On my first full day in London, I entertained myself by taking a bus tour around the city, since I was not sure what to see first. I can’t say I would really recommend the bus tour to anyone because the bus drives too fast past things to take decent pictures, and it was a bit expensive. Still, it gave me an idea of a few things to see later.
Walking around, I found Buckingham Palace. There was a marathon occurring on the same day, so many streets were blocked off. My first visit to Westminster was actually interrupted because of this, since there were just too many people around to take decent photos or see anything.
The building itself did not seem too spectacular too me, although the gates and fountain out front (not shown above) do indicate that it is somehow special.
There are guards and policemen out front, though I think their purpose is mainly to put on a good show for tourists than defend the palace from anything. The biggest threat to the Queen nowadays must certainly be anything that would affect her favourite tea brand, such as corporate mergers, etc.
The streets of London are quite rewarding with lots of tall office buildings everywhere. Businessmen running through the streets complete the picture of a bustling centre of finance and other white collar work.
In the downtown core, skyscrapers line every street.
Signage has a very clean and professional look to it. This sign here shows you how to get some of the city’s attractions, including London Bridge. It’s the 4th London bridge or so, as the other ones have fallen down, burned, or whatever they seem to do to it.
This is a very stylish building. Note the old car approaching in the bottom centre.
The Tower of London was one of the major tourist attractions.
Historically, it has served as a prison, site of hangings within the royal family, area of defense for the city of London, among other purposes.
The Queen is still connected with it, and the chapel on site is still officially a religious place of worship.
Inside the various buildings that make up the site, you could see the crowns of past kings and queens, tools used to torture people, and weapons. Photography wasn’t allowed everywhere though, so I didn’t get any pictures of the crowns or inside the chapel where many important people are buried. The best visuals anyways were outside.
In my next post, my last part about London!