Day 2- What a day!

As we awoke (much later than planned) we made our way over to Stratford to check out the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic park which had only just re-opened at the start of the month. I had been to the Olympic Park before the Olympics for the Schools Games and taking into account it was still unfinished, I thought it was a fantastic place, however this time my opinion had dropped, it was a disappointment- what happened to building a legacy? 

I was given the impression that 'Stratford City' had once again been forgotten about...the area looked a mess and was just once again large areas of undeveloped land. The Olympic Stadium had lost its glory and the Aquatics centre was just like any other swimming pool. The park was bare and the staff seemed unmotivated- all the excitement and success was lost and it just looked like it had just been scraped back together in order to gain some money from the tourists. 

The areas where the temporary structures for the Olympic games once lay were just mud pits and all fancy signage and imagery was desperately in need of an uplifting marketing boost. I had to make the visit a bit more interesting, so decided to pay the horrific price of £14, just to go up the 'Orbit'- the crazy infrastructure that was iconic during the 2012 games. Upon entering the 'Orbit' we were giving a 30 second tour guide who accompanied us up the lift and told us what we could do. If you put two and two together, not much can be said in 30 seconds, and the amount we were told that we could do, im surprised it even lasted 30 seconds! Yes, up the top there were astonishing views of the city (minus the destroyed park below) and to make it a bit more interesting warped mirrors were added so you could view yourself in a warped way- I had no idea on the relevance of them? Then to top it off you had to plummet  down over 400 steps just to get out. 

The Orbit 

Destroyed Stadium 

View from Orbit 

We then made our way over to the 'Emirates Air line' (the cable cart across the Thames). Coming out of North Greenwich station (the one for the O2) It was interesting how different the arena looked so close up and how it was a village within itself, lined with restaurants, bars and cafe's. The 'Airline' was given a airpot style system with the use of boarding passes and the Emirates fancy red uniform but we were unsure on whether this mode of transport was in conjunction with TfL (Transport for London) or a separate system; although you could use your Oyster Card*. The 'Airline' gave you great views of Greenwich and Canary Wharf but if you wanted pictures you had to be speedy (it was over very quick). 

View from the Airline

After wondering where we ended up, we found the next tube station and aimed to get to Tower Bridge, but with my wonderful London knowledge we ended up at London Bridge which has no link with Tower Bridge at all; similar names got the best of me I think. When exiting this station you were brought right out by the Shard, which is a unique and tall building but still vastly empty and not much use, unless you're rich and want to eat at the restaurants on top or pay to view the top- no thank you. 

The Shard

By this time I was flagging and needed to 'Eat, Drink & Sleep'. A quick Coffee fix did the trick. Next we ended up at Tate Modern and it just reminded me of any other free art gallery with lots of vast empty space (there was no exhibition on which is usually the exciting part). We then went across the bridge over to St Pauls Cathedral which was absolutely massive, I had another coffee fix whilst sitting on the steps of the cathedral; with the sun setting and blinding my eyes. 

We then decided to make our way back into the 'City of Westminster' so made a spontaneous jump on a bus and luckily it took us to Oxford Street- if you are no rush, the bus is brilliant. For starters its cheap and you get to see so much more than you would on the tube (obviously as you are not underground). We made a quick walk up to Soho where I took some snaps for my Photojournalism project and then headed over to Knightsbridge and got some further photos. 

Chaos at Knightsbridge Station

Getting back from Knightsbridge= Disaster. - The station is undergoing improvements and the inward escalators are under maintenance so the only option was the stairs. Due to the amount of people, they were only letting a few people through at a time to ensure no safety breaches whilst getting down. This caused a large backlog of people which caused everyone to change and go into 'lets all push until we get somewhere mode' 

One man said to another woman "alright no need to push, you aren't going to get there any quicker". Her reply "in some situations you just need to push", he was told! 

Today made me realise that the Olympic Park has well and truly been downgraded since its glory in the Olympic days and the tube isn't always the best mode of transport when exploring the city. 

*DONT use your Oyster on the 'Emirates Airline' it messed up our travel cards and made us go into debt with TfL. It took more money off that it should of done and made us pay more as we did not return using the line. The easiest and cheapest way would be to just buy a 'boarding pass' from the Emirates station.