shard – One Chance to See the World

Early bird or night owl?

I have been following a lot of London photographers lately to get some inspiration. One thing I envy is just how empty the streets are in their photographs, they look abandoned!

Even in the height of lockdown, London’s streets were not totally empty, and getting up early seems to be the best way to get that abandoned vibe. The early bird catches the worm is very true in this case. The problem is I am not an early bird.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGQWKAMK_v/

But I am getting better. The earlier I wake the less busy tourists areas are, it really is rewarding and makes me excited to leave the house. And as I get older (cheese alert) I am appreciating everyday more and more, and realising how much time a sleep-in can waste. Too much.

Here are some shots not long before sunset at St Paul’s Cathedral. The ‘what‘ installation above is a part of a wider project around the city, with many other words dotted around nearby streets.

*Google’s what the actual full sentence is*

Thanks to Londonist for the answer, the full sentence reads ‘What are you going to meet if you turn this corner?‘

The Millennium Bridge perhaps?

Cute dogs on walkies?

The Shard perhaps, taken on a different, more cloudy day.

This street gave me a real Harry Potter vibe, and was a great way to see the Shard unobstructed from across the Thames. The new pictures I am uploading here and to Instagram are new ones I have taken in the past few weeks of lockdown, and edited using Lightroom. I will have at least one new shot a day for the next month or so, so plenty of London to see if you have five minutes spare to check them out!

But back to the question. Early bird or night owl? Have recent events changed your habits or have you stuck to your guns?

Let me know, and happy hump day!

Sam

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak I am somewhat limited as to what I can do in London, but I aim to post as much as I can during this time. I promise to have some great posts coming your way once this is all over as I continue to explore London.

Stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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Feeling every emotion today

Good evening everyone, my post comes later today as I wasn’t able to publish at work. Today I wanted to upload these shots of the Shard that actually have very little to do with how I am feeling, other than this is the city in which I currently feel them.

The weather in both these shots was perfect, and today was another glorious day. Around 20c I believe (68f) and no clouds whatsoever. The images here are from different days earlier this year, but both close to Southwark tube station.

The sun puts me in a good mood. That is normal for us humans, I don’t think I actually know of anyone that gets depressed at the thought. But today I felt a little gloomy.

We freak out here when the sun finally beats the clouds. And even though we are in a lockdown, I just knew that there would be a few that couldn’t help themselves and venture outside and fill up the parks. That is what got me down a bit.

I work in residential, meaning I have to work and today residents went out solo or with a partner for a jog or long walk. That is (currently) acceptable. However some came back saying the parks were busy, some people sunbathing in groups. Not acceptable.

I understand that I am working outside of the home (I have to) but I am trying to be as distant as I can with everyone and keep with the rules set by the government and the company I work for. We have put a lot of measures in place to protect us all and I am content with this so far.

Some of the population are still meeting friends from outside of their own homes. Fact. It is so frustrating to know that despite most people doing their bit, there is always a small minority that just don’t care. And sometimes these small numbers can do way more damage than they are aware of. I have to meet people outside of my own home, true, but only at work. I wouldn’t and haven’t met anyone outside of my home to socialise. I would genuinely feel partly responsible for the continual rise in cases, all because I just couldn’t help myself but go against what has been recommended by experts.

But I need to be proud of the 99% more than the ignorant 1%. Most people are good people and it can be easily overlooked when all we hear about are the negatives. And I like to think those that have broken the rules are doing it out of plain stupidity and not because they don’t care about the vulnerable.

But I felt relaxed again after watching the Queen give a speech this evening on TV. She spoke elegantly in a calm manner, addressing the nation for only the fifth time other than her Christmas messages. She has only spoken in times of trouble, this pandemic certainly falling in that category.

I will be genuinely sad when Queen Elizabeth II reign is over, being a country with a royal family she has been a good Queen to us. And she certainly hasn’t had the easiest life. With all the chaos going on in the world it is nice to hear a message of hope. And I have just learned that our PM Boris is in hospital… I understand that everyone’s political stance differs (and I will avoid the topic of politics here!) however no one should suffer and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

And I guess my message to end the post is that in all the chaos that is going on in the world, it is important to know we cannot change everything ourselves. But we can make a difference in our little ways and as long as we are being good people and constantly seeking to improve, that is all we can do.

Stay safe, I am sorry for being a little delayed in responding to some of your comments due to working however after tomorrow I have a whole eleven days off. That’s right, ELEVEN. So I will be present more than I have been in the past couple days.

I am sending my love to you all out there, wherever you live and whatever your situation.

Take care!

Stay home, stay safe and happy blogging!

Sam

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How nice has the weather been in London?!

The last few days here have been great. Cold, but great. And I don’t mind a cold snap as long as it stays dry. At the end of the day the cold weather doesn’t affect the photographs, but a cloudy day does.

I am still flat hunting, which is why I haven’t been able to focus a lot of my time to blogging. Sorry for this, but a bunch of posts will be flying your way once I find one. I am on my way and have a couple of viewings this week so I am feeling optimistic.

I am really trying to stay as central as I can, as I HATE busy public transport. The few times I have had to get the tube at rush hour can only be described as traumatic. And there is no way I am driving to work everyday in Old Street.

Which is an update for you…

So up until the 19th of this month I was working here. Southwark Street.

This is a great location and I will miss working here, being up close to the Shard every day and the flow of visitors in and around Borough Market.

And there’s this interesting new billboard..

I’ve never tried this drink, but my friend living in Sweden said its good. I haven’t figured out what is mind blowing about the ad, it is build into the wall as you can see however the wall itself is just a 2d disguise for the scaffolding behind it. But I trust them. That’s all we can do huh?

And as I say goodbye to Southwark I say hello to Old Street.

Old Street is located north of the river, in the Borough of Islington. The area itself seems to be thriving , with new buildings rising and the area of Shoreditch (the wider area Old Street is located in) being a hub for bars, restaurants, street food and art. I am looking forward to working in this area as it seems to give off a really good vibe and despite hitting 30, I am still far from retired from having a good time. I did get asked for ID the other day I have to mention. The shop keeper is now my best friend.

I want to stay central so I can go about my exploring without having too much time spent on public transport. It is frightening how much time I have spent in my life sitting on a train or bus, forced to do nothing but look out the window and do the same route day in day out. I do feel this is a chunk of time we all waste, endlessly scrolling through social media or depressing newspaper headlines in the hope of a momentary distraction. I now try to spend this time wisely, drafting up a post or writing down ideas as these small windows of time can really add up in the long term. If the commute is 30 minutes to work that’s an hour of our day… and five hours of the week! FIVE HOURS!!! That’s not far off a whole day shift. We spend a lot of time working for someone else, it is important that we do the same and be productive for ourselves too.

But yes, I want to be fairly central. One reason being a shorter commute to work, the other being I want quicker access to many of the cities sights to have more frequent and consistent uploads. And this brings me to my next section. Recently I posted a poll to Instagram, allowing followers to choose where my first trip would be in London. The vote was between Borough Market and Covent Garden.

Now I had no idea what the result would be (or what was more popular to those outside of London and the UK), and it was pretty one sided from the start.

The result was…

Borough Market started to make a late comeback however the result was still clear. So my first proper travel blog post will from Covent Garden, I am hoping next week. If I can add a blog post or two in the meantime I will, and by next week I might have a new home. Who knows!

I hope you are all having a great week, and I hope you enjoy my Covent Garden post when it comes. Thank you if you voted and if not, which one would you have chosen?

Goodbye from Southwark but hello to an exciting year ahead!

Speak to you all soon,

Sam