A room with no view

What a day to go up The Shard! The problem with the advance booking of tickets is that you have no idea what the weather will be like on the day. When I arrived I could not see the top of The Shard as it was shrouded in mist...I knew then that it was going to be a waste of time.

The Shard - Western Europe's tallest building at 310m (1016ft), the architectural masterpiece of Renzo Piano and an exciting new addition to London's skyline. If you book tickets in advance they cost £24.95 but if you walk in off the street for immediate tickets it costs a whopping £100 - but then you don't have the weather problem. Surprisingly, we were all given a refund today by way of a gift voucher to re-book tickets at another time (like when there is no mist. The Shard only opened at the beginning of February and apparently there have only been 2 days when it was necessary to give refunds.

To get to the viewing platform you take 2 lifts and then walk up some stairs - there are 2 indoor levels (floors 68 and 69) and then you can walk to a semi-outdoor level (floor 72) which is the scene of the photo. Can you see the spectacular view? No we couldn't either!

You can see some of the beautiful views on their website here