Nota Bene Two

I have been adding photos to older posts (e.g. Big Ben) in an attempt to use them as galleries. So, take a look at older blogs for newer pictures!

Battle of Britain Monument

St. Paul's Cathedral, standing strong (just like St. Paul)

Soldier on the look out

Air Raids

Man's best friend

St. James Park

This little lady was the most unafraid squirrel I have ever seen. Thinking I had a nut, she (I think I heard this local squirrel enthusiast call her 'Betty') practically jumped into my arms but, instead, put her front two paws into my hand and sniffed around. I even got to pet her back a little later. Just call me Dr. Doolittle.

One of the many thousands of ducks that populate St. James Park and its lake.

I really want to go down that tunnel, but alas! I'm not allowed.

Grandfather & Grandson

The little walkway to the historic cottage on St. James Lake.

A post of a fence that surrounds an old cottage.

Is that a bird gazebo?

The gazebo again.

Tower Bridge (& the Tower of London)

Taken from outside the Tower of London walls. I haven't been inside yet.

Tower Bridge: A bad day for photos, but this at least shows the general shape of the bridge.

Upper Deck

I'd live up there.

Night Shots from London Bridge

St. Paul's Cathedral (right)

I accidentally kicked the leg of my tripod, and this was the result. I like it.

Southwark Cathedral

Experimenting with some car streaks. The people walking bye didn't really get it. "Why is he taking pictures of cars when Tower Bridge is right behind him?"

Taking a cue from the aforementioned people, I decided to take pictures of both cars and the bridge.

This is the view of the famous Tower Bridge from London Bridge. I left the shutter open for thirty seconds on these ones. The streaks on this bottom one are from a little tour boat. (I need to figure out how to use my camera on full manual mode, that way I can keep the bridge from getting all blown out like that. But, hey, it still looks pretty cool right?)

Nota Bene

Click on the pictures to enlarge them (just in case you were wondering).

Holborn: My Favorite Place to Wander

London's oldest shop building. This little place really got hold of my imagination. Apparently, it's dubious that this little shop was really the inspiration for Charles Dickens's story The Old Curiosity Shop, but who knows? (Info drawn from The Rough Guide to London.)

The House of Thomas More

Apparently this lady (Margaret MacDonald) was quite a woman. Click on the photo to read the inscription.

This beautiful brick building occupies one of the corners in Holborn. If you look closely, you can see that it was raining when I took these photos.

Buckinham Palace & Green Park

There is a Narnian theme going on here. This lamppost is one of the many lining the paths of Green Park just north of Buckingham Palace.

There's gold in them there gates.

These statues sit in the Victoria Memoria, just outside the gates of Buckingham. The juxtaposition of this bloke reading the newspaper and these massive classical artifacts seemed funny to me. Unfortunatly, he caught me snapping a photo of him, which was a little awkward. I just put my head down and walked right passed him :)

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Two iconic London objects in one photograph. What more could you ask for? Three, maybe?

the Horse and His Ben

There is a lot of gold behind that leaf.

My friend Jessica took a similar picture to this one, only hers was better.

My first London sunset

I travelled back in time to get this one. That is (of course) the Thames between Ben and me.

Westminster Abbey

A couple good guys

Dig the arch.

Abbey Gardens: There is a whole row of these houses within the Abbey's property.

Here is a statue of who I cannot remember, but he was no doubt important. Anyway, I like the composition of this one--it was mostly coincidental (so don't think I'm bragging).

In focus is a lamppost that sits in front of Westminster Abbey; the front of the Abbey itself is in the background.

Introduction

Hello friends, family, and passers-by,

This here is, straightforwardly enough, my London photo blog. It is here that I intend to post my favorite photos of this beautiful city. As most of you know, I moved to London about a week ago with the intention of studying toward my Masters degree in philosophy at King's College London. Since then, I've decided to scrap all that and live on the streets, playing music in the subway tunnels for spare change. Only kidding! (That said, the acoustics in those tunnels are downright stupendous.) Anyway, I'm glad to report that I'm settling in quite nicely here. Most of my spare time and energy this past week has been spent wandering the streets and riding the subways (the "Tube") in attempt to get a feel for this magnificient and historic metropolis. It seems that no matter where I go, there is some amazing site just around the corner. It is those dazzling sites (big and small) that I wish to photograph and transfer to this blog for your enjoyment. So...enjoy!