Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Tourists at play


Garry and I had some special guests staying with us this weekend. My brother Hamish and his family were town enjoying a week's vacation. Their vist was made all the more special by the realiaation that catching up with my Austrian sibling will become far less frequent once Garry and I are back in Sydney. Australia is a jolly long way away from Austria.


Yesterday I took a half day off work to play tourist with Hamish, Karin and the children. First on our list of activities was a flight on the iconic London Eye. Garry and I last ventured onto this popular attraction more than four years ago. The girls loved the experience - almost as much as our subsequent attempts to recreate the perfect tourist photo. It's rather tricky capturing your image on Westminter Bridge with both Big Ben and a double-decker red bus perfectly framed in the background.


As we rose to the Eye's highest point, 135 metres above the Thames River, the incomplete London Shard tower near London Bridge came into view. Construction of this unique structure, destinated to be the tallest building in Europe, is well advanced. The central concrete service core has already risen an impressive 200 metres above the city, almost two-thirds of its final height. It dominates the skyline and is clearly destinated to become an iconic structure.


After work we finished the day with an impressive home-cooked roast meal, washed down by limited vintage Californian champagne. Our culinary efforts were in honour of Hamish's birthday. Thank you Garry for all of your kichen magic. Over the course of our meal Hamish and I decided that it had been at least 25 years since we'd last celebrated a birthday together. we are now making plans to get together again in 2035 for our next face-to-face birthday celebration.

1 comment:

Rhonda said...

How nice that you were able to catch up with your brother and family before leaving London. The girls have certainly grown since we saw them in 2007. Impressive photo from the Eye. Cake looks yummy too!