August 04, 11 Craven Street to the Thames Barrier

Arrival in London does not mean your Thames Path effort is complete.  No.  You must forge on to the Thames Barrier: 

Where you can have a view and go to the bathroom.  And to make it official, here is a sign with the National Trails icon, an acorn:

It is actually 185.2 miles, and, in fact that may not be accurate either because in some places you can walk either the north or south bank and due to diversions and such, the distances are not the same.  

The barrier:

What they do inside those structures, I do not know:

This stage was more interesting than I had expected.  First, I had the Embankment Bridge all to myself—even though I did not get started until after 6:00—which meant I could take this picture:

 

A splendid view of The Eye:

Why anyone would want to ride on a ferris wheel is beyond me.

This goofy statue was not one of a kind.  There were several, each decorated distinctly, sprinkled along the wharf.

Some people like to sit and enjoy the view:

With their animal friends:

And some people are head over heels:

Without a doubt, the winningest statue of the day was this Demon with Bowl:

He's so great he deserves two views:

I love that he has no head to speak of and his feet are a riot!

Apartment buildings:

You would not believe how ubiquitous these signs are.  This one was in the middle of nowhere:

I wonder if someone has a whole collection and goes around under cover of darkness and puts them up wherever just to get rid of them.

This kitty has other things on her mind, like, "Who is out there?"

After reaching the Barrier, I walked  back to tour the Cutty Sark, the ship, that is, about which you can read here and see pictures here

It is truly an impressive vessel.  The walk back to the ship was five miles, so I decided to take the "short cut" which cuts out a large curve of the river.  And besides, I was up for different scenery.  I did not know that there was an enormous demolition project en route and a consequent diversion through bad traffic, al of which was most unattractive:

And this is when it got pretty again!

The Cutty Sark is at Greenwich Pier whence you can take a boat which stops at various bridges.  So I did.  

After disembarking, I decided to play the urbanite and pick up take out.  Chicken sushi----don't even! All in all not an adventure in good eating.  But a good day otherwise!