Millenium Dome and Canary Wharf

Millenium Dome under London sky
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In March 2005 I visited some of London’s latest tourist attractions with my mum before taking her to see Phantom of the Opera for her birthday.

After Diana’s Memorial and the British Airways London Eye we retraced our steps and jumped back on the Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and the impressive Millennium Dome. As the world marked the new Millennium, the idea of celebrating and remembering the year 2000 was a good one, and for some time it worked. At the very heart of the Dome was the Millennium Show, a high-energy event with dancing, flying performers, special visual effects, and a powerful soundtrack by Peter Gabriel. Up to five times a day, the dramatic love story unfolded about a boy of dreams and a girl of action as epoch-making events overtake their world.

An embarassing flop

Elsewhere in the Dome, there were exciting zones to explore - a tour through the human body, a voyage through space, a trip to a typical British seaside resort, and an evocative visit back to school. There was a specially made time-travelling Black Adder film showing in the Skyscape Venue, starring Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson.

It sounds exciting and we were astonished that it has become an embarrassing flop.

On another day I went to the 29ha Canary Wharf, which has become the premier business location in London. Light streamed in from the glass dome of the tube station ticket hall, but emerging into the grey light I found the streets deserted. After asking the way, I was directed to a subterranean world where shopping malls buzzed with people.

The centrepiece of the development is 1 Canada Square, with 50 floors - the tallest building in Britain. I wandered down to the Thames, passing through Cabot Square with its fountain, water cascade and sculpture of “man with open arms” to Westferry Circus. Modelled on a typical London square, this garden is in fact the centre of a busy traffic circle and roof of an underground car park.

Along Fisherman’s Walk are converted warehouses on the opposite side of the dock, lined with pavement café’s. These buildings contrast with the ultramodern skyscrapers and have a very English feel, as well as showing the history of the area.

Canary Wharf is foremost a commercial district, created from a redundant wasteland. In only 15 years there is now a host of gleaming office towers, with gardens, shopping centres, piazzas and stunning architecture - Olympian feats of engineering and construction - not just for workers but for visitors and the local community.

Reluctantly I left the vast area of Jubilee Park with its undulating lawns, serpentine water feature and 22 pools of foaming water. There is so much to absorb that one day is not enough and the artwork alone warrants a separate visit.

All great cities have iconic buildings, and London has more than most - structures spanning centuries, from the majesty of Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral to the modern structures I have described. Sixteenth century timber houses stand alongside neoclassical grandeur and immense Georgian palaces across the road from tiny Victorian terraces.

Cities are defined by their buildings and it is no wonder that London is one of the world’s most popular cities, with 28 million visitors flocking here each year to see the wonderful mix of old and new.