Yesterday was the Lord Mayor’s Show, which, as you might expect, is an annual celebration of the inauguration of the Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor governs The City of London, which isn’t the same thing as London. Time for a short digression.
“London” generally refers to Greater London, which is all the areas in tan on the map below. The head of the municipal government is Boris Johnson, owner of the worst hairdo in England. Greater London is divided into boroughs, much like New York City, except that where NYC has five boroughs, London has 32. The City of London is the oldest of these, and it is governed by the Lord Mayor. There’s evidence of human settlements here far before the Romans arrived in Britain. It’s home to the financial district, while neighboring Westminster is home to the UK government. The little red section at the middle of the map is the City of London, known to Londoners simply as “The City” or “The Square Mile.” Enough digression.
There were plenty of bands. Lots of them. Military, civilian, volunteer, professional…
The pavers guild has a real steam roller – powered by steam!
The Lord Mayor is also ex-officio Chancellor of City University, where I’m going to school. We were the only university represented in the parade.
There were also a host of reenactors. These were wearing costumes from the Napoleonic Wars. They were actually followed by a contingent of French troops.
Of course they have an AA gun. Of course they do.
And finally, there were people in turn-of-the-century costumes with really cool cars. Plenty to see at the Lord Mayor’s show.
The highest habitable floor is at level 72, which is the open-air observation deck. It’s 802 feet above the street below. Admission isn’t cheap at £20 ($32) for students and £25 ($40) for adults, but the view is certainly worth it.
There are actually two observation decks. The lower one is indoors on level 68. It’s equipped with really cool augmented reality telescopes that are free to use. You can point them at the surroundings and a video screen will help you identify the buildings. They’re fantastically cool. You can also buy a glass of champagne for a whopping £10 ($16) at the small bar. It’s cheaper to bring your own.
Tower Bridge, adjacent to the Tower of London. I’ve lost count of how many American tourists have mistakenly called it “London Bridge.” The bridge that’s actually called London Bridge is slightly upriver and much less impressive.
A view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, with several of the city’s bridges. From the top (upriver), they are Blackfriar’s Bridge, the Millennium Bridge (a.k.a. the Wobbly Bridge), Southwark Bridge, and Cannon Street Railway Bridge. London Bridge is slightly further down.
The view towards Westminster. The London Eye is obvious here, with Waterloo Station in front of it. The Houses of Parliament are at the left along the river.
Probably the best photo from the day is the Tower and Tower Bridge lit up at dusk. The ship to the lower left is the HMS Belfast.
A very grainy photo of St. Paul’s lit up at night. IPhones don’t take great shots in low-light conditions.
And finally, a couple grainy photos of the fireworks. Because I didn’t have a full camera and tripods aren’t allowed, the photos don’t do them justice. It’s truly bizarre to witness a fireworks display happening below you. These fireworks wouldn’t have even come close to my 802-foot perch atop the Shard. I’ve heard the New Year’s Eve fireworks are spectacular as well, though I’ll be in Vienna at that time.
