My daughter has a final exam during the royal wedding so she asked me to record it for her. We decided that we would have a small royal party when she comes home for summer in a couple of weeks. We will brew tea, assemble fingertip sandwiches, bake scones, and serve them with clotted cream and jam.
In the mean time, I will flood this space with photos I took in July 2009. We stayed a few days in London, breaking up the long flights that would take us on our African Safari. It was the first time in London for our kids and they longed to see all the iconic images. Without any attempt to see the hidden gems of London, we became unabashed tourists.
***
We walked to the British Museum...
...and were in awe of world-famous antiquities
We rode the impossibly-long escalators at the London Underground.
We minded the gap as we embarked...
... and disembarked at Trafalgar Square...
...guarded by imposing lions at its base.
We smiled when we saw the decorative tiles at literary addresses.
We boarded the Hop-On-Hop-Off double-decker bus
....where we had a great vantage point to admire the Regent architecture...
...in all its sweeping glory.
We confirmed that the London Bridge was not falling down...
We saw the British Parliament from across the Thames...
...and understood how the enormous Big Ben got its moniker.
We saw relatively new icons...
and those that have centuries of tradition.
My daughter and I will look for the Coade Lion at Westminster Bridge. It will probably have the best view of the royal watchers...
...as Kate and William will finally tie the knot in Westminster Abbey.
27 comments:
I also have been to London several times and I love it! Thanks for the nice gallery and good luck to your daughter!
Great shots of my favorite city.
I'll be watching it all cozy at home.
I'll also be thinking of 30 years ago in
St James' Park as an eye witness to all the hoopla.
What a beautiful tour of a beautiful city.
Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful images here!
What a treat! Beautiful, I miss London so much.
Sometimes you just have to be and do the touristy thing, DB, just to say you did it...even if more than once. I would love to see London again, to be honest. I remember thinking the last time how accessible it was on foot...much closer than I was expecting. Very doable!
And yes, I'll be one of those glued to the TV screen this Friday. I even admit it! :)
I love London. LOVE. And I've only touched a tip of it.
Your photographs are gorgeous!
Beautiful photographs!
Hope you enjoy your afternoon tea when the time comes.
Best wishes!
Great pictures -- I love it. I've only been to London once, sadly (I hope to go back soon!), but I have such wonderful memories. Unfortunately, I was not a photographer at that point . . .
Thank you for the beautiful photographs Dutchbaby. It has been a long time since I've been to London. Everything looks so clean and polished. Very nice!
I feel good about the Royal Wedding, don't you? Your tea party with M. sounds terrific. Wish I could join the fun, I'd wear a hat and gloves for sure~~~
xox
Constance
ps
We were supposed to go to Nola yesterday, but I've been under the weather and my mom too, so we're postponing for a bit.
Thank you so much for the tour! I was several times in London ! I love it! My daughter who is a draughtwoman, worked at the Dutch factory that constructed the Millenium Wheel. She actually drew a very small part of it.
Beautiful and varied shots of this lovely city!
Sorry it took so long to return your visit to my blog. (which you found through Ginnie... isn't she wonderful?!) I've been having a few things in my way this past week and did stop by to see your post shortly after you left a comment on my Song Sparrow... then realized I needed to luxuriate over the many marvelous images before leaving a comment... and then my Bluetooth went AWOL, leaving me with a lousy keyboard and a worse mouse... making navigation virtually impossible and typing a PAIN!
OK... enough rambling about my tardiness... I am going to add myself as follower because I think we might have a few things in common and I really enjoyed all your images in the London series! Favorites (in order of appearance) include the phone booths (what fun, four in a row), the Flood Tablet (marvelous composition and detail), Baker Street (nice POV), London Bridge, Parliament and Big Ben (all marvelous!), the "new icons" image with the old lamps and ferris wheel (just wonderful)! (now do you see why I had to revisit in order to comment?!)
Cara dona,
I wish I was closer to great cities like London or Venice!
I will pass your well wishes to my daughter. She will be home Saturday - I can hardly wait!
Dear CC,
Thanks for your praise. I loved your London memories on your blog.
Dear lisa,
The pleasure is entirely mine!
Dear Yoli,
London is a great city. I would like to spend more time there. Next time, I'd like to see the hidden gems.
Dear Ginnie,
I used to go to London on business but never had time to do the town properly. It was fun to let the kids set our itinerary.
I did watch part of the wedding between 2 and 3 a.m. because my husband's snoring woke me up. I then went back to sleep for and hour and a half before I brought my son to rowing.
Dear Ruth,
Thanks! I hope you have a chance to touch more than a tip some time in the near future. Perhaps a London/Paris combo with a chunnel ride in between?
Dear ForestDreamWeaver,
Thank you! I look forward to watching the Royal Wedding with my daughter early next week.
Dear Elise Ann Wormuth,
Thank you! I also long to revisit places from my pre-camera-obsession days.
Dear rochambeau,
You're most welcome! It was difficult to get any shots of London without construction equipment blocking the view. They were sprucing up all the streets in preparation for the Summer Olympics - but maybe they were getting ready for the Royal Wedding.
I hope you feel better soon. A nice bowl of grits from Refuel should heal you and your Mom soon.
Dear Reader Wil,
Your daughter must be quite accomplished to have landed such an important assignment. Wow!
Dear Kala,
Thanks for your visit and kind words!
Dear Victoria,
Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave your long comment. I'm thrilled you appreciated this post and I enjoy knowing which are your favorites.
I have to go back and thank Ginnie for bringing you here. Welcome!
Oh, thank you, my dear, for the touristy tour! Lovely pictures, I do say. Those escalators made me dizzy just looking at the photos. Not sure what I would do if I do get to ride one of them!
Dear Susan,
Thank you back, my dear! The escalators were fun to ride, but I couldn't help but think of what energy hogs they are.
Have you seen this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4o0ZVeixYU
I would most definitely slide!
Hey, you. I was making a list of all the images here that thrill me. I ran out of room. I have to say, though, that may honestly be the best Trafalgar Square image I've seen yet. And, Sherlock on the tube wall? LOVE IT!!! Speaking of Sherlock, have you seen the new PBS series? WONDERFUL! I think you would love it.
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