London Day 2

London Day 2: The weather was absolutely gorgeous today - perfect for strolling around,
staring at architecture and shopping. We started off at St. Paul's Cathedral, which was anamazing example of a Baroque church. It was huge!

Then we went to Leaden Hall Market (1881 Sir Horace Jones). It is an outside, covered market that was bustling with 9-5'ers on their lunch breaks. The Brits seem to have no qualms about sucking down pints of ale on their lunch breaks, as most everyone had a pint in their hands and a suit on their backs…

We then strolled through the Financial District to go look for the ultra-modern architecture of Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. Lloyd's of London, by Richard Rogers, was one of the buildings I was really looking forward to. It looks like it came straight out of "Brazil" - the movie. All of the mechanical is on the outside of the building: the elevators, the air ducts, the stairs; and it was all a shiny silver metal. The juxtaposition of the modern with the classical London architecture seemed to work quite well. I could see the Swiss Re building (Norman Foster 2001?) peaking through and beckoning me the whole time we were in the Financial District and it was also on the top of my things to see. As we approached it, I got a stronger appreciation for it. It is a very elegant and sleek structure. You can see it from many places in central London and it is very recognizable. Becky was very patient as I strolled around snapping photos and examined the structural connections. See if you can find her in any of the pics (hint: sitting down). We then headed for Becky's half of the day - shopping.

There are several shopping districts in London, of course, and the one that we had on the agenda for today was the East End/Brick Lane. It was just past the Financial District. We didn't just window shop this time, we were frightening (to our bank accounts). We found several cute stores along with all of the ones Becky had on her list and believe it or not, Becky did not buy any shoes today. I'm not lying. By 5 o'clock we decided to eat, since we hadn't eaten since 9 a.m. We had Indian again - we almost had to, Brick Lane is FULL of Indian food restaurants. There were at least 50 on that street. No Joke. They were all in a row too, on both sides of the street. It was hard to decide which one... It was a good choice though, Delicious! Then we rode the Tube (subway)
back to our Hotel/Hostel. It is now the next morning and we are ready to go again…