London - November 2011
My 3-day trip to London in November 2011. It was my first time in London, so I spent the whole time roaming around the downtown and taking photos.. great relaxation..
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Sherlock Holmes Museum | Daytime Photos (major attractions) | London Eye | London at night | London Bridge | Taxis | Poppies and Crosses | Underground | Lord Mayor's Show | Fireworks | Coca-cola truck | M&M's World | Hostel
The Sherlock Holmes Museum (http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk)
My first stop couldn't be anything else :) I have always been the admirer of Sherlock Holmes which is why my first steps led to one of the world's most famous addres: 221b Baker Street (and also my hostel was very close ;)
Daytime London
Photos from wandering around London downtown during the daytime: famous telephone booths, Westminster Palace and Big Ben, Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square..
Tower of London, Tower Bridge and More London and Fish&Chips
London Eye
A giant Ferris wheel on the banks of the River Thames. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, commonly known as the London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, now officially as the EDF Energy London Eye.
It has 32 sealed air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules, each weighing 10 tonnes and holding 25 people. The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes.
The entire structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). (oficial website)
London Taxi
Famous London black cabs, and not only black..
Interesting facts: Before a taxi driver gets his Hackney Cab Licence he or she must pass a test. It is a difficult test and requires the cabbie to know the streets of central London like the palm of their hand. It involves a full-time year of study, absorbing the information provided by street maps and travelling around the city itself. The result is that drivers of official London Hackney Cabs are renowned for their detailed and intimate knowledge of London's streets and attractions. Strangely enough, scientific study has shown that possession and expansion of The Knowledge increases the size of the anterior and posterior hippocampi of the brain - the area that handles spatial memory and spatial navigation. (www)
Poppies and Crosses
Remembrance Day, a day when Britain remembers those who died in wars. People leave small wooden crosses by the memorials in remembrance of a family member who died and wear an artificial poppy. They are sold by the Royal British Legion, a charity dedicated to helping war veterans.
The Lord Mayor's Show (http://www.lordmayorsshow.org/)
A great parade of more than 6,000 participants and hundreds of thousands of people who line the streets of the City to watch it. It is held every year on the second Saturday in November and is one of the longest established and best known annual events in London. It is nearly 800 years old and the procession is 3 miles long (it will take over an hour to pass you). The event concludes with a fireworks display in the evening (see further).
At the end of the procession you can see the Lord Mayor of the City of London (Alderman David Wootton) waving from the State Coach. At the very end of the procession there was the City of London Cleansing Department cleaning the streets - nice :)
The Lord Mayor's Show - Fireworks
..getting ready for 5pm fireworks over the Thames. I set up my tripod almost an hour sooner to get a nice spot on the Waterloo Bridge. The view was amazing, you can see the illuminated St. Pauls Cathedral in the backround and crowded southbank.
Coca-Cola Truck
The Coca-Cola Christmas Truck in London, singing Christmas song, giving away free cans of Coke and taking photos of people, so I have one photo of myself in London :)
M&M's World
My friends showed me this store, it is huuuuge...... 4 levels of all the M&M's you can get. It is the world's largest candy store (35,000 sq ft / 3,250 sq metres). I wanted to take more photos next day, but they closed sooner even though the streets were crowded with people eager to get inside... couldn't believe. (www.mmsworld.com)
The Green Man Hostel
Where I was sleeping: A nice and clean hostel right next to the Edgware tube station called The Green Man Hostel and Pub (the pub is the reception, open 24 hours). They have free WiFi internet access, which unfortunately even in these days didn't seem to be common in other hostels.