A day before their pre-planned visit viewing on the 72nd floor of the tallest building in Western Europe, The Shard, there was an abundance of sunshine. Its most anticipated rays graced warmly the people of the U.K. It indeed made people's day flourishingly glorious as it had been withheld from them for so long. Comparably speaking, they were like restrained plants in the garden or in pots as the lake of sun repressed the strengthening of green leaves as well as inhibiting the production of colourful blooms.
The skydeck visit day...
When they were finally on their way to one of the famous landmarks and well-accomplished designed buildings in London, the “Beast from the East” brewed the silvery skies and replaced the pleasant climate with chilly conditions. However, the change of weather didn't hinder them in pursuing the planned visit and from jumping-on a standby black cab. While they were quiet cosy inside the cab, the creeping gloomy weather outside was cheered-up by the jovial crowd. They were celebrating the traditional death date of the foremost patron Saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day, wearing green coordinated ensembles. She then whispered, “I bet they will be liquored up in bars, walking groggily on streets and seeing double on a Saturday night!”.
Their black cab moved moderately on the busy roads of London until they eventually reached St. Thomas Street. From the ingress of the street and through the cab's windshield, she had a glimpse of the conspicuously erected 95-storey skyscraper. A 309.6 metres (1,106 ft) tall pyramidal tower designed by Master Architect Renzo Piano which was durably embellished in 11,000 shard of glass panels. This London's skyline has 87 levels with 72 habitable floors occupied by hotel rooms; restaurants & bars; a viewing gallery and an open air observation deck. What a dynamic “vertical city” symbol of London!
The cab stopped and arrived at the drop off point of The Shard. They were greeted by a hotel's foyer employee standing outside and who then directed them to use the side corridor. They traversed on a pavement feeling the chill breeze while heading towards the main entrance door of The View From The Shard.
They were greeted, queued and then, advised to place their belongings in a tray for a CT (computerised tomography) scanning. Moreover, they also passed through a full body scanner before finally joining in the people ahead of them. Wait a minute, there was a stand by photo booth with an attendant who asked them for 3 different pretence poses. The end product of the quite fast captured images, after they were cropped and photoshopped, was a monetising souvenir scrapbook.
Walked straight... turned left... turned right... then inside the quick as a thud lifts...
They reached the compacted viewing gallery deck on the 69th floor bustling with enthusiast locals and mesmerised tourists. After a quick circuit, they finally headed to an open air observation deck on the 72nd floor for spectacular panoramic views of the capital. As they joint the ongoing fervent crowd, the icy cold breeze from the “Beast from the East” greeted and bashed them. What an open superstructure exposed to the elements; you can take in the atmosphere and hear the sounds of the metropolis below. They claimed their complementary glass of Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Champagne while also really pleased to be wearing more than just their party clothes and accessories.
Thereafter, she started capturing aerial landscape sceneries from the 72nd floor of Western Europe's Tallest building or at 244 metres (801 ft) above the ground. However, the poor weather condition and the murky glass panels inhibited her in snatching decent and fulfilling photographs. Inevitably, she was relatively dismal and it was utterly evident in her facial expressions. On the other hand, her eagerness and optimism in capturing adequate yet comprehensible images prevailed more and counter triumphed her melancholic state of mind.
They finished sipping their glass of champagne and couldn't stand longer the frigid conditions. Accordingly, they routed their way down and decided to adjoin the set of queuing adieu crowd. The high speed lifts at 6 metres per second took them down and found their selves concluded at the gift shop. A souvenir store chock-full with miniature models of The Shard London; London fridge magnets; kiddie stuff toys and sweets; informative print and publications; customised fabric shopping bags and many more. With all of the choices in front of her eyes, she decisively chose and bagged the 160mm miniature model of The Shard London.
Their tummies called of their attention...
They walked back at the drop off point and headed onto the level 31 of The Shard for some contemporary British cuisine and breathtaking views. A buzzing Aqua Shard surrounded by delightful family; reunited friends; etiquette conscious socials; some generation-Y food-photo affiche and the unfeigned diners.
