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| I had yet to see Tower Bridge during my visits to London. |
I took the first train into London to spend a full day with them.
I was greeted by Thorben at Euston Station at an early 8 am and we headed back to the hotel they were staying at. After a small breakfast of Nestea and croissants, Thorben, Valts, and I left to enjoy the sunny day. The weather promised to be sunny and hot all day-- just another day in the collection of great weather England has been having.
Thorben, Valts, and I headed to Tower Bridge first (they had done all their sightseeing the previous day).
The Underground was stuffier than usual due to the intense heat above ground. Fortunately I had dressed for the weather. Once we finished our walk across Tower Bridge, we headed back up the Thames. We were in no hurry as we all really just wanted to enjoy the day.
Next stop on the list was to see Millennium Bridge, the site of the Death Eaters torment of Muggles in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Though in the film, Millennium Bridge is a representation of Brockdale Bridge.
At one end of the bridge sits the a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Tate Modern Gallery. Opposite sits the City of London School and rising above the other buildings, St. Paul's Cathedral.
The bridge is very interesting because of the swaying motion a pedestrian feels as they walk across. It is due in part to several factors such as the wind, trains, traffic, and pedestrians themselves. I particularly think it is an advanced and state of the art pedestrian bridge. It is definitely a neat design.By the time we had crossed Millennium Bridge, the three of us were starting to get hungry. Thorben mentioned a sushi bar located behind St. Paul's Cathedral, but unfortunately it was closed for the day for renovation.
We put our budding minds together to find a way to locate other sushi restaurants. Our need was the internet so we went to the Apple Store at Oxford Circus. The closest sushi bar was a place called "So" which was located on Warwick Street just off of Regent Street. It received several positive reviews so we decided to try it out.
It did not disappoint!So offers a wide range of Japanese dishes at reasonable prices. I ordered the Teriyaki Chicken which included sides of rice, soup and salad. I also couldn't prevent myself from ordering sushi. From the photo it looks like a small portion, but it is very filling and of high class for a good price.
After our meal, we headed back out to Oxford Circus to do a bit of shopping. Valts had had someone step on his sandal which ended up broken so he was looking for a new pair.
Since the day continued to remain sunny, Thorben's parents decided we should meet at St. James Park. It was a brilliant idea as I had not relaxed since the previous day.
Valts introduced me to a new card game that we all played called Wizard. Although I didn't really pick up on it, it was a nice family game to play in the shade. The last thing on the agenda was to meet the boss of the practice that Susanne works at. He and his wife wanted to treat the Wiese family to a meal-- they extended their invite to me, which I am grateful for!
We met them at a Philippine cuisine restaurant called Josephine's. Again, it was a great quality of food. The main part of the entire day was to be reunited with the Wiese family as they all hold a special place and it always great to see them.
