The Shard from the top

It has featured on a few photos, and is amazing from the outside, but as we passed through London Bridge station, we decided to journey up to the visitor deck, 66th floor- to see London from a very different angle.
The lifts are an experience, with the ceilings changing colour and feature pictures from sky scenes to mosaics. The second lift has different ceiling views, creating a distraction from the fact you are flying up the tower , about 4 floors a second. It is a very gentle ascent, though, no stomach leaps, or ears popping. And then out you go -to the viewing deck It is enormous in height, and a 360 floor which meets full length windows.I hope a couple of photos do it justice, though it is hard to capture the full expanse. You get a great idea of the meandering Thames - visually you can follow it for miles. The planes approaching Heathrow look only metres above you, the trains below coming into the stations look like every young (and old) boy's absolute treat. Going close to the edge of the building is not for everyone, quite a few were happy to observe from a distance, others peered as far on the edge as they could. There is only a real sensation of great height when you focus on the ground immediately below. But I found it amazing to  see so far from a grounded point, and also wonder at the concepts and skill that created the building.
Scotland awaits us , with some very cold weather
More soon

 The Thames wanders passed Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf down to the sea.

 A modern view of London

 Down the Thames to Westminster

St Paul's Cathedral, once the tallest, now looked down upon.

A modern London is bornover the history of the oold.

 View down towards Westminster with the Tate Modern seen on the Left of the Thames.

The new and the old eye each other off over the Thames.