letters from london♥ [part one]
As promised, London picspam! On a sort of related sidenote: I saw a beautiful icon made from London Eye stock photos, and... I miss London. ;___; *vows to get into Oxford, FAITO*
From our hotel window, morning of the 24th (Christmas Eve morning~~~). Angie was ninja'ing in and out.
Better shot of the street. Isn't it beautiful? *___* It boggles the mind how such a big city can be aptly described as "quaint" and yet here is photographic, real life proof.
As we walk down to meet our tour bus for the day. This is my idea of a typical London street corner complete with... wait for it...
TELEPHONE BOOTHS&hearts&hearts&hearts I am only mildly obsessed with these things, I promise.
This excited me entirely too much, lulz. In case you were wondering, no there is no point to this photo or to my inclusion of it, but I couldn't very leave it out now could I? It says the Emperor's name *g*
Drive-by picture of Westminster Abbey.
A much better picture of said Abbey, not done from a moving vehicle. Ah, the difference solid ground under one's feet makes for photography~ By the by, this is where over a millenium's worth of English royalty were crowned. *____*
The column in front of the Abbey. I can't for the life of me remember who the figure on top is, but ... it's pretty? |D;
Methodist Church directly across the Abbey. It's prettiful too (like everything else in the city).
Closer look at the reliefs above the front doors of the Abbey. There's a Chinese saint on there too, which was unexpected and pretty cool.
My first glimpse of the River Thames. Again, a drive-by shot. Better ones to follow.
The English have an obsession with lions... not that I didn't appreciate their artistic expression of said fetish during my trip. This one stands near the London eye.
BIG BEN. And Angie.
Me in front of the Houses of Parliament. *_____________* They are so majestic and regal and historic. (This is where I mention that both Angie and I decided to forgo Buckingham Palace in favour of the other sites of London. XDD)
Another one because it's probably the only place where I was a bit of a camera whore. (but with a backdrop like that, could you resist?)
Much better picture of ol' Ben.
The Thames in all her glory.
I like this shot of Parliament. That is all.
The London Eye. Possibly my favourite London attraction despite my inane fear of heights keeping me paralysed most of the way up, but strangely not down. YOU SEE NOTHING.
Both pictures taken from the platform where the London Eye stands. I just like the view with the bridge.
They were having some Salvador Dali exhibit. :D He was a fucked up guy, yes. But we love him anyway and so, it seems, does merry ol' England.
View as we go up the London eye. I'll have you know that I only clung to Angela's hood a little bit as I took this shot. ... stfu.
Higher and higher we go~
Where we'll stop, nobody knows~~
Buckingham Palace in the distance.
The glory of London... if you kinda ignore the industrial smog.
Erm, me. I'd appreciate it verily much if you kindly refrain from commenting on my windblown appearance. People say London is rainy, but goddammit, London is windy too.
Random prettiful building steeple with the cutest dolphin motif wind vane.
Moar random streets. Albeit very nice random streets. (see what I mean about London being absolutely gorgeous?)
TRAFALGAR SQUARE. This is the spot I fell in love with in London. These pictures fail to do it justice, but don't worry; there are more!
Nelson Column, but from the back. It's simply magnificent in real life *___* (This trip to England might have made me more of a Nelson fangirl than a Napoleon one; the English really love their Admiral Nelson.)
There are four reliefs etched into each side of the column base depicting each of Nelson's four greatest naval battles; this is my favourite one. Admiral Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar, after his crushing defeat of Napoleonic French-Spanish fleets, at his deathbed. What a way to go. His final words? Upon learning of his decisive victory: "Thank god I have done my duty!" *______________* (the other scenes depict Egypt, Copenhagen, and ... somewhere else that I rather fail to recall atm. D:)
I didn't lie about the English and their lions. Just so you know, these beasts are huge and there are four of them positioned around the Admiral's column.
And some more pictures of the Column. Because I am obsessed, yes~
Pretty fountains.
It's a statue. Of some guy. ... okay, the real reason I snapped this was because the birds in the Square really really love sitting on the statues' heads and this was just too funny not to snap. XD
This was taken in a street famous for it's "Gentlemen's Clubs". *nudgenudgewinkwink*
GUESS WHOSE HOUSE THAT IS. GO AHEAD. GUESS. (no, not lord nelson's.) IT'S WELLINGTON'S HOUSE: APSLEY PLACE. It's address is 1 London. Go Wellington~! (can you tell I had a history-squeegasm on this day?)
I think I'm going to end this here and do this thing in installments. Since I had, like, 200+ pictures. *sheepish laughter* We didn't even get through the first day, but hay~ Nelson and Wellington. I think I did pretty well. MORE TO COME.
SOON-ish&hearts
From our hotel window, morning of the 24th (Christmas Eve morning~~~). Angie was ninja'ing in and out.
Better shot of the street. Isn't it beautiful? *___* It boggles the mind how such a big city can be aptly described as "quaint" and yet here is photographic, real life proof.
As we walk down to meet our tour bus for the day. This is my idea of a typical London street corner complete with... wait for it...
TELEPHONE BOOTHS&hearts&hearts&hearts I am only mildly obsessed with these things, I promise.
This excited me entirely too much, lulz. In case you were wondering, no there is no point to this photo or to my inclusion of it, but I couldn't very leave it out now could I? It says the Emperor's name *g*
Drive-by picture of Westminster Abbey.
A much better picture of said Abbey, not done from a moving vehicle. Ah, the difference solid ground under one's feet makes for photography~ By the by, this is where over a millenium's worth of English royalty were crowned. *____*
The column in front of the Abbey. I can't for the life of me remember who the figure on top is, but ... it's pretty? |D;
Methodist Church directly across the Abbey. It's prettiful too (like everything else in the city).
Closer look at the reliefs above the front doors of the Abbey. There's a Chinese saint on there too, which was unexpected and pretty cool.
My first glimpse of the River Thames. Again, a drive-by shot. Better ones to follow.
The English have an obsession with lions... not that I didn't appreciate their artistic expression of said fetish during my trip. This one stands near the London eye.
BIG BEN. And Angie.
Me in front of the Houses of Parliament. *_____________* They are so majestic and regal and historic. (This is where I mention that both Angie and I decided to forgo Buckingham Palace in favour of the other sites of London. XDD)
Another one because it's probably the only place where I was a bit of a camera whore. (but with a backdrop like that, could you resist?)
Much better picture of ol' Ben.
The Thames in all her glory.
I like this shot of Parliament. That is all.
The London Eye. Possibly my favourite London attraction despite my inane fear of heights keeping me paralysed most of the way up, but strangely not down. YOU SEE NOTHING.
Both pictures taken from the platform where the London Eye stands. I just like the view with the bridge.
They were having some Salvador Dali exhibit. :D He was a fucked up guy, yes. But we love him anyway and so, it seems, does merry ol' England.
View as we go up the London eye. I'll have you know that I only clung to Angela's hood a little bit as I took this shot. ... stfu.
Higher and higher we go~
Where we'll stop, nobody knows~~
Buckingham Palace in the distance.
The glory of London... if you kinda ignore the industrial smog.
Erm, me. I'd appreciate it verily much if you kindly refrain from commenting on my windblown appearance. People say London is rainy, but goddammit, London is windy too.
Random prettiful building steeple with the cutest dolphin motif wind vane.
Moar random streets. Albeit very nice random streets. (see what I mean about London being absolutely gorgeous?)
TRAFALGAR SQUARE. This is the spot I fell in love with in London. These pictures fail to do it justice, but don't worry; there are more!
Nelson Column, but from the back. It's simply magnificent in real life *___* (This trip to England might have made me more of a Nelson fangirl than a Napoleon one; the English really love their Admiral Nelson.)
There are four reliefs etched into each side of the column base depicting each of Nelson's four greatest naval battles; this is my favourite one. Admiral Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar, after his crushing defeat of Napoleonic French-Spanish fleets, at his deathbed. What a way to go. His final words? Upon learning of his decisive victory: "Thank god I have done my duty!" *______________* (the other scenes depict Egypt, Copenhagen, and ... somewhere else that I rather fail to recall atm. D:)
I didn't lie about the English and their lions. Just so you know, these beasts are huge and there are four of them positioned around the Admiral's column.
And some more pictures of the Column. Because I am obsessed, yes~
Pretty fountains.
It's a statue. Of some guy. ... okay, the real reason I snapped this was because the birds in the Square really really love sitting on the statues' heads and this was just too funny not to snap. XD
This was taken in a street famous for it's "Gentlemen's Clubs". *nudgenudgewinkwink*
GUESS WHOSE HOUSE THAT IS. GO AHEAD. GUESS. (no, not lord nelson's.) IT'S WELLINGTON'S HOUSE: APSLEY PLACE. It's address is 1 London. Go Wellington~! (can you tell I had a history-squeegasm on this day?)
I think I'm going to end this here and do this thing in installments. Since I had, like, 200+ pictures. *sheepish laughter* We didn't even get through the first day, but hay~ Nelson and Wellington. I think I did pretty well. MORE TO COME.
SOON-ish&hearts