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Post by tod2 on Dec 3, 2014 7:10:06 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Dec 3, 2014 8:10:22 GMT
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Post by patricklondon on Dec 3, 2014 8:33:58 GMT
Not being one for heights, I'm glad you went up the Shard and not me! Then there's the matter of how much they charge for it - for that price, I hope they gave you a glass of something nice to go with the view. (PS, the naming of local authority areas can be as fraught as naming new countries: they can't include the names people use for all the neighbourhoods with them, or even (in the case of the London boroughs) the names of all the previous smaller authorities they subsumed, so it caused some heated debate around the parish pumps). My blog | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by bjd on Dec 3, 2014 9:18:04 GMT
Thanks for these photos of the view from the Shard. The only way anyone would get me up there is chloroformed, so I wouldn't see much anyway. Especially looking straight down!
Your hotel looks pleasant -- the area near Russell Square is nice indeed.
Looking forward to more.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 3, 2014 12:37:10 GMT
My husband also has that dislike of giddy heights but after contemplating the glass from the lift door he cautiously made his way to the 'step-off-the-edge' view and did all the photos.
We paid £24.95 each. I must say as there is no time restriction you have all day to gaze into space...but I think once you have spotted the recognizable buildings you feel satisfied and want to go down to earth once more!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 17:29:04 GMT
Those Victorian residential buildings in London always fascinate me, one reason being that they are so totally different from architecture in Paris. With the flowers and everything, they really look charming but I have been in enough of them and seen plenty of movies to know that a vast number of them are uncomfortably narrow and dark.
On course one of the best things about London is that I'm always happy to return to "my" own architecture in Paris. I'm quite sure that Londoners are just as happy to leave Paris and see familiar things again.
I could have gone up the Shard last December, but I did find the fee rather outrageous, and I would have spent too little time there since I had a ticket to go to the Globe that evening -- no way to stay long enough to get my money's worth! It certainly makes Tower Bridge look like a miniature structure.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 3, 2014 17:49:37 GMT
Luckily for us in this instance, and the one before, there were no dark passages. Everything light and airy as you can see. There is however a hotel in London which looks wonderful from the outside but fear for your life when entering and trying to find your room. It was like a rabbits warren to say the least. In Bayswater.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 3, 2014 17:57:26 GMT
Great thread so far Tod! Looking forward to your London adventures. Was the apartment less expensive than hotel choices? I had been researching hotel prices and was quite shocked at how expensive it is there. I like having an outdoor space and try to book hotels with balconies when possible, your space looks fabulous. I like curved buildings.
What a view from the Shard! Reminds me of our time up the CN Tower in Toronto. We sat and enjoyed a drink while picking out sights across the city.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 17:59:40 GMT
When I went up the CN Tower, I felt that 50% of Toronto was just car parks. I hope that has changed.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 3, 2014 18:28:59 GMT
When was that Kerouac? That is an interesting view point. I probably do not even pay attention to them, most cities/towns have by-laws now that any new builds must provide adequate parking attached (and condos must have an outdoor space for pets!). So as Toronto expands, so will the parking lots!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 18:31:22 GMT
I stayed in an hotel in Cartwright Gardens my first trip to London. Of course, it was a VERY cheap hotel and smelled of damp, I don't think anyplace like that exists there anymore.
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Post by htmb on Dec 3, 2014 18:55:58 GMT
A nice start, Tod. I've stayed in this area, as well, and may be back for a few nights in June. I'm looking forward to reading more of your report!
It's nice to see your photos from the shard since I have no plans to go to the top. I may have to do the London Eye, though.
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Post by mossie on Dec 3, 2014 19:44:02 GMT
Thanks for the views from the Shard, almost like low flying.
I would really recommend the London Eye to all visitors to London.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 19:51:14 GMT
Yes, I enjoyed the London Eye, particularly since I was a guest of the SNCF and didn't pay for anything.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 4, 2014 6:03:34 GMT
Thanks for all your comments - much appreciated! Kerouac -Yes, the cost of the Shard was a bit steep but that was one of two things I had flown to London to see. There was no shortage of customers lining up at the ticket office on this mid-week day. Mich64 - It's not half as expensive for you guys to stay in London than it is for us very poor South Africans We had a large studio @117 pounds. We were on what they term the 1st floor, but all those size apartments were above and below ours. Whatever you do don't get one on the Lower ground floor. No view and below street level - I don't care for those. When we book again in two years time I will ask for a large executive with a balcony / or courtyard view on lst floor. The is no elevator so we were glad to be able to walk in the front door and go straight into our apartment (which was behind reception). Htmb - Yes you must do the eye - it's very tame. But what about the Emirates Airline Ski lift? That is no higher than the London Eye and they can speed it up or slow it down at customers request. Mossie - It is a bit like low flying! I'm am so happy I went to the top. Lizzyfaire - I think you could well have been in one of the hotels in that semi-circle. The room below street level must have a damp problem in one way or another. I have wondered what hotel used to be where Studios 2Let are now. Most of the hotels in the cresent have been there since I first set foot in London in 1980. This is the Euro Hotel: Others are- Harlingford Hotel, The Judd and The Cresent. All look really nice. The Hotel consists of three Georgian houses built in 1807 for wealthy merchants and now converted into one building. The garden crescent in which the hotel is situated is named after John Cartwright, an advocate of parliamentary reform and universal suffrage who was the first Englishman openly to support the independence of the USA
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Post by tod2 on Dec 4, 2014 6:53:55 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 4, 2014 9:23:03 GMT
Perhaps Emirates paid for this thinking that looking at construction sites and shopping malls is an exciting way to spend one's time? After all, what else is there to do for tourists in the Gulf States?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 5, 2014 2:16:52 GMT
Tod! The pictures are great, as are all your descriptions. Love your little apartment -- a classy place for a classy lady. Extremely impressed that your husband conquered his (very justifiable!) fear to go out on a limb, as it were, for those wonderful photos.
Can't wait to see more of your adventures.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2014 5:50:20 GMT
I just don't think that the Emirates Air Line will last, particularly when the Emirates sponsorship expires after 10 years.
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Post by patricklondon on Dec 5, 2014 12:09:48 GMT
I think you're right, kerouac. Boris will have moved on to other things by then, so there won't be anyone particularly to defend it or embarrassed by its loss (not that embarrassment comes easily to him anyway). I guess Emirates were persuaded to sponsor it because of the Olympic connection initially. But since it doesn't make for a particularly significant or convenient commuter connection, there really isn't much point to it. The Siemens centre on the north side is quite interesting if you're interested in ecological issues, and you get a good view of the Thames Barrier and the various new developments in what used to be the docks, but that's about it. My blog | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by mossie on Dec 6, 2014 16:01:21 GMT
It always appeared to me to be an ego trip on behalf of Boris, linking one colossal waste of money with another. Or perhaps noone realised that the country was broke and getter broker by the minute FFS
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Post by tod2 on Dec 8, 2014 16:09:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 16:13:48 GMT
That is the prettiest pissoir I have ever seen! Good sleuthing.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 18:01:37 GMT
That is a great report on the entire neighbourhood.
However, I must become indignant over the use of the term "pissoir." That is a German word. The French word is "pissotière." (of course that is one of many possible names in French, but pissoir is not one of them)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 18:19:37 GMT
Mea culpa.
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Post by onlyMark on Dec 8, 2014 19:47:25 GMT
It's funny how when you do a search on the word pissoir the general consensus is that it is French. There doesn't appear to be any mention of German that I've seen. Obviously though I do not know French, I can only go by the numerous entries on the internet. I do know German and to me it seems a strange combination of letters for the Germanic language, especially the combination of 'oir' together. I'd be interested, k2, in why you think it is. I'm willing to be persuaded.
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Post by fumobici on Dec 8, 2014 22:45:53 GMT
I always thought of the word as English or pidgin French.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2014 4:14:47 GMT
The French absolutely never use the term pissoir, but Germans and English speakers do. However, there is no need to discuss this on tod2's lovely report.
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Post by onlyMark on Dec 9, 2014 5:59:31 GMT
You started it though I'm not sure if we are confusing origin with usage. Its origins aren't German/English but granted it is used by them, no? It's origins are French but not particularly used by them, yes? Just agree and tod can get back to wowing us with the thread.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 9, 2014 6:10:55 GMT
Lizzyfaire don't feel bad....I spelled it wrong 'pissoire' and saw your spelling so altered it. I appreciate Kerouac's correction - that's how we learn. The internet says this Victorian cast iron 'lavvy' was made in the Parisian style. Thanks all for kind words....I am nearly at the conclusion - for London, but have Blackpool still to come.
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