Sunday 18 September 2011

Open House Part 1: You Spin me Right Round Baby


Open House weekend has been fantastic this year.  It didn't start well.  The Boyfriend and I were tired and bickering so grumpily rode the lift up the BT Tower. The lights in the lift flashed and it was announced that we were travelling at 1400 feet per second as our ears popped.

As the doors opened the view was instantly amazing.  There are 360 degree views of London through huge floor to ceiling windows. You can just about feel a slight pulse as the whole space slowly rotates. Occasionally the pulse becomes a jerk that would make you fall over it you walked in the opposite direction.
One of the guides said that when the top of the BT Tower was a restaurant the waiters and waitresses would find it difficult to give customers the right meals as they would be in a different part of the restaurant when the meal was served from where they placed their order!

From the tower you can see every iconic building in London.  The Gherkin, The Lloyd's Building, and the big beasts of Canary Wharf. Parliament. Big Ben. The London Eye. Tate Modern. Tower Bridge. The Phillishave. Alexandra Palace. The Olympic Stadium. Kings Cross St Pancreas Station. Senate House. The dome of the British Museum. Central St Giles. The Crucible. The Shard. Battersea Power Station. University College London.  Crystal Palace transmitter. Regents Park, Green Park, Hyde Park.


Even without the architecture the BT Tower is fabulous for watching the world go by. There are secret roof gardens,  London buses, workman on building sites.  I watched Tower Bridge open to let through a boat and then slowly collapse again as if nothing had happened.

The Boyfriend and I are, of course, long made up with each other. But we both regret not experiencing the such amazing views together properly. We will definitely put our names down for next years ballot. By then we may even be married...


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