London: The Shard (Part 2)

[Music: Adam Beyer Cirez D live from Resistance at ULTRA Miami 2023 set]

As I kick off this round of London and Copenhagen blog posts from June/ July 2023, I just happen to be back on a flight a couple weeks later routing through London on the way to Ibiza to visit my best friend. In the airpods are a dj set by Adam Beyer who I’m studying up as he’s on the “to see” extensive list of djs and venues we’ll be heading to. It’s almost as if heading to MMW… but nothing really compares to, or has yet to, MMW.

[Side note: I’m attempting to use an iPad to write these posts but it’s not really working out- maybe it’ll be better once I get wifi but it’s more of an adjustment than I expected. Plus I just blew up the theme for this blog so I think I broke a ton of shit in previous posts, sigh.]

All the personal notes aside, in this past trip to London, I planned the travels to bookend in this favorite city of mine. Starting with the Shard and exploring the east side around the city, then after Copenhagen, returning back to London to stay on the west side at my other favorite spot, Battersea Power Station. When it comes to the Shard, I’m not sure I’ll ever tire of the view of the building or the view from the building.

Unlike other areas of London where there are bundles of skyscrapers together, the Shard truly stands out as there’s nothing to obscure the view of it. Whether day or night, it serves as a remarkable landmark for me. Every time I saw it in view, I either spoke, whispered or said in my own mind “I’ll never tire of looking at it”.

This round, I managed to have more time, especially at night (or early morning for that matter) to grab photos from many different spots in the city. On the way to and from Ministry of Sound…on the way home from Vauxhall after a thwarted night at a Joris Voorn “all night long” at Fabric…

But in the end, it’s not the outside that counts- it’s the view of the city from the inside that matters. The Shangri-La Hotel, an exceptional stay for those that can in the Shard, has one of the most unique layouts of any hotel I’ve seen and the views, well, they are utterly breathtaking. Having tasked myself with the job of watching an entire sunset from the 42nd floor of the Shard, I can say that time is relative when you stop to just watch.