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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2018 16:37:58 GMT
I found myself with a few free days in London earlier this month. I probably wouldn't have planned a tourist trip to England in December, but as it turned out the weather actually wasn't awful. I learned that London, in fact, gets only about half the average annual rainfall as my hometown in Western Washington. Arriving from Florence on BA, I had my first experience with LCY, London City Airport. Really nice smaller airport near in to the city center with a train line to Bank Underground Station which is on the Central, Northern, and Waterloo & City lines. getting to my room near Bloomsbury Square would have been a breeze if I hadn't arrived at peak London evening rush hour. Even during rush hour, it was okay, just very crowded in the stations. After settling in, I walked out for a few hours to get a feel for the neighborhood, scout out nearby pubs, restaurants and nice walks to explore. The next morning I struck out towards the North bank of the Thames and planned to meander East along the river as much as possible and cross over on the Tower Bridge and circle back along the South bank.         Once I'd reached the Tower of London I saw this sculpture of a family of lions. The male's mane looked like steel wire. Interesting.    <iframe width="21.480000000000018" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 21.480000000000018px; height: 16.360000000000014px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none;left: 5px; top: 149px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_24362956" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="21.480000000000018" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 21.48px; height: 16.36px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1006px; top: 149px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_20053623" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="21.480000000000018" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 21.48px; height: 16.36px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 5px; top: 899px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_83884604" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="21.480000000000018" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 21.48px; height: 16.36px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1006px; top: 899px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_60802924" scrolling="no"></iframe> |
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Post by casimira on Dec 20, 2018 16:47:20 GMT
Fabulous photos Fumobici but I can't see the last 5 …  ?? |
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2018 16:51:47 GMT
Sorry about the images towards the bottom not displaying. My webhoster, GoDaddy, is really, really, really shitty at doing their one simple job.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 20, 2018 17:26:02 GMT
We are very patient people, though. So far it looks like the same London that I skimpily know.  |
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2018 19:00:06 GMT
Fixed. There'll be more as I get to it. Thank you for your patience.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 20, 2018 19:37:04 GMT
Ah, great photos. I'll probably take the same ones again next month.  Maybe in the pouring rain or snow... |
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Post by mossie on Dec 20, 2018 20:10:55 GMT
Good to see London through different eyes. We have been very fortunate with the weather this year, despite Mr Trump global warming does seem to be helping us, if not other areas.
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Post by casimira on Dec 20, 2018 21:07:41 GMT
I'm so glad you got the situation remedied!!
The images are beautiful and have great clarity.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Thanks for sharing!!
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2018 21:12:40 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2018 21:25:56 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Dec 20, 2018 22:29:00 GMT
The next day was rainy enough that even the natives were complaining, so I devoted the whole day to the British Museum which was across the street from my room. Staggering collection of antiquities from across the globe. Easily worth a long day to browse. The day after began wet so I went to the nearest laundromat to do some needed washing and hanging out with an interesting mix of locals from the nearby social housing units. Then about the time my laundry has finished in the dryer, it had brightened outside. I resolved to walk out to The City and see what I could along the way. The first thing that caught my eye enough to fish out the camera was this outstanding Victorian-era brick building called Holborn Bars, originally constructed by an insurance company. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3331.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3332.jpgI continue towards St. Paul's- scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3334.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3337.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3339.jpgWhen I arrive at the cathedral the light is interesting- scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3347.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3349.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3351.jpgInteresting area, but my camera battery is dying and I left the spare in the charger. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3352.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3358.jpgThe Bank of England with crazy new City buildings stuck in its hair. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3359.jpgLater after lunch, I take a leisurely stroll through the city center, all decked out in Christmas decorations. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3363.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3365.jpgCircling back towards my room in the dusk I catch a man feeding the pigeons in Bloomsbury Square scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3374.jpgThen in nearby Russell Square I encounter a parade of tipsy Santas- scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3376.jpgSpecial credit to guy on the left below with a special Christmas Trump costume. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3381.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3383.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3384.jpgI was feeling a little left behind so I randomly found a wonderful little Japanese restaurant, Abeno Okonomi-yaki on Museum Street, and had a buta kimchi itame, a Sapporo Deluxe okomomi-yaki, and a house-made maccha ice cream for desert, all washed down with two bottles of a wonderful Japanese ale called Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale. We have some excellent Japanese places in the NW but this was unlike anything I'd ever had, the cooking style is regional to Osaka and Nagasaki as the very nice and correct waitress explained. They do the Osaka version. I had to go back before I left, it was sublime. Neither cheap nor expensive, but worth every pence for sure. The previous night was Spicy Cumin Beef at a nearby random Chinese place. That was cheap and good, my favorite combination. I can also strongly recommend the Ginger Duck at Com Viet, a Vietnamese place not far away. There's a lot more than fish & chips here (although I had those as well and they were good). After dinner I ducked into the pub across the street for a couple of pints. The bartender already knew what i liked by that point. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 21, 2018 2:55:19 GMT
Okay ~ where is my postcard saying "wish you were here"? Gawwwwd, I wish I were there! Wonderful pictures, Fumobici, and you obviously have a special talent for ferreting out exceptionally good places to eat. Love all the pictures, but the ones of St. Paul's in that magical light are outstanding, as are the swans in motion. Hope there is more!
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Post by bjd on Dec 21, 2018 8:09:43 GMT
Great pics, Fumobici. I like that area aound the British Museum too and it's where I stayed last time I went to London
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Post by mossie on Dec 21, 2018 11:03:15 GMT
Love it !! A super London travelogue, thanks.
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Post by fumobici on Dec 21, 2018 15:55:16 GMT
Thanks everyone. I had one last full day, a Sunday, before my flight from LHR Monday. Sunday in London reminds me of Sundays when I was a kid in the US, most businesses remain closed and subsequently traffic and crowds are noticeably diminished. If you want to visit touristy areas of London or just have a calmer experience, it looks like Sunday is a good possibility to reduce the crowding. I started the day with only two concrete objectives: to see the Ecuadorian Embassy where Julian Assange, whom I admire, has been captive for five years, and to visit Hyde Park just two blocks away. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3386.jpgI was expecting a police presence around the embassy to prevent Assange slipping out but I didn't see any security present on the street at all. There was one protester there who looked like he'd been living on the sidewalk in front for every one of those five years. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3387.jpgI did a quick tour of the nearby Knightsbridge high street with its super-luxury shops -- most closed on Sunday -- but there were a few open and lots of obvious tourists, probably a majority of them Asian. I walk around the lake at the center but there is rather cold and blustery and there is frankly not much to take photos of on the lakeshore trail. The East end of the park is, however, sheltered and looks very well-tended. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3395.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3396.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3397.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3398.jpgI discover a rose garden with some of the bushes still in bloom even in the second week of December! scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3399.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3401.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3402.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3403.jpgEven what appears to perhaps be a slightly confused narcissus. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3405.jpg |
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Post by fumobici on Dec 21, 2018 16:07:15 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 21, 2018 16:25:19 GMT
Great pics fumobici. I need to get down to London again...
Good lord...better not. Just seen the UKIP lot...ggggrrrrrrrr....
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 21, 2018 16:31:28 GMT
The sun never sets on the Brexit Empire.
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Post by fumobici on Dec 21, 2018 18:47:48 GMT
Great pics fumobici. I need to get down to London again... Good lord...better not. Just seen the UKIP lot...ggggrrrrrrrr.... The papers said there was a larger anti-Brexit counter-demonstration but I only only saw a few stragglers as I was leaving Trafalgar Square. OK, enough of that. Green Park is verdant in the low December sun. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3425.jpgAnd then wandering to a new to me neighborhood, St. James. Below, the Friary Court of St. James Palace- scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3427.jpg A palace entrance on Pall Mall.- scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3428.jpgSome photos of the area around St.James Square Garden, which is closed Sundays. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3430.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3433.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3435.jpgI see I am only a couple of blocks from Trafalgar Square, so what the heck, let's see what's up. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3439.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3442.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3443.jpgThe late afternoon light is kinda cool in the square. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3447.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3450.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3452.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3454.jpgAnd then I see riot vans, many dozens, pouring into the area. I ask and am told the presence is to keep the Brexit demonstrators, who have followed me from Hyde Park, and the counter-demonstrators well separated. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3455.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3459.jpgThe tail end of the counter-demonstration, a few stragglers- scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3461.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3462.jpgThe police have closed and barricaded Whitehall between Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament where the Brexit march has ended at. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3478.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3479.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3481.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3482.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3483.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3488.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3490.jpgIn spite of all the commotion it all seems to have gone down peacefully. I wander back towards my room and am reminded again it is Christmas season. scrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3493.jpgscrimshaw-globes.com/london/IMG_3499.jpgLondon once again leaves me exhilarated and foot sore. I can't wait to return. |
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 21, 2018 19:01:56 GMT
Beautiful report and interesting political similarities to how Paris often looks (even though the British police outfits are much more colourful).
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 21, 2018 19:05:28 GMT
Super coverage ~ thanks! London once again leaves me exhilarated and foot sore. I can't wait to return. Well said & ditto! |
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Post by casimira on Dec 25, 2018 15:46:28 GMT
You really did get around Fumobici and captured it all beautifully. I love all the attention to architectural detail and all the different angles that you shot from.
Again, thank you for sharing these with us and I'm glad you had a nice time and food.
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