Skyscraper "the Shard" – "Splinter" – and indeed similar to the shard of glass: sparkling narrow pyramid (during construction used 11 thousand glass panels), as if cleaved from above. "Shard", built on the South Bank of the Thames in 2012, three months was considered the tallest building in Europe until it was overtaken Moscow skyscraper mercury city tower". Now the British have to call "Shard" the tallest building in Western Europe.

309, 6 meters – because of this height in the UK there was fierce debate: does London compare skyscrapers with the continent, or better to keep his celestial line? Opponents of skyscrapers lost, "Shard" was built. Raised him on the spot modest dvadcatichetyrehletnego tower Southwark towers is to remove it and put something huge was the idea of a London businessman Irwin Enjoys. The project "Shard" designed by Renzo piano, the famous Italian architect, author of the Paris Georges Pompidou center. Drunkenly claimed that despises high-rise buildings, but, apparently, not too much, time Enjoys managed to persuade him. Enjoys told me that he talked during dinner, and drunk all the time was against it, and then took the menu and began putting it on the iceberg, as if emerging from the Thames.

Later drunkenly said he was inspired by the nearby railway lines, spires of London's churches, which in the eighteenth century wrote Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships. It is difficult to say whether similar on all this "Splinter", but to discuss late, he is already – 72 floors of offices, restaurants, hotel rooms and apartments.

For the tourist skyscraper is interesting primarily for its upper floors – there is an observation deck that is above any other in London almost two times. The site opened in February 2013 and in the first three months they visited more than 300 thousand people. Tickets are expensive, better to buy them on the Internet, it will be cheaper.

Tourist climbs on a high-speed Elevator (unlikely he knows that once people are already stuck in it) and turns on a narrow area with glass walls. Finding a free place, a tourist through his own reflection he sees the panorama of the city from above by helicopter – small "London Eye", toy St Paul's Cathedral, miserable city skyscrapers and Dog island. In good weather, distance from the tower – 64 kilometers and bad – for a fee, you can use high-tech telescopes showing the types of London to account. Visitors are welcome from 9 am to 10 PM, so they can enjoy both sunrises and sunsets.

72 floor – the so-called open area (of course, it is open only partially). Strong wind noise reminds the tourist, at what height is the attraction.