I think nothing sums up the history of the Tower of London like the new buildings that are popping up in the city around it…
It is the juxtaposition of the ancient stone battlements and the ultramodern skyscrapers that is both poignant and mesmerizing.
And the London skyline is full of magical and whimsical new towers.
The past and the future coexist with mutual admiration.
Maybe that is what is fascinating about all of Europe.
It is the timelessness of the overall experience. I can’t remember what the locals call that weird, bent building that seems to be breaking like a wave, but I love the sense of fun that the new generation of towers brings to the scene.
You look out over the ancient walls of the Tower, past a World War Two war ship and on to the Shard, a breathtaking new edifice that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Catch a glimpse of ‘The Pickle’ as they call the building that looks a little like a rocket ship from a 50’s sci-fi movie, and you almost have to laugh.
It is almost too much to take in at one time.
It is like time traveling with your eyes.
And it can take your breath away.
Pouring My Art Out 
Thanks for showing me more sights in my city that I never bother going to! Although I did go up The Shard but I end up anywhere if they put a bar in it.
Thing about living here is London isn’t a centre then a mass sprawl working outwards, everything reaching out and around is a distinct village in it’s own right so you live in the right one for you then you tend not to leave it that often as you have all that you need right there and surrounding neighbourhoods. So when I do venture into town it’s like a city break all anew. I’ve been most at home in Camden Town though, I still miss living there. Did you venture there at all, you were pretty close where you were staying and I saw you’d been at St Pancras and Euston Road from earlier pics.
To be honest I don’t know if I was there or not.
Yes! You’ve pinpointed one of the biggest charms of London right here – the patchwork of old and new is what makes the city. Somewhere I’ve got some pictures of Old and New in Shanghai, which I took for the same reasons…the main difference is London does Old and New much better, as the old buildings are real old buildings rather than rebuilt old buildings!
that is exactly it.
For Art’s readers, the bendy one is the Walkie Talkie. And the pickle is called the Gherkin. The pointy one is the Shard.
Was coming here to say the same thing, isn’t the walkie talkie the one that melted cars? That’s a pretty cool building at work
Why yes, it was.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-23930675
Our buildings have super powers, that’s pretty cool
ha
wow
we had the same problem with that shiny music hall in Los Angeles
When buildings attack!
You can’t be too reflective
wait… a gherkin is a pickle, isn’t it? HA!
But people don’t call it The Pickle! HA!
Oh… one of my English relatives told me they do… dang it…
The English sense of humor can entail keeping a straight face and giving you a complete snow job.
The Boffin and an English colleague put one over on an American colleague.
American colleague: “So my meeting is in Germany on the 10th. Which I believe is a Wednesday.”
Boffin: “Hang on, it might not be a Wednesday. You need to check because it is around that time of the year that the Germans change their calendar.”
English colleague, going over to his calendar and looking: “No, you don’t need to worry. It will be a Wednesday. The change isn’t until later.”
dry and droll… as is to be expected… HA!
Rule #1: Fact check anything an English person tells you.
I do that with everybody…
I love this post, Arturo. The way you featured the old and new was fabulous! Not only the pictures but your words to go along with the pictures. Very nice. 🙂
thanks, buddy!
Wow is that ever weird to see.
Like Dr. Suess…
It totally is!
yup