Nigel And Lu, Up The Shard.

Well, it won't take you many seconds to guess, from the picture below, what Lu's second birthday long felt want was .........

...... only a trip up the flipping Shard, London and for that matter, Western Europe's tallest building!

However, in the cool of the morning, she also wanted to make a more peaceful and reflective visit to St Dunstan in the East ........ 

https://secretldn.com/st-dunstan-ruin-church-garden/

..... the ruin of a church dating back nearly 1,000 years, damaged during the Great Fire of London and then bombed in the Second World War, but then happily, what was then left of it, was rescued in 1967 to become a tiny public park.

It is now a wonderful oasis, in the midst of so many tall, modern buildings and as such, the perfect spot for our two adventurers to enjoy a freshly baked breakfast croissant and coffee, each lost in their own thoughts ....... before "main event"! 

Traversing 66 storeys up to the viewing gallery of said Shard ......

 ...... via two, super speedy lifts, one to the 33rd(?) floor and then another to the 66th!  

And, oh my life, what a spectacle was before, or should I say under them .......

..... it even managed to take Nigel's breath away, as it did Darrell, who had the vapours just looking at the pictures!

However, once Nigel had found his sea legs ........

....... and was gradually able to move a little closer to the windows .....

....... the first thing he looked for was St Dunstan, where they'd only been just half an hour or so ago, a small haven, still holding it's own and standing proud, not that far from the iconic Tower of London.

Nigel even reckoned he could see Evesham in one direction, far in the distance .......

..... as well as, he thinks, picking out roughly the area where Hugh's (Darrell's best friend and mentor of all things of a capital city type nature) London pied a terre is situated.

It really was something, when the railway tracks and trains down below looked like a tiny, toy train set.

It was hard for the little fella to find the words to sum it all up he said, but emotional, scary, romantic, awesome and high were well up there and perhaps even wobbly, as he was sure he could occassionally feel it gently sway (but decided not to mention this to Lu). 

There was even a grand piano for anyone who fancied a wee tinkle (or show of) on the ivories ......

.......and posh ice cream called gelato, that he decided to hold back on, just to be on the safe side, due to his stomach being in such close proximity to the clouds and low flying airplanes heading for Heathrow Airport (..... and the wobble) .......
 

.... not to mention expensive and in his opinion, rather stingy looking cocktails (well, compared to Darrell's measures that is ), so opted for a fizzy orange instead, while trying to ear hole in on a conversation between the two American tourists sharing his table. Unfortunately he gleaned very little, other than they were drinking what he thought was scotch on the rocks! 

Then, after about an hour up amongst the birds and occasional helicopter, Lu and Nigel decided it was time to move on  ...........

 ....... returning to terra firma to gaze upwards and marvel that they had actually been right at the top! There is a tiny bit more, but we think we'll keep you in aspic suspension until our next post for that little nugget!