GlobeDOTTIng: Day 80. Eric Clapton at Royal Albert Hall!!

...But first, this morning, we decided to go walk along the Riverwalk and do The Eye, as I had never done that and it offers spectacular views of the City of London. Mary Kathryn had done it once before, but was willing to brave the heights once again! It was a little overcast, but it still looked like visibility would be good. We got off of the Tube at Big Ben...

...and then headed across the river to The Eye...

...seeing a couple of cool things along the way...

...we didn't have to wait in line at all, so Monday morning might be a good time to check it out. We immediately got on the next car to the top of the world...

With the skies starting to clear up, we had some great vistas of Parliament...

...and Buckingham Palace...

...and other views...

We even saw something going on down near the parade grounds...

So when The Eye descended, we decided to go the few blocks over and check it out. On the way, we noted lots of activity going on at 10 Downing Street...hmm, an American President on his way, perhaps?

We found out that what was going on with the soldiers was a practice for the Queen's birthday!! So we got to see them complete their line-ups...

...and march down the road right in front of us!...again...front row views!

...of course, we also knew that Obama was going to be a part of those festivities! A lot of electricity in the air with the Queen's recent trip to Ireland, her birthday, and the anticipated arrival of Obama!

Then we headed back to complete the Riverwalk...seeing the old Blackfriars Bridge, planned, in the mid1700's and completed in the mid 1800's...

...hopefully it won't take them that long to build the additional bridge which is under construction adjacent to this bridge (see cranes in background), as I'm sure they will need it for the Olympics next year!

We also went to the old Shakespeare Globe Theater...

...I've never been there for a performance, so will have to add that to my list for my next trip to London.

And finally, at the end of our walk, St. Pauls Cathedral...

Then time to hop on the tube and get back to our apartment to get ready for the Eric Clapton concert at the Royal Albert Hall!! The Hall was opened in 1871 by Queen Victoria, who named the hall in honor of her husband...Albert, of course. The hall was originally his idea, but he didn't live to see it come to fruition. The acoustics are phenomenal, primarily due to these acoustic discs in the ceiling (photo from wikipedia)...