On New Year’s Eve we decided not to brave the crowds, the cold and the rain at night, so we spent the day out and about touring the sights of London.
Our first stop was the London Aquarium, dwarfed by the extravaganza of the London Eye on the Thames. It was a quiet day for the Aquarium, guarded atop by some Storm Troopers (from the running Star Wars exhibition close by).
The Aquarium was fun, though a little disjointed, with massive tanks of fish, stingrays and sharks...
... many small tanks of tropical fish, turtles and corals...
... and a pool where one can touch some of the sea life, such as the stringrays, as Geoff is doing here.
We watched the circling sharks, trying to imagine what it felt like being on the other side of the tank such as our friend, James, must have felt recently on his current kayak expedition to ‘cross the ditch’ between Australia and New Zealand when sharks circled their kayak.
James and his mate Justin have made a phenomenal effort this Australian Summer and are 80% of the way to New Zealand! We have been keeping track daily, of their progress at their website, Crossing the Ditch.
After finding Nemo...
... we left the Aquarium and headed to lunch at one of our favourite places, Giraffe, at Southbank. As usually, it was warm and buzzing inside. We refueled on burgers and the friendly service.
The afternoon was spent making our way further down the banks of the Thames, to the Tate Modern. We inspected the huge crack in the Turbine Hall and floated through the gallery spaces.
A short stroll up to St Pauls...
... a visit to Marks and Spencer (to pick up dinner) and a tube and bus home saw us spend a warm night in at the Rotherhithe apartment...
... while thousands of people in London braved the cold and rain to watch the firework spectacle at the London Eye, were we had been earlier in the day.
There is no shortage of fireworks if one is located in London along the Thames. Fireworks were periodically set off at Canary Wharf and around Greenwich, as evening settled over the city. The apartment, with direct views to both these locations, was a great place to be on NYE to feel the anticipation of celebrations to welcome in the new year.
We watched the live BBC broadcast for NYE celebrations at Somerset House (where we once ice skated in the rain) and when midnight struck, we were poised at the apartment block’s hallway window to see fireworks being set off along the Thames which stretched widely before us.
Rain clouds had collected as the night wore on, so while we couldn’t catch a glimpse at the London Eye anymore, but we could hear the noise and see lots of fireworks and flashing light as some were being set off from the the apartment block next to us. The 16-minute show ended with some big bangs and lots of light. Haze and cloud quietly floated across London city as we left 2007 behind, and welcomed in the new year.
