The View From The Shard

 Robert, Dad and I were very lucky to go up 244m to experience spectacular views at the Shard.

The day started off with very little waiting, as there is timed entry. We were soon whisked off to one of the lifts, which go up at 6m per second! There were two lifts in total and our ears popped when we got to the top.

Once we were up there, the view was absolutely spectacular. There were three floors to walk around, each one more astonishing than the one before. On a clear day (like the one when we went), you can see for 40 miles around you when you walk around the 360 degree viewing platform.

From the top of the Shard, I was able to see just about everything in London; including the Olympic Stadium, Houses Of Parliament and the curves in the river Thames. It was a brilliant view.

Another great thing about the Shard are the special telescopes that allow you to look around London and read facts about certain buildings. These were really exciting and taught me a lot. The cleverest thing about the telescopes was that you could only use them for a minute, letting everyone have a go.

The lift down to the ground was definitely the most horrible part of our visit. It made me feel really sick for about thirty minutes after we reached the bottom.

I definitely think that although the views at the Shard are incredible, the Shard involves a lot of walking around and it doesn't take much time to go all the way round. Therefore, it is NOT worth £24.95 per per adult and £18.95 per child...

The View From The Shard

 Robert, Dad and I were very lucky to go up 244m to experience spectacular views at the Shard.

The day started off with very little waiting, as there is timed entry. We were soon whisked off to one of the lifts, which go up at 6m per second! There were two lifts in total and our ears popped when we got to the top.

Once we were up there, the view was absolutely spectacular. There were three floors to walk around, each one more astonishing than the one before. On a clear day (like the one when we went), you can see for 40 miles around you when you walk around the 360 degree viewing platform.


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A safari that's not so far from home...

So, we didn’t really make it on holiday last summer, but we still had a great time, not least thanks to the Olympics. And while you might think we should be envious of our friends who went to France, Italy, Yorkshire or even on safari, we weren't. That was because we not only saw Usain Bolt at London 2012 (it was the heats, but so what?) but had a safari of our own.

The pictures in this post were taken by me from our car at Woburn Safari Park. It was one of the highlights of our summer, seeing wild animals so close up.

Woburn was perfect for an unusual day out. It is not cheap (though there are often special offers around) at £20 an adult and £15 for children, but it is a real treat.

It’s also suitable for the whole family as you don’t have to walk around much if you don’t want to (you can drive round the park). However, the kids can easily let off energy in the huge indoor soft play area if you need them to. There are also lots of eating places, as well as other opportunities to get up close to animals such as marmosets, penguins and goats.

Our day started with seeing rhinos through our car windows. This was especially exciting when two rhinos decided to cross the road in front of us. We also saw antelopes and elephants. But they were small fry (not physically) compared to the carnivores area. This was terrific, especially watching a wolf skulk around near us, and a bear eat his lunch apparently oblivious to his vehicular audience.

We were transfixed by two tigers, which were incredibly beautiful, but the lions were the best, partly because they came so close. The one pictured above was stalking out her territory, while others were lazing in the sun. It was wonderful to see (although we kept our windows firmly shut).

We also loved the monkey area, although we were disappointed that no monkeys decided to jump onto our car (black cars seemed to be less popular in general). We were surprised to find that bongos (a word of mild abuse in our house) actually exist (although there aren’t many of them left in the wild) and enjoyed seeing them and the zebras and giraffes too.

We went on a swan shaped pedalo, visited the 3D theatre to see a behind the scenes film about the park and watched a short sea lion show. It really was a lovely day and all of us felt we’d experienced something special. Who needs to go abroad for their safari?

More on Woburn here.

A safari that's not so far from home...

So, we didn’t really make it on holiday last summer, but we still had a great time, not least thanks to the Olympics. And while you might think we should be envious of our friends who went to France, Italy, Yorkshire or even on safari, we weren't. That was because we not only saw Usain Bolt at London 2012 (it was the heats, but so what?) but had a safari of our own.

The pictures in this post were taken by me from our car at Woburn Safari Park. It was one of the highlights of our summer, seeing wild animals so close up.

Woburn was perfect for an unusual day out. It is not cheap (though there are often special offers around) at £20 an adult and £15 for children, but it is a real treat.

It’s also suitable for the whole family as you don’t have to walk around much if you don’t want to (you can drive round the park). However, the kids can easily let off energy in the huge indoor soft play area if you need them to. There are also lots of eating places, as well as other opportunities to get up close to animals such as marmosets, penguins and goats.
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