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| After hopping the train in Leicester and
rolling through the countryside to the big city we arrived at the London
Underground. The Tubes are massive and finding our way through the maze
of stairs up and down and across is at first a daunting task but you get
used to the layout with the help of a map quite quickly. Of course we
had to visit as many of the tourist sites as we had time for and hit all
the main sites within walking distance once off the tube. The inside of
Westminster Abbey was quite spectacular and the equally impressive Parliament
Buildings just down the street is a must see. The architecture here is
much more ornate than I thought it would be. |
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| In London the clash of old and new is very
striking and everywhere one looks you see sights like these. Westminster
Cathedral on the left with the London Eye in the distance. A closer view
of the London Eye and you can see the enormity of this giant wheel with
the gondolas that carry quite a few people. The wheel never stops and
you can hardly see it move as it goes so slowly with people getting on
and off as it rotates. |
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| The spaceship looking building is called the
Gerkon as it resembles a giant pickle. Once again the mixture of
architecture is mind boggling with all sorts of styles competing for
space. At almost every street corner you can see the proverbial double Decker
open tourist bus with scores of ogling people. |
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| Buckingham Palace seen from the adjacent park
and a closer view of the beautiful fountain out front which attracts a
lot of holidayers enjoying the great sunny weather. |
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| I found the palace not to be as impressive as
I had imagined it to be. We did not stay around to see the changing of
the guard but this guy sure did look lonely standing absolutely still at
his post. |
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| Once more the striking contrasts caught my
attention and this shot of London Bridge and a modern office building
stands in sharp relief. Julie and I walked across the London Bridge but
did not go up the tower to the top walkway. Almost everything you do the
England and particularly in London has a fee attached, not many freebies
these days. There is so much to see just by walking around though so you
do not really need to pay a lot. |
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| The bridge is so photogenic it is hard not to
shoot photo after photo as you see different angles. We ended our day by
walking along this great promenade by the Thames river and sitting on
the edge of the water with a bottle of red wine and watched the sun cast
it's warm mellowing light across the city as it slowly sank behind us. |
