Mum has come to visit us and we have all been sitting happy as clams enjoying her company and her cooking as well 😉. We haven’t been doing much sightseeing because 1. it’s too hot, and 2. she’s been to the UK many times already and there’s not that much new and exciting to show her.
That said, she hadn’t visited the Sky Garden building, one of the many tall buildings from which you can enjoy views of the city. When we first came to the UK, we visited the Horizon 22 building, which was great, but everyone told us Sky Garden is better, so we decided to wait until she came before visiting.
So, once she came, this was the first touristy thing we checked off our list. Note, visits to the Sky Garden are free but you need to book well in advance, so if you are traveling on short timelines, make sure to book this at least a month in advance, if not more.
The one nice thing about London in the summer is that, because of the tall buildings, there is a decent amount of shade, and nice wind corridors, making it a little cooler there vs in the burbs where we live. The not-so-nice thing is that the underground isn’t air-conditioned, and it can be quite suffocating inside.
God bless the Elizabeth line. That bit of air-conditioned travel is a good reminder never to set foot on the Central line in summer again.
The Sky Garden building is quite distinctive because of it’s shape. I don’t know quite what to make of it. I love that it’s unique and can be distinguished from other high rises from miles away. But at the same time, it does stand oddly among the other older buildings around it.
But as you come closer, the dissonance between its modern lines and the lovely older structures is a bit jarring.
The views from the Sky Garden are amazing because it’s as close to a 360° view as you can get. All the major landmarks are visible along with directions to help you identify what you are seeing. There’s also a garden up top, and restaurants, so it makes a very nice place hangout spot as well.
I had a suspicion the sunset from this place would be very beautiful, but since the sun sets past 8 here, we decided to just view it during the day.
After our round of this building, we stopped for a brief picnic at the nearby St. Dunstan in the East Church Garden, which is fast becoming one of my favorite spots in the city.
This is an ancient church that burned down during the Great Fire of London in 1666. It is now mostly a ruin, but there are picnic benches, and it’s a nice spot of quiet amid the hustle and bustle of the city.
We then went on to visit the London Mithraeum nearby. Situated on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters, this cultural hub showcases the temple of Mithras, a selection of the remarkable Roman artefacts found during the recent excavation, and a series of contemporary art commissions responding to one of the UK’s most significant archaeological sites.
The history behind this ancient Roman temple is fascinating, and although this place is small (in and out it’s about 10-15 mins only), it’s still worth a visit for the lovely chanting experience, and to see the temple site.
There is also a lovely display of contemporary modern art, which was nice, but felt out of place. The quality of the display was also a bit meh. Still, we did a brief wander.
Our next stop was supposed to be St. Paul’s down the road, but by this time, the heat had got to my mum, and she was feeling tired. So, we all trooped back home, and spent the rest of the evening binge-watching some Studio Ghibli – a perfect ending to a lovely day out!
