Views from the Gherkin

A couple of weeks ago I dragged Lesley along to the top floor of the Gherkin for some champagne at the Searcy's bar there. It was pretty expensive (£15 a glass, so my sister might have a point when she says I've got more money than sense), but for the experience of going up a tall building in London and taking photos, it was worth the money.

The light on the day wasn't great, unfortunately, and it had been raining just before we got there, so the photos aren't the best quality (although some of them do have a kind of vintage cinema sheen to them because they're a bit fuzzy). However the views were amazing, and we had fun playing spot-the-landmark, and in my case, spot-the-buildings-I've-been-to-before.

The Gherkin is one of those buildings that looks quite delicate from afar, and then you get up close and you realise it's flipping massive.

The bar is actually right in the top of the building:

Very tall buildings and raindrops:

(I have briefly been to the bar in this one and posted photos here: http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/views-from-heron-tower.html)

View towards Canary Wharf:

Two stupid buildings (seriously, what is that one on the left doing?):

Tower Bridge/Tower of London/City Hall etc.:

And finally, the building on the right of this picture (with the red umbrellas) is the Allen and Overy officers, where I went last year as part of Open House (pics here: http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/open-hooooooouse-2015-9.html).

Open Hooooooouse 2015 #9

I thought I was done after Pennington Street, but then I looked at my list and realised I hadn't gone to One Bishops Square, which was not a million miles from where I was (NB my logic skills had flown out of the window by this point, it was a good old walk), and I am SO GLAD I went there because it was the best. 

One Bishops Square is the offices of Allen and Overy, who are a big international law firm, and it is a properly big deal. They have an in-house gym and medical centre! They have loads of artwork all over the place! I wouldn’t be surprised if they had sleep pods on site or something! 

This was a directed walk around the building and it was really interesting to get to look at another type of office (I realise this sounds sarcastic but it isn't, yes I am that sad) and then there was a roof terrace! (see previous comments about high things).

And then there was ANOTHER roof terrace! Amazing. I could not have asked for a better end to the day. 

Next year I will potentially have my sister with me again (the only person who I can rely on to keep up with me for this weekend, sorry everyone else who expressed interest) so Open House 2016 is going to be a blast. 

Oh, and finally, I have a side blog on Tumblr where I post pictures of empty London streets, because I like pretending there’s no-one else in the city, so if you’re interested in what London would look like after the zombie apocalypse, it is here: emptylondon.tumblr.com

Thanks for reading!