london - day 3 - eye spy

we did something very touristy today. we went on the london eye. the basic experience consists of a short "4-D" show and of course the 30 minute ride on the giant ferris wheel. we went early on a weekday so it was not as crowded as i expected. in fact, we barely had to wait. from the london eye, we had gorgeous views of the parliament buildings and big ben. charing cross was also in plain view. we saw buckingham palace in the distance. unfortunately could not recognize anything else but it was still fun. i have a thing for ferris wheels and carousels. i find them to be wonderfully beautiful and romantic.



after the ride, we took a walk to tate modern to look for a japanese restaurant that i had read about on chowhound (where else?). i didn't mark it down on my map and my guidebook did not contain all the sidestreets so i had to rely on my memory to guide us to food. i felt so proud when we found it - canvey street! this was a very charming little pedestrian street and was filled with business people grabbing quick bites. we found the place we were looking for - tsuru - and quickly grabbed a table.


(image courtesy of the boy)

the boy wanted sushi but the pre-made, overpriced sets were not turning our crank so we ordered from the kitchen. i got chicken katsu and the boy got curry chicken. both were delish but i have to admit that his was tastier.



after lunch, we crossed the river thames via the millenium bridge and walked all the way back to the parliament buildings. it was a long, long walk.


(image courtesy of the boy)

once we got there, we went to check out westminster abbey and got a closer view of big ben and the parliament buildings.



then we bought tickets for a river boat ride and rode all the way from westminster pier to st. katherine's dock. on our way, we saw the entrance to the traitor's gate at the tower of london and the lovely tower bridge.




after we got off the boat, we walked to lloyds of london... because it's supposed to be a neat building... and because i'm an insurance geek. this part of london was filled with suits working late. i felt quite out of place in my short jean skirt.


(image courtesy of the boy)


(top-left and bottom-right images courtesy of the boy)

believe it or not, lloyds has a souvenir shop. believe it or not, i bought something from it - a print of the underwriting room in 2006. sometimes i wish i were still an underwriter. but an underwriter at lloyds. there were older photographs but, because they were framed, they were not in the price range that i would have paid. as it stood, my print was £10. i could tell the boy thought it wasn't worth it. but how can i say this in my best austin powers voice, this is london baby.



we spent so much time walking and taking photos that were were mad hungry by the time i finished in lloyds souvenir shop. we still had to walk faaar to our planned dinner spot: tayyabs, a popular pakistani eatery near brick lane. the food was amazing! we had saag aloo and some kind of goat curry. we rounded out our meal with papadum, garlic naan, and mango lassi. sluuurp.