Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Finally finishing our London-Norway photo journey!!!




A year and a half and a whole other trip later...

Finally finishing our "In Search of the Northern Lights" photo journey!!!

February 2019


"The London Eye"
Wonderful views of the city...


The Tower Bridge...


Boat tour on the Thames....
 

 Protests...
(and people!  We're not seeing people around these days...)


Purple People Eater...
Alien...


Nah...just a different take on the Hungerford Bridge!


The Queen's guards...


The changing of the guards...
(I can't help but think of the castle guards in the old Wizard of Oz movie!!!)






 The Tower Bridge...a bit more Gothic...


The tallest building in London, reaching into the clouds...
The Shard...87 stories


Friday, April 19, 2019

A Visit to #10...



Ant made special arrangements for us to visit 
#10 Downing St.
No...the Prime Minister didn't seem to be in,
and nothing seemed to be going on that day!


But the resident Cat was there to greet us!


I think he's the real  Prime Minister!


The crew!
Sean, Veronica, Ant, Dan and Kathy!


Just a bit of English detail!


You can see the Eye from just about anywhere in London!
This is from inside the Downing Street enclave.


This was taken from the gate at the entrance to the enclave.


Unbeknownst to us when we made arrangements for our 
visit to #10, there was a marathon going on!
Lot's of people crowded the streets around this part 
of the city, lot's in costume, and oh yeah...a few runners!


And of course...the obligatory street performer!


An afternoon tipple before we said goodbye to Ant...
too short a visit!
And yes, Dan adheres to the
"when in London, drink Italian beer" adage!


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Sunday, April 7, 2019

London our first stop, before starting our Search for the Northern Lights!




Our first full day in London we met up with Anthony...
our very good English friend, who came up from Southampton to show us the sights!
We started with a general walkabout around the
typical sights of London.


We walked across Westminster Bridge to get to the
heart of our tourist destinations...


First we walked by Parliament...
I was disappointed for our travel buds, Veronica and Sean,
because Big Ben was under wraps, while undergoing
maintenance and repair.  We could see the clock peaking
out from the shroud of scaffolding and tarps,
but no bell!


The London Eye is a giant ferris wheel that never stops.
The wheel moves slow enough for people to get on and off
without mishap, but never completely stops.
Throughout the hour long ride, you are rewarded with 
spectacular views of the city.
Dan and I rode the Eye the last time we were in London
but Sean and Veronica opted out this time around.
But of course, I still have to click away!!!


One of the things I love about London is the old world 
charm that you find all around town, in the details!


This church window and shadows made me think
of Sherlock Holmes and maybe a horror movie or two!


I love the old world architecture...


...the soaring towers...


...and a beautiful view Westminster Abbey.
The Abbey is chock full of history.
"Ever since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066,
all coronations of English and British monarchs have been 
performed here.  There have been 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100." Wikipedia
And it is the burial site of over 3000 prominent people throughout British history, including royalty, Prime Ministers,
poets, actors, scientists and military leaders.
Stephen Hawking was laid to rest in the abbey.
 

I don't know about you, but when I saw this roof and chimneys, I immediately thought of the "Chim Chimney"
scene in the original Mary Poppins with Dick van Dyke and 
his fellow chimney sweeps dancing across the roofs of London!


You've probably heard about the love locks on bridges in 
Paris...well, London has its own share of love locks.
Apparently, this practice has caught on, all over Europe, 
to the chagrin of the locals.  While it's a charming
idea for the lovers to write their names, and date and lock 
it to the bridge "locking their love forever", 
it actually can become quite cumbersome 
and rather dangerous with all the added weight to the bridges.  And, the locals pretty much hate it.
So I suggest resisting the impulse to add your own!


I love the little open air food and drink counters throughout
the city.


Two more views of Westminster Abbey.


Quite an imposing building don't you think?


Imagine my surprise when we walked through 
 Parliament Square,
 and I found myself looking at 
a statue of our Abraham Lincoln!
Lincoln is one of 12 statues in the square of British, Commonwealth, and foreign political figures.
Quite honestly, I think he's the only non-British, 
non-Commonwealth notable represented here!
Mahatma Ghandi, Indian Independence leader,
Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa,
and Millicent Fawcett, Campaigner for Women's suffrage,
were the only other ones not currently of the UK.
But with India and South Africa once being part of 
the Commonwealth, and the British Women's Suffrage
movement being part of Britain's history, 
Lincoln rather stood out to me as quite
unusual to be included in their Parliament Square. 

Next stop...#10 Downing Street!



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Thursday, March 28, 2019

More Poppies!!!



Yeah...I know...
sooo many poppies!!!
I couldn't get enough of them!!!


Add that beautiful purple and little bit of yellow to the bright orange of the poppies...Wow!!!
Mother Nature in all her glory!


"The hills are alive..."


...with the sound of music and poppies fluttering in the breeze!


No people!!!
But I do see a face in the mountain every time
I see this one!


I love how the light fell on this lighter poppy...


Another plein air painter!


Did I mention there were a lot of people?
A couple taking a kissing selfie...
checking messages(even in the presence of such beauty?)...
...and more photographers with their cameras
in hand!


On our way out and back to the car I saw this mountain with the interesting textures along the sides...
...reminded me a bit of the Devil's Postpile in Mammoth!


I believe there was a path up there.


A poppy with fringe...is it a type of poppy?
Or was it from the wind?


Lots of green too!


Ooops...this one was in the last post...should I remove it?
...Nah...


And another of poppies against the bright blue sky!!!



"Summer set lip to earth's bosom bare,
And left the flushed print in a poppy there.
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one."
Edna St. Vincent Millay

The people visiting the poppies ought to have
read this quote before visiting the poppies in Elsinore!


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