Being a tourist in London: Southbank + St. Paul's

The path we took: from London Bridge station to the Tate Modern

It was in one of these rare blue sky Sundays and already fresh winds that we decided to visit the Tate Modern, a famous (and huge) modern art gallery in London. The Tate Modern is located in the south side of the River Thames. To get there, we took the underground until the London Bridge station and the remaining path we went by foot, making stops along the way and of course, taking some pictures. In my humble opinion, this walk was more interesting than the gallery itself, as I'm not a big fun of modern Art myself, but Sven enjoyed it quite a lot. 

As soon as we came out of the London Bridge Station, we could already see the highest building in the city; although in the final construction phase, it's already part of the London's skyline. It's called "The Shard". 

The Shard

We then crossed the street and found ourselves in the Borough Market, one of the biggest in London, where it's possible to find a big variety of food from around the world. There are big pans everywhere and all those food looked very delicious. You can find from Paellas to Apfelstrudel there. It's quite a big difference when you come from Stratford (where we live) and there people usually eat crappy fried food on the streets and suddenly you land in a place where people are eating mostly healthy and tasty (yet simple) food. In that day, people were celebrating Apple day and many were even wearing costumes. We ate something prepared by a french guy: roasted duck with apple and salad. Very good! 

After lunch, we went down the street, walked a few blocks and then turned right to check out the "The Golden Hinde" a replica of the Ship belonging to Sir Francis Drake at around 1577 - 1580; it moors at the riverside. People can even go inside of it, of course you would have to pay, because nothing is free or cheap in this city, except for clothes (girls heaven)!

The Golden Hinde

Going back the same way, one can see the ruins of the Winchester Palace. In the medieval times, it used to be the residence of the Bishops of Winchester.

Winchester Palace Ruins

Back to the original route towards the Tate Modern, we found ourselves facing the river Thames one more time, close to the beautiful Southwark bridge. 

Southwark Bridge and the Thames

A few steps later, there's the famous Shakespeare's Globe, a reconstruction of what it would have been the Globe Theater in 1599, where the works of the renown poet that lived during Queen's Elizabeth I Reign were staged.

Shakespeare's Globe

The Tate Modern is right besides the Shakespeare's Globe. For people that enjoy modern art, I believe it's a paradise, as the gallery is really big. 

Tate Modern

In front of the Tate Modern there's the "Millennium Bridge", in which we crossed over and found ourselves in the north side of the Thames. Right in the back, the imposing cathedral of Saint Paul's can be seen, where Lady Di and Prince Charles got married. 

St. Paul's e Millennium Bridge

Behind the Cathedral there is a underground station, from where we took he tube to go back home, as we were a little bit tired of walking already.

If you have enjoyed this post and want to know more about the places we have visited, you can click on their names and a official website will immediately pops up! 

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you liked it! :o)