Feb 25 field trip

Our first field trip was limited by the cold weather to more of a "look see" at some of the familiar sights of the City of London. Our first stop, the Library, reminded me of one of the film versions of 1984, so apparently its iconic powerhouse design impressed the film maker. I also thought of the film version of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead with Gary Cooper astride the huge tool-like structure, looking down on we mere mortals. In London the guide compared this small square mile area to Wall Street, a power base to the UK. It is fascinating to contrast old and new as we pass St. Paul's Cathedral, with the huge high rise buildings surrounding the old building. The story about the Cathedral's survival is familiar, but still interesting. I remember seeing an old movie travelogue about postwar Britain, and the sight of the entire area around the Cathedral being nothing more than bricks and rubble.
Crossing theThames, we passed through the Tate Modern (Ian MacKellan in Richard III was filmed there) and took a brisk walk down the South Bank. The narrow alley-like street looks like something from Shakespeare in Love: dark, wet, anicient; but with coffee shops and fast food places mixed in with the sights.
And there is always the river. We look and the fact that this was always the most important part of this sea way town; where goods came in and out, where men went to sea, and where immigrants arrived all the time -- this city is all about the immigrants, really; the Vikings, the Normans, the Irish, the European and Russian refugees, the Asians and subcontinent newer arrivals. Coming up the river, this is what they first saw, the river, the docks, the bridges, and now the high rises.