The View From The Shard

The weather was as beautiful as it comes. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen and the sunshine was warm. It was a good day to go up The Shard, Western Europe’s tallest building.

As I crossed London Bridge, its sharp point, glinting in the sunlight, emerged majestically from behind the buildings surrounding it.

I entered the building, negotiated my way through the airport-like security and made my way to the first lift. It sped so fast to the 33^rd floor that my ears popped. From there we were directed around to the second lift, which, ears popping again, whisked us up to the 68^th floor and the first viewing platform.

 

Every outside wall was floor to ceiling glass, providing an uninterrupted view across London in every direction. In the far distance I could make out green fields beyond the city. Closer, was The Tower of London surrounded by a green moat, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast. In stark contrast, the nearby Gherkin and other oddly shaped new office blocks grew out of the undergrowth of smaller buildings, and still managed to look small from so far above.

I was amazed at just how much The Thames twists and turns. To the east, along several bends in the river, was the Canary Wharf building and, another twist later, the tiny blocks of The Thames Barrier.

In the other direction, I struggled to find St Paul’s. It was buried among buildings that are taller than the cathedral. When I finally spotted it, it looked quite snug and settled in its cubby hole. Further west I saw The Post Office Tower and the Wembley Arch.

Going anti-clockwise around the platform, the river disappeared west into the city, then reappeared briefly with a tiny London Eye. I continued round to the vast number of railway tracks feeding out of London Bridge. Then I was back at the river.

I took the lift up a further four floors to the 72^nd and the open platform. Of course it was only open at the top. The glass walls still rose above head height but there was a welcome breeze. Looking up, the centre of the building grew another thirteen storeys to the ninety-fifth. Each level smaller than the one below, until they ended in a point resembling a shard of glass, giving the building its name.

I was impressed. Not so much with the building, but with the scale of the panorama. It had been a glorious view on a glorious day. I had seen it at its best.

 

The Shaun the Sheep Trail

We met our first Shaun the Sheep as we left Fenchurch Street station. This one was called Liberty Bell, was painted in Statue of Liberty green and wearing her crown.

There are fifty of them dotted across central London until the end of May. Then there’ll be another fifty in Bristol before all one hundred gather in Covent Garden in September, when they’ll be auctioned off for charity.

On our way to find the Tower of London Welcome Centre to pick up a map, we found our second Shaun. This one sponsored by the Royal Mint and wearing a large gold coin around his neck. He was standing guard at the top of the hill with the Tower behind him.

Crossing Tower Bridge, we followed more Shauns to the South Bank. We kept bumping into families who had come from the Shaun we were heading for. We were doing the route backwards, sort of. There are four trails to follow but we were doing our own version, taking in a bit of each.

We wandered through Borough Market where I discovered a stall that sold proper Darjeeling Tea. Pure tea leaves, not blended with anything. First Flush, Second Flush, Oolong and White Tea. I was in heaven. I bought some Second Flush Tea Leaves which is the second crop of the season and slightly stronger than First Flush.

Rainbow Shaun was hiding inside The Shard. Others were hiding round corners. “Here he is! This way!” I yelled, spotting another. Each had been painted a different design. Some had names that were a play on words. “Br-ewe-nel” was painted gold and looked very distinguished in his top hat, like Isambard Kingdom Brunel himself.

Across the Millennium Bridge, that no longer wobbles, there were nine all around St Pauls, and in the adjacent streets. Two of them taking refuge in a nearby shopping centre. All were surrounded by families following the trail. We took a bus to Carnaby Street to find the two who were lurking about there. Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Shaun was hiding in Hamley’s. We searched the ground floor looking for him. He’s got to be here somewhere.

 

There was another halfway down Regent Street and two more hovering about Piccadilly Circus. At Trafalgar Square, Nelson Shaun had a pigeon sitting on his back, peeking over his shoulder. He stood proud in the shadow of his counterpart on his column. Dusk was falling and we were exhausted, but we had managed to find twenty-five Shauns. And what better way to end the day than with Britain’s greatest naval officer.

 

I feel like a tea-strainer

It the main 12 month assessment at the Research Centre. Sara met me at the door with the sample tub. Good. I was desperate for the loo. Then the round of assessments began. Weight. I was pleased to weigh a wee bit less than last time. I had tried to cut down on the cakes and biscuits. It seemed to be working.

Then it was time for the blood. Or not. When the cannula for the MRI had been removed the week before from my motorway vein, I hadn’t put enough pressure on it and it had bruised slightly. My other veins, which are very possessive of their blood at the best of times, had gone into hiding even deeper than usual. Oh joy. I was also cold. So we decided to leave it for a bit and get the other assessments done first. Sara made me a cup of tea in the hope that that would warm them up too.

It was a different doctor this time for the blind EDSS. He looked very distinguished in his purple paisley bowtie. His first challenge was to sign into the computer to score the assessment. Several usernames and passwords later, I asked him “Do you feel like throwing it through the window?” “I’m very close to it” was the reply. “It’s the same user name as … assessment,” suggested Sara. Ah-ha! Success!

Reflexes, tuning fork, strength, the nine-hole peg test, remembering the shapes to draw them after a twenty second viewing. “How’s the bladder?” “Sending me nuts!” He laughed. “I don’t think ‘sending me nuts’ is an option for an answer”, he said. The dreaded adding up test. You have to add the last number said to the one said before. So… 4, 5, answer 9, 6, answer 11, 3, answer 9, and so on.

Now to try the blood again. My veins were still in hiding. Sara recruited Anna to help. The short version is that three attempts later, the blood finally flowed. And I felt like a tea-strainer.