Thursday, September 6, 2012

London day one.............

London.....city of my heart and of my youth. I love that place. I love the exuberance, the life, the diversity of cultures. People of all colours and nationalities, the shops, the cafe's where you can sit and watch the world go by. The History and for me the connection I feel to the past. I lived for a time between Wimbledon and Putney and spent many evenings walking around the city at night and through the night. Always a safe place in the 1960s. I have sat on the platform at Tower Bridge at 3am and felt no fear. I am not sure I am that naive any longer but it still seems to be a friendly city. I wanted my son to see the hustle and bustle so unlike Detroit or American cities. People lay in the parks dozing, courting, reading or eating lunch and just watching the people go by. There are street musicians and entertainers along the Embankment and around the theater district. There are painted walls with poems on them, artists at work........always something to see and do and as back in my day, it does not cost you a thing to wander and just look. We spent two days in London. Not enough time but we made the most of it. This day saw us at St Pauls. As always, no pictures of the inside but what a beautiful place built to the Glory of God. 100_0895 The taxi's are a bit different 100_0898 Then there are still the traditional ones of course. 100_0899 Then we have Big Ben..........look at that sky. 100_0917 Bodicea is right where I left her guarding the Embankment. 100_0918 We went into Westminster Abbey. Its changed a bit. I didn't realize that they could actually move things around. It was tough going with so many people around but what an awesome place. The English Throne is there. No longer holding the Stone of Scone because that was returned to Scotland. I guess we can borrow it though when its next needed. There are just so many great people buried there and memorials. Poets corner is also interesting but even though so many kings and queens lay there amongst the greatest of the land, the most impressive one is that of the unknown warrior. unkmowm-1 The Olympics were only just over, so I was able to get this picture right before they were gone forever 100_0934 We took a boat along the river to Greenwich...........very interesting. Again I was glad to see so many people just sitting in the parks enjoying the out of doors. 100_0935 The Cutty Sark, the last of the Clippers. They worked the tea trade and later wool from New Zealand or Australia. This one was the fastest and was retired somewhere around 1922? 100_0944 On the way back the river was pretty.The Shard from the river 100_0952 Dusk 100_0967 The Tower Bridge 100_0955 The Tower of London, how beautiful it is. How imposing. Traiters gate enters through the river but they have blocked up the outside entrance now and just the name remains. The inside is the same though and you can just imagine. Shudder...... 100_0958

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I first moved to London from the north of England, I used to wander around the centre on my days off looking at all the famous landmarks. I had seen them so many times before on television, but seeing them for real was just the best!
My husband and son sat on the steps of St Paul's to watch the men's marathon at the end of the Olympics. They had a fantastic view.

Cindy Adkins said...

Wow! The way you describe it with people in the parks, musicians playing, etc. reminds me of San Francisco, which is the most exciting city I've been to in the U.S. - but it doesn't have the history like London does. Beautiful photos! Especially of The Tower!