Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Who just visits the city center of London, United Kingdom will often miss a wonderful thing: the many small channels leading through the city. On some of them you can do boat cruises, on some of them ships anchor like mobile houses or hotels. Water always creates a nice atmosphere and makes life different.
Continue reading “Little Venice”
It has been a while since I‘ve been to Harrods in London, United Kingdom. But why would you like to visit a luxury warehouse as a tourist? It‘s the special atmosphere and the different sections which all have a different interior design. And it is a pleasure to stroll through the food zone and have a look at the offering.
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My generation will always remember the night of August 31st, 1997 when Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris, France. You didn’t need to be a Yellow Press reader or a fan of the Royal Family to emotionally get involved into this. The whole story of her and Prince Charles separating but not getting divorced (letting her stay the potential future queen), caring together about their sons and then this special kind of death – with many theories around it – made it a topic discussed in wide general public.
Continue reading “Memorial Fountain”
South Kensington is the place-to-be at London, United Kingdom for museum enthusiasts. People get here mostly for the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert. In between these giants and their fantastic architectures it is easy to overlook another pearl: the Science Museum.
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Close to the Regent‘s Park at the city quarter Marylebone of London, United Kingdom you can find the pub Sir John Balcombe in the middle of a residential zone. It is a modern pub which doesn’t spread the flair of history but is a perfect place for experiencing the classic pub culture and having a good drink.
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If you want to enjoy the lights of the city or have a look at the skyline of London, United Kingdom you would typically go to a skyscraper like The Shard or the Sky Garden. A good and cheap alternative is a walk through Hampstead Heath to Parliament Hill.
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The latest insider tip if you want to combine good drinks with perfect views on the city of London, United Kingdom is the Sky Garden. It is a garden in the glassy top floor of the building 20 Fenchurch Street that is called walkie-talkie by the locals because of its shape. Within the Sky Garden you will find a bar and a restaurant. In addition to good food and drinks you can enjoy perfect views on important sights like the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge as well as on other skyscrapers like the gherkin, the shard, the cheesegrater and the lipstick.
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Already in Roman times the city of London, United Kingdom had important harbours within the city and at Southwark. Over time the importance grew and more space was needed. In the east of the city along river Thames a large area became dedicated for loading and unloading goods: the Docklands. It is no official name and the area includes parts of the city quarters Greenwich, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets. With the rise of containerization and container ships the docks of London became too small and had all to be closed in the end of the 20th century.
Continue reading “The DLR”
The river Thames is not a small one while it is passing through London, United Kingdom. I crossed it many, many times on bridges and within (underground) trains. But there is also the possibility to walk through under it at one point: the Greenwich foot tunnel. It connects the Isle of Dogs north of the river with Greenwich – the entrance is close to the Cutty Sark. Construction works started in 1899 and the tunnel was opened in 1902. The purpose was to bring the workers in a fast and reliable way to the docks.
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To refer to a specific place on the planet a coordinate system is needed. We’re using longitude (west/east) and latitude (north/south) to tell where we are. The latitude is 0 on the equator but for longitude a position for 0 – the prime meridian – had to be defined. On a conference in Washington, United States different alternatives were analysed and it was defined that the prime meridian should be the one going through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London (as it was used most often by that time).
Continue reading “Prime Meridian”