South Bank of the Thames, Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral, and where part of Harry Potter was filmed.

Yesterday's Hike of a Thousand Miles led to the South Bank of the Thames, where 'the view of the north shore is amazing.' As I trudged down the riverwalk with restaurants and cafes beckoning on the right and the murky brown waters of the Thames not-beckoning on the left, I thought to myself, 'This would be a lot more entertaining under the influence.' A couple of glasses of wine later, good times were had by all!

More of the view of the North Side, where all good and exciting things dwell, including a series of homes that looks an awful lot like Mary Poppin's residence with the Banks.

Tate Modern, London's MoMa. I really just wanted to put a picture of a penis on my blog. Forgive me.

An installation of elementary school children imported to act as a live Tate exhibit.

'How much to get into the exhibit?'

'Ten pounds. Unless...are you a student?'

'No.'

'Ah. Ten pounds. Are you anything else?'

'No.'

'Then ten pounds.'

'Ten pounds?'

'Ten pounds.'

The view of the famous Millenium footbridge. I hear it is much more photogenic at night. Of course. Although maybe another glass of wine would lend it more intrigue...

The view of St. Paul's Cathedral from the end of the footbridge.

A view of St. Paul's from the safety of the other side. I didn't go any closer than this, having learned my lesson from Buckingham (motto: 'Why go closer when a great photo op is right here?')

For all the girls out there wanting to know 'where to meet the right man.' (Please note this caption is intended for the picture above, not the picture below.)

Entering the financial district...

This was apparently 'London's first coffee house' before being established as Jamaica Wine House in 1869. It seems now to be a gathering place for the after-work crowd, where cheery men pretend to kiss each other when they catch you taking their photo. I should bring my camera everywhere, just to inspire the show.

Another popular scene for the afterwork crowd is Leadenhall Market, a small crossbow of pubs and shops and the occasional art stalls, where parts of Harry Potter were apparently filmed. To my relief, there were no crowds of small tourist children waving wands, just crowds of happy bankers waving pints.

Everybody drinks outside here (at least in summer). There don't appear to be laws governing full pint glasses on streets and alleyways as far as I can tell...God bless London.