Oh no....., not another London Trip Report!!

Hello everybody,

After a wonderful 15 day North Cape cruise my husband and I spent 3 days in amazing London.

This report does not closely follow the regular tourist paths, since this was not our first visit to London. In my teens I spent 3 consecutive summers there attending language school to improve my English. After school I visited the sites in the city and explored the country side by bus and train on the weekends. Granted this was 35 years ago, but most of the "historical" sites have not changed a bunch. Heck, even the Queen is still the same! :p

We are not really interested in museums and theatre. My passions are street photography and street art. We tried to mix the old with the new!

I hope you will enjoy seeing some of my photos...

We made it! After flying to the United Kingdom from the United States

and after completing a fantastic cruise along Norway's coast,

we were back in the sprawling metropolis

more to follow

more to come

We took the National Express Bus from Southampton (£9 per person) and arrived at Victoria Coach Station by 9:45 am.

Our hotel was within easy walking distance from the coach station. We arrived there well and alive thanks to these helpful directions on the road.

Honestly, they are life-savers!! I probably would have been hit by a car within minutes. Obviously the city of London wants to keep its tourist out of the hospital, so keep your eyes on the pavement and you will be safe. We also soon discovered that pedestrian signals are flagrantly disregarded. We were probably the only people waiting for the green light, while others just darted out in-between traffic.

After dropping our bags at the hotel and after having a hearty porridge and banana breakfast, we were off on our first day of sightseeing. All of the attractions on our agenda for today were within walking distance. We spent all day out and about and didn't return to our hotel until 10 pm.

Let's call the theme of Day 1 "Westminster". I know, we briefly "strayed" into other districts, so please, all you London Experts, don't be too critical.

Around 11 am we were on our way to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately our arrival there coincided with the Changing of the Guard ceremony. The area was covered with people

and we decided to postpone our appointment with Her Royal Majesty and visit later on during the day.

We continued along side St. James's park, which is very pretty.

and stopped for a little while at the Bali Bombings Memorial, which is a granite globe featuring 202 uniquely carved doves to commemorate each of the lives lost

more to follow

We continued on to the Horse Guards building. I still remember it as the wonderful back drop for the beach volleyball event at the Summer Olympics in 2012.

Well, the sand is all gone now

and I was eager to find the mounted troopers.

This young gentleman was standing guard on foot. Nobody was taking photos of him, since the actual guards on horses are just a few feet away and attracted everybody's attention.

The Horse Guards are mounted cavalry troopers whose duty it is to protect the Queen. They are the Queen's life guards.

This particular horse was quite a handful and didn't really like posing with tourists. He actually grabbed a few t-shirts and slobbered on anyone who came to close, while prancing from side to side and thrashing his head in disgust. He became my favorite, but unfortunately uncooperative subject.

After about 30 minutes my husband, who was getting bored watching me sitting in front of the horse, wanted to move on to Downing Street

more to follow

#10 Downing Street is the official residence and office of the British Prime Minister

The area is sealed off well by fencing, barriers and lots of armed policemen, who nevertheless were very helpful in pointing me in the right direction of the actual building and letting me rest my camera lens on the fence.

We continued on to Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is the traditional place for coronations and burial sites of British monarchs. Lots of royal weddings were also held in the church

more to come

In Parliament Square, right across the street from Westminster Abbey, we ran into Abraham Lincoln

He and 10 other statesmen are being honored in the square.

We followed the road towards Elizabeth Tower, aka the home of Big Ben.

and the Houses of Parliament. We crossed Westminster Bridge for better views

and caught the first glimpse of the London Eye.

more to follow

We walked closer to the Eye and I was able to capture more views of this attraction from different angles

more to follow

Since we are huge street art fans, we just had to find the Leake Street Tunnel. It runs under the platforms and tracks of Waterloo Station and was just very recently restricted to pedestrians. The tunnel embraced graffiti as art by hosting the "Cans Festival" in 2008. It was organized by Banksy, one of the world's leading Graffiti artists who uses the stencil technique.

Nowadays the tunnel art changes on a day to day basis. We spent a while down there watching several artists finishing and touching up their work.

We would have liked to stay longer, but due to the poor ventilation, we had to leave. The fumes from the cans were just too overwhelming for us.

Some more impressions from the architecture surrounding the tunnel and train station

more to come

I am enjoying your report and photos.

Keith

You are showing us some superb pictures of our great city. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

I guess living here, I get blase about the iconic images (black cabs, guardsmen, red phone boxes etc.)

The London Eye is lit up in red tonight BTW (we can see it from our window:D).

We made our way to the Golden Jubilee Bridge which, again crosses the Thames, leading us to Trafalgar Square. By the foot of the bridge we found a wonderful, organic food market with the best tasting brownies we have ever had.

We passed a bust of Nelson Mandela

While walking on the bridge, I noticed this skateboard and computer graveyard on one of the southern support pillars. Street art at it's finest!

View of St. Paul's from the Golden Jubilee Bridge. You will get much better shots of the cathedral from the Millennium Bridge, a little further up the Thames

We were heading towards Trafalgar Square and all of the sudden noticed large crowds of people. We soon found out that our route accidentally merged with the Gay Pride Parade's path through London. We are definitely not huge fans of large crowds,

but had the best time waiting with the participants, for the parade to pass by and for the crowds to dissipate. Everybody was in a great mood and wanted to pose for pictures.

Here are some examples

more to follow

Even Lord Nelson released a balloon.

After about an hour we marched through the remnants of the parade

The street sweepers were not far behind us and everything was clean again.

more to follow

You are showing us some superb pictures of our great city. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

 

I guess living here, I get blase about the iconic images (black cabs, guardsmen, red phone boxes etc.)

 

The London Eye is lit up in red tonight BTW (we can see it from our window:D).

....for your kind words! We really enjoyed our visit

Regards

Petra

We arrived at Piccadilly Circus

Only 1 building still carries billboards, mostly electronic.

The fountain in the middle of the square is supporting Eros, the Greek god of love

We followed our map to New Bond Street, where we met up with Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt at the "Allies" sculpture

We window shopped the fancy and pricy stores on Bond Street

and then made our way back to Buckingham Palace via St. James's Palace.

more to come

Fantastic photos of one of my favorite cities--thanks for posting and sharing your art. You're a very talented photographer!

Around 7pm the tourist crowds at Buckingham Palace had dispersed and we were hoping that Queen Elizabeth II would welcome us to her residence.

We waited for a while at her front door

and tried to get the attention of her guards to announce our arrival.

but to no success.

We were watching the balcony closely.

Maybe she would waive to us from up and above. We finally decided to take a last look at Buckingham Palace from the Queen Victoria Memorial

more to follow

and there she was.....

We just knew that she didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet the 2 Americans visiting from Georgia

It was great fun! :p

We continued on back to our hotel and celebrated our first wonderful and full day in London with a great dinner in a restaurant close by.

Day 2 to follow tomorrow

Fantastic photos of one of my favorite cities--thanks for posting and sharing your art. You're a very talented photographer!

Thank you so much. I put a lot of effort into it. It's great to hear that it is appreciated!

Regards

Petra

I know London really well and love it in all its guises and really enjoyed seeing a record of your visit which is the sort of exploring that we like to do in a city.

I loved the photos and captions! :)

I know London really well and love it in all its guises and really enjoyed seeing a record of your visit which is the sort of exploring that we like to do in a city.

 

I loved the photos and captions! :)

Thank you Scriv,

The stamp of approval from a local means a lot to me!

Regards

Petra

Brilliant photographs. You struck lucky with the weather too.

When I was a small boy in the 50s I visited London several times. When I was with my mother we waited patiently for the traffic to stop at all the zebra crossings (Did you know that the light globes on a pole at either end are called Belisha Beacons after the minister who proposed them?). When I was with my Grandmother, who lived theye, we just dodged the traffic as you described - much more fun I thought. She would also hop on and off the buses (they had an open platform at the back) at traffic lights.

The statute of 'Eros' is made from aluminium - at the time a rare and novel material. Although everyone calls it Eros, the Greek god of love, the statue is actually of Anteros, Eros's brother - and has always been named Anteros by the sculptor Alfred Gilbert. (Anteros is the god of requited love, literally "love returned" or "counter-love" and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of unrequited love). Not a lot of people know that :)

Like you, I love to look for the more quirky sights.

DAY 2

Let's call it "Iconic Buildings, Cemeteries and Houseboats"

We got up very early this morning and decided to explore the area surrounding the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

Early Sunday mornings are as good as it gets to get acquainted with Victoria Station, due to the lack of commuters.

We had no issues purchasing our Oystercards from the machine

And we were able to explore London for only £6.40/per person/per day. Thank you again, "Globalizer", for all the help on the thread.

The station was relatively crowd free

and the train empty enough to actually get a seat

This photo was taken during the busier times

A tube map, announcements and electronic info boards let you know where you will be arriving next.

more to come

Brilliant photographs. You struck lucky with the weather too.

 

When I was a small boy in the 50s I visited London several times. When I was with my mother we waited patiently for the traffic to stop at all the zebra crossings (Did you know that the light globes on a pole at either end are called Belisha Beacons after the minister who proposed them?). When I was with my Grandmother, who lived theye, we just dodged the traffic as you described - much more fun I thought. She would also hop on and off the buses (they had an open platform at the back) at traffic lights.

 

The statute of 'Eros' is made from aluminium - at the time a rare and novel material. Although everyone calls it Eros, the Greek god of love, the statue is actually of Anteros, Eros's brother - and has always been named Anteros by the sculptor Alfred Gilbert. (Anteros is the god of requited love, literally "love returned" or "counter-love" and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of unrequited love). Not a lot of people know that :)

 

Like you, I love to look for the more quirky sights.

Thank you for the insights! It is fascinating and good to know

Regards

Petra

We exited at Towerhill tube station and walked a short distance until we reached the Tower of London. It has played a prominent role in English history, having served as an armory, treasury, menagerie, prison and the home of the Crown Jewels of England.

You can take tours of the Tower. A very popular tour is conducted by the "Beef Eaters" (Yeoman Warders). They are ceremonial guards, who were responsible for the safekeeping of the Crown Jewels and the prisoners kept at the Tower.

The following are impressions of the Tower from the outside.

more to come