and visit the Brick Lane market.
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When we arrived we discovered that the Pearly Kings and Queens were out and about. They were collecting for a local charity as well as promoting the Pearly lifestyle.

They were also being filmed so I might be in some documentary somewhere.

There is also a beautiful mosaic but unfortunately this picture is marred by the guy who wouldn't move when I was taking the photo. I think he thought I was taking his photo.




Further down the street we discovered some stencil art.

Brick Lane market merges into Petticoat Lane market and we happily turned into this.



I'm not sure whether it was the horrible transport disruptions, the credit crunch or the fact that the majority of people had left the city for the long weekend contributed to the lack of people at the market. I think it was a combination of all three.





We didn't mind as we could walk reasonably easily down the small isles.

As you can see Petticoat Lane market is famous for its textiles namely clothes.