London - but not as we know it

Working in travel, I have often told people how lucky I am to have gathered some brilliant and unusual experiences over the years.  But my most recent of these experiences was slightly different; it wasn't a VIP ticket to a Mozart concert in the Kursalon in Vienna, or travelling in first class on the Eurostar; nor was it salsa-ing the night away in Cuba - all of which were equally amazing in their own right. This was a little bit closer to home: this was The View From The Shard!

Early birds: The View From The Shard
As an office, we were lucky enough recently to be among the first people to experience The View From The Shard. Working in its shadow, my colleagues and I watched as the pointed tower crept ever closer to the sky, and there was, understandably, talk about its progress within the office. We were excited, therefore, when a travel-trade pre-opening invitation popped into our inbox. The travel industry has its perks, and this was one we were looking forward to!

In the shadow of The Shard, as viewed from outside of my office

As the day neared, there was more talk and some nerves before finally it was upon us.  At 12:30 on Thursday 24^th January 2013, 6 of us walked the short distance from our office to The Shard, to be amongst the privileged first few who would get to experience London from above.

The Shard Experience
The Shard has taken its cue from skyscraper viewing platforms the world over in that it recognises that the overall visit has to be an 'experience', and not just a nice view.  After the initial security checks, the visitor steps in front of a blue screen, where your photo is promptly taken to be mocked up into a shot of your group with a fantastic London view behind you – very much like the iconic shots of construction workers sitting on a steel girder which are recreated at the start of The Rockefeller Center’s ‘Top of the Rock’ viewing platform in New York, except the Shard obviously doesn’t have any steel girders to play with. 

From here, your wait for the lift involves a ‘Q&A’ session with one of the many friendly members of staff, who are happy to answer any questions you may have, offer up facts (did you know that the lifts travel at six metres per second?!) and point out the clever gizmo on the wall which shows where the various lifts are in the building.  It’s then onwards and upwards, firstly in one bank of lifts, upon which colourful leaves fall and seasons change, eventually stepping out onto a carpet inlaid with a map of the River Thames, which encourages you to identify the various landmarks described along the river as you wait for the final lift – the final lift which takes you up, up and away to the View From The Shard itself.

'Leaves' falling on the lift roof

The 'guess the London landmark' carpet, as you wait for the second set of lifts

London from above

Once you step out onto the 69^th floor, it’s rather high!!  And the height makes the views breathtaking: the river winding its way towards Canary Wharf and the Docklands, being able to see into the grounds of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge being reduced to the size of something which wouldn’t look out of place in a child’s play set....even the seeing the trains coming into London Bridge Station from this different, aerial perspective is interesting.  I think for me, my favourite view was the view directly across the river looking on to the Swiss RE building, commonly known, of course, as the Gherkin (my favourite piece of London architecture), the new ‘Walkie-Talkie’ and Tower 42.  The buildings have such an iconic, ‘London’ feel to them, and seeing them in such an up-close manner adds to their beauty. 

The view across the river towards the Gherkin, Tower 42 and the Walkie Talkie

The Shard has also embraced technology with the interactive telescopes dotted about at intervals: these touch-screen gadgets work by pointing the telescopic end at a London landmark, and the user being able to identify them on-screen and even learn more about the building in question.  These were impressive as they were, but another incredibly friendly member of the Shard team told us as we descended in the lift that they were still in the process of adding another 100 landmarks to them, to improve them still further.  There’s also the impressiveness of the structure itself; up on the floor above, floor number 72, the roof remains open-air – most Londoners will say that The Shard looks unfinished because the point at the top doesn’t meet, but I think having been up to the top, the open-air nature of the construction adds to the viewing experience, making you feel on top of the city and among the clouds.

Up in the clouds: the open-air nature of the top floor, reaching up into the 'unfinished' point

The verdict

There were some teething problems on the day of our visit – the lift, for example, on our descent didn’t want to work for the operator for quite some time, and we all stood wondering if we’d have to walk down the many flights of stairs to ground level – but that’s to be expected at a pre-opening.  At £25.00 for a pre-booked ticket, the price tag is also pretty hefty, but all of my colleagues said that had we been anywhere else in the world, and not on our home turf, we would have paid to have visited the viewing platform, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t succeed in London.  It’s different – and certainly taller – than anything else that London has to offer, and this uniqueness will stand it in good stead.  All in all, I feel very privileged to be able to say that I’ve been up The Shard – and viewed London, but not as we know it.

Tower Bridge in miniature

The River Thames winding its way towards Canary Wharf

An Olympic Day Out in London

With the eyes of the world on London, I thought it was about time that I jumped on the Olympic bandwagon with my own Mrs Lighty Olympic blog.   A slight departure from my normal travel warblings, but I couldn’t miss out on the brilliant two weeks our fair capital city has had! Usually, our view of London (as London commuters) is tarred by the day-in-day-out trudge of crowded trains, pushy people, the hustle and bustle.  But all of a sudden, the streets of London seemed to be paved with gold – quite literally, if our medal count was anything to go by – as the buzz of the games came to town.  If you were lucky enough to experience it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  If you weren’t, read on for my take on the best Olympic Games the world has ever seen: London 2012!

Audience Participation

Our first experience of the games (other than the torch relay, which we were also lucky enough to have witnessed) was the women’s marathon.  Not having tickets at this point, we decided to brave the weather and line the route.  We’re British, after all, so how much could a little drop of rain hurt?  Quite a bit, actually, as we got soaked to the skin!  But it didn’t dampen our spirits: we waved our Union Jacks at Team GB, and I even had mine wrapped round me like a rain shield; flag is the new black, after all!  We stood in a picturesque spot by St. Paul’s Cathedral and saw the athletes pass us three times (the sun had come out by the third lap too, hurrah!) – and all for free!  For the millions of people that missed out on tickets, the many free-to-watch sports were a fantastic alternative!

Lining the route of the Olympic Marathon, millions of people were able to watch for free

Flag is the new black!

London calling!

One of the things that London has shown us during the games is just how well it does ‘new’.  There’s been a plethora of free exhibitions taking place, and coupled with other aspects of the games such as the Wenlock and Mandeville trails (plotted routes which take in the various statues of the London 2012 mascots), you can really make a day of it in London, which is exactly what we decided to do after the marathon.  We wandered down to the Tower (which is where Beefeater Wenlock is located!), passed under Tower Bridge and through to St. Katherine’s Dock.  Here we took in the Imagination Denmark exhibition, which included a Lego Olympic Park!  After a bite to eat in the Dickens Inn, we continued our journey on the DLR from Tower Hill to the newly constructed Emirates Air-Line cable car at Royal Victoria Dock.  What a fantastic addition to our city!  The views are spectacular across the City and Docklands, and at £3.20pp on an Oyster Card, it doesn’t break the bank either!

On the Wenlock trail!

Tickets at last!

After the fun of the Marathon, and two weeks spent hammering the London 2012 website, we were then lucky enough to get tickets (“for the wrestling”, she adds, in a quieter voice!).  Yes, I’ll admit, it wasn’t my first choice of sport, but actually, it turned out to be great fun!  Held at the ExCel Centre, we had a scenic walk through the Docklands from the DLR station Silvertown, passing under the cable car again, and to this arena which is usually used for conferencing.  It’s absolutely huge, and the organisation was incredible – we collected our tickets in less than five minutes, security was quick and efficient, and there were plenty of Games Makers (or ‘Purple People’ as I had nicknamed them before I knew their official title!) on hand to help with any queries.  It was a great day out, I wore my flag with pride (again) despite the fact that there weren’t any Team GB members in the Men’s wrestling, and it’s something that I’m proud to say I was a part of: London 2012 is the making of stories we’ll tell our grandchildren about.

The fantastic Emirates Air-Line Cable Car

 ExCel London

The Pride of Britain

I have to say, as many have already said before me, that we were all proud to be British during the games.  Despite the lack of tickets, despite the warnings of travel chaos, it couldn’t have been better organised and many of those unlucky enough not to get tickets enjoyed the games on the many big screens around the city.  Overall it appears to have been a massive success.  The fantastic electric atmosphere and extra buzz created by the Olympics coming to town couldn’t be manufactured, and that is testament to the success of the games.  I’m hopeful that, if maintained nicely, the various new venues and the cable car will add an additional layer of architectural legacy to the city, as well as the much publicised sporting legacy.  Now that it's over, all that remains to be said is: you did us proud London, you did us proud!