Looking out over London

It was OH's birthday a couple of weeks ago. My present was going to be taking him up the Shard which had a view platform high up but when I went to book it found that it wasn't actually open until February 2013! So plan B - someone suggested going up Tower 42, what used to be the NatWest Tower to the champagne bar which had glorious views and although it was a champagne bar was pretty relaxed (as I'm not the smartest of people at the best of times).

So booking made we turned up after a torrential down pour. I was worried that it was a huge mistake and the weather meant we wouldn't see anything but someone must have been looking down on me as the sun came out just as we arrived.

 So we grabbed a bottle of champagne (well it was his birthday after all) and sat back to enjoy the changing light

 At first it was cloudy and we could see rain over in the West

                                      

 But then sun came out. Below is the same shot of the BT tower taken over about an hour

 It was phenomenal to watch and almost magic!

 

There were other views though for some reason the light wasn't as amazing. Here is St Paul's with a glimpse of the river in the corner (if you look close enough.....)

                                          

 But the champagne couldn't last and when we left I managed to get this shot of the Shard just before the rain started again....

 

Blimey I've had a busy few days. And it doesn't stop there - out and about again on Monday so watch this space....