A Bit Of London From The South Bank with St. Paul’s Cathedral And More
I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas. I’m so sad that it’s already gone by, I wish it was always Christmas – it certainly is my favorite time of the year. If there was one place that I really wanted to be this Christmas – it was in London. London is spectacular when lit up for the most wonderful time of the year.
Anyway, I need to share more pictures with you. These pictures are still from my third day in London during my recent trip in July of 2014. When we left the London Eye, we were in the South Bank area and just look at this double decker bus. Fancy giving yogurt that name though – I am surprised! That name, not mentioning names has quite a colorful meaning.
Snog Frozen Yogurt Bus, South Bank, London
This is Charing Cross Station in the background
Charing Cross Station from the South Bank, London
This beautiful building reminds me of a castle or palace
Beautiful Palace as seen from the South Bank, London
That’s me in the South Bank area with Big Ben behind me. Oh, how I wish I was back there right now!
South Bank of London
Spectacular London with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the South Bank, London
Here’s another mini London Eye – actually it’s just a kid’s ride – some kind of swings. It looks nice though, doesn’t it?
Forgot what this building is called, that’s exactly why I should have written my posts as soon as I came back, but who has the time? If you know, pray do tell.
London as seen from the South Bank
Well, this whole area near the South Bank, including the bus in the first picture is ever so colorful!
Wow, doesn’t this look nice? It might be a bit dark though.
London in the glow of sunset
Now, you will get treated to the same picture with the Snog Bus in sight
London in the glow of sunset
Me and my three kids with the River Thames behind us basking in the sunset of a London evening
Me and my kids in London
Oh, how majestic is St. Paul’s Cathedral – this place is so special. It’s where Princess Diana got married to Prince Charles.
St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
St. Paul’s again
St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
Either it turned dark quickly or I have been watching this man a while, or perhaps it was just my camera that is somehow curiously taking pictures with different lighting.
St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
Here’s St. Paul’s again basking in the glow of London as seen from the South Bank
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St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
St. Paul’s yet again. I guess you know that I like St. Paul’s?
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St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
Seems like someone else likes it too as he’s taking a picture of it or is he looking the other way? If so, I know there’s good views that way too.
St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
More of the London skyline
London skyline
London skyline
St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the South Bank
This is the building I showed you above, but here it is glowing in the London evening
Now it’s glowing less, but basking in the sunset
London evening
London Eye, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
I’m not sure what this building is either, but just feel compelled to share with you how lovely London looks in the evening.
London in the evening
This picture is quite blurry, but I’ll throw it in anyhow.
Southbank, by the River Thames
Anyway, I hope you liked my evening pictures of London. I don’t have a great camera that takes brilliant evening pictures, but still – I think they’re okay. Have a fabulous week ahead, and Happy New Year to you all!
The South Bank, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye and More
Continuing with Day Three of my trip to London in July. Wow, has it already been nearly two months since I came back? How time flies?
Okay, fast rewind back to that day. We went for a walk all the way from our hotel – The Trafalgar – to the South Bank. It was a lovely walk, it drizzled just a tiny bit at one time, and other than that it was nice and warm – perfect weather for a walk. Do you know that London is a fabulous place to take a walk? Oh, the parks, the sightseeing, and the architecture! This is some of what we saw as we got closer.
The London Eye – isn’t it lovely?
The London Eye
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament – aren’t they just magnificent?
Big Ben and Houses Of Parliament
London, isn’t it wonderful?
Big Ben
Okay, I won’t ask you any more questions, I’ll just let you take a look at the pictures.
Big Ben and Houses Of Parliament
The London Eye, Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben
The London Eye, Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben
Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben
I don’t know what the name of the castle or palace type building is so I’ll just call it “Beautiful Palace”
Beautiful Palace type building on the South Bank
Fancy a ride, you could go on this carousel or the London Eye which you might see if you look closely at the picture.
Carousel At the South Bank
Fancy a walk? London is a terrific place for taking walks. Oh, how I would love to be taking a walk there right now!
South Bank, River Thames and Big Ben
South Bank, River Thames and Big Ben
That’s my 17 year old daughter’s beautiful hair – it looks even more spectacular with the sun shining down on it!
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
Time for bubbles!
Bubbles and Big Ben
The Bubble Blower of The South Bank
Have you ever seen such a big bubble or seen one as beautiful?
The Bubble Blower of The South Bank
Wow! Now, it’s really massive! This man is good, and I think he’s magical!
The Bubble Blower of The South Bank
I will always remember the Bubble Blower of the South Bank
The Bubble Blower of The South Bank
So, we left the bubbles to get closer to our ultimate destination – the London Eye.
Now, we are getting closer to the London Eye
Here we are really close, in fact – we are at the entrance of the London Eye!
So, you’ve seen pictures of the entire wheel, you may have seen what it looks like up close – if not, this is what it’s like
and just for you, another picture…..at a slightly different angle.
Well, until next time…..and here’s a sneak peak at my latest video of the South Bank, the Bubble Blower and the London Eye. Let’s just say I love London, and I hope you like the pictures, and the video.
So Much To See In The City Of Westminster!
The City of Westminster has so much to see – this is where Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace are. Therefore, I would say this is a very important part of London.
Cromwell Green, outside Westminster Hall
The Oliver Cromwell Statue at Cromwell Green, outside Westminster Hall
The Palace of Westminster
In this post, let’s continue with Day Three in London – July 25th, 2014. After we saw Big Ben, we continued walking just a few feet away, and we were near St. Margaret’s Church, and Westminster Abbey.
St. Margaret’s Church, next to Westminster Abbey
St. Margaret’s Church, next to Westminster Abbey
St. Margaret’s Church, next to Westminster Abbey
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Time for a family picture
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
St. Margaret’s Church
Now, isn’t this lovely?
Westminster Abbey
What about this? I just love the architecture!
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Palace of Westminster
Westminster Abbey
Palace of Westminster
The statue is that of King Richard 1, who was also known as Richard the Lionheart (known as this because of his reputation as great warrior and military leader)
Palace of Westminster
Back to Westminster Abbey again
Westminster Abbey
Niki’s taking in all the history, culture and the beauty of her surroundings
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Palace of Westminster
Westminster Abbey
Well, wouldn’t you like to live here? I’m afraid you can’t, and it seems like this place has quite a bit of history to it, you might want to read up on it.
Old Palace Yard
This is the only visible reminder that Old Palace Yard was once a residential street.
Old Palace Yard
close by to Old Palace Yard and Westminster Abbey
Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
King George V Statue near Westminster Abbey
Wow, the bus almost looks bigger than the Palace of Westminster!
London Bus and the Palace of Westminster
This sundial is between the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey by Old Palace Yard, it features in it’s outer circle, a quote which is hard to show you here, unless I show you several pictures that I have of the different words. So instead, I will include the quote below taken from William Shakespeare’s play, Henry VI, part III: “To carve out dials quaintly, point by point, thereby to see the minutes how they run: how many makes the hour full complete, how many hours brings about the day, how many days will finish up the year, how many years a mortal man may live.”
The Queen Elizabeth 2nd’s Golden Jubilee Sundial
Here it is closer up
Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sundial
There’s the sundial in the picture below wedged in between two magnificent buildings
View from Old Palace Yard
This is where we came from a few hours ago, and now we are looking at it from Westminster Abbey
The view from Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Again, the magic of Big Ben being next to other buildings when seen from different angles just amazes me! Do you think about this yourself, or do you not ponder upon it? I really wonder whether you do or not.
Big Ben and St. Margaret’s Church
Just added these last three pictures because I love the color red, and of course you can get a lot of that in London – you don’t have to walk far to see either a red London bus or a post box, or phone booth.
City of Westminster
City of Westminster
City of Westminster
I think I have shown you a lot of pictures now of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament (which is also known as Palace of Westminster), St. Margaret’s Church, and Westminster Abbey. I hope you feel like you know this part of the City of Westminster a little better just by looking at my pictures. Don’t miss visiting the City of Westminster, there’s nothing quite like it!
Trafalgar Square to Houses Of Parliament
We are still on Day Three of our Five Day Trip to London which was a three week trip in total. Another week was spent in northern England where my family lives, and one week was spent in Antalya, Turkey (I’ll have to write a post on that at some point soon – I hope).
Today is July 25th, we had left the USA on July 22nd at around 8 pm, and arrived at London Heathrow Airport on the 23rd at around 3pm local time, which was 7 am USA Pacific Time – we were lucky to have caught a direct flight which was a total of 11 hours. Of course, when you get to England, you kind of lose a day with traveling and then have to put the clock eight hours forward.
This post carries on from the previous one – Trafalgar Square via Whitehall to Horse Guards Parade. We had just finished looking at the Horse Guard’s Parade grounds, and this is opposite to the Ministry of Defence. Can you imagine that nearly all buildings in London – even if not exactly touristy, are so beautiful! To me, they are a treasure, and are all worthy of being photographed!
The Ministry of Defence, Whitehall
Another picture in the same area.
Whitehall, outside of Horse Guards Parade
This person, the Eighth Duke of Devonshire, apparently turned down the job of Prime Minister – his statue is shown in the picture below
Spencer Compton, Eighth Duke of Devonshire, outside Ministry of Defence, Whitehall
Whitehall, City of Westminster
Now, let’s not forget the women of World War Two, they had a significant part in the war too – they served, fought, and nurtured the wounded – here’s their memorial.
The Women of World War Two, Whitehall
We are coming up to Downing Street, now the home of David Cameron, and when I used to live there, it was home of Margaret Thatcher. There’s been a few other Prime Ministers in between of course.
Downing Street, SW1
Downing Street, SW1
Downing Street, SW1
Downing Street, SW1
London Eye from near Downing Street
This memorial is significant, it commemorates the end of World War 1.
The Cenotaph – the UK’s primary war memorial
The Cenotaph – the UK’s primary war memorial
The Cenotaph – War Memorial commemorates end of World War 1
Well, look what else I saw….King Charles Street Bridge. The arch connects the Treasury building to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building.
King Charles Street Bridge
King Charles Street Bridge
King Charles Street Bridge
King Charles Street Bridge
Now, I’m not sure what this building is exactly….but it is on the way from King Charles Street Bridge to
Westminster, near Whitehall
Here’s a building that just looked nice, so I took a picture of it.
Richmond House, 79 Whitehall
Well, a glimpse of the Houses of Parliament, and now we are getting close to where I was supposed to share more photos of – in this post. I think I dawdle too much along the way, and get way too distracted. Just to let you know, it is not that far from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament – I think you can make it in about twenty minutes if you walk fast.
Close by to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster
Next post….I have to share more pictures of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret’s Church.
luchanik 