Today we walked toward London Bridge and Borough Market, which we read about in one of the guide books in our apartment. It is a large public market in what appears to be an old train station.
From the market we walked a couple of blocks to the Thames near the dry dock for The Golden Hind II, a reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s ship that touched the west coast of North America in northern California. From there we passed the Old and New Globe Theaters and stopped at the Bankside Gallery, home of the Royal Watercolor Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. Their summer show was quite fun with a broad range of media and styles. We found several pieces we liked, but walked out empty handed.
At one point we stopped for a break on a riverside bench and I counted 23 construction cranes in view. London is being rebuilt on both sides of the river. Many relatively low cost housing projects are being torn down or redeveloped for high end condos, pushing more low and middle income people out of the city and further away from jobs. We looked at listings in one realtor and found apartments renting for 2000Lbs a month for a studio and 5000Lbs for a couple of bedrooms. Our Lithuanian waitress from last night must have a difficult time finding affordable housing.
Back home for a light dinner after feasting at the market for lunch.
Paul
Travels With Picasso 