Recent trip to London, UK.

silversx80

Last week, my wife and I returned from our trip to London. She spent 2 weeks there before I arrived, then we spent another 10 days. Loved every minute of the trip and didn't have nearly enough time to see everything we wanted to. At least that means we'll have something to do if (when) we decide to go back.

I brought along my Olympus E-620 with my 11-22mm and 50mm f/2 in my Tenba mini-messenger bag. Great combination to have, but I was wishing for the Olympus E-P3 and 12mm f/2 at times... much less noticeable and easier to whip out at any moment. My wife had her E-PL1, but I'm not allowed to touch it :deal

Anyway, I clicked the shutter around 1300 times and have only made it through a random 300 of those. I'll have to updated this thread as I get through more. They haven't been processed in any particular order.


First up, the plane. I've been through several sunsets on a plane, but this is the first sun rise. I got there at 0630 local time... day 0.


On day 1 we took the underground to get to Westminster to visit the Abbey, and my very first London attraction. Right out of the tube.


Hey kids! Big Ben... Parliament. (My wife got sick of hearing this. We spent a lot of time walking past it)




Someone in this shot doesn't seem to care about the people around... off in their own little world.


I've been going off on a door kick recently.


It didn't occur to me that they didn't have to open the entire door.


I guess this one was right near the Abbey.


Well, the line for the Abbey was a bit too long, so we decided to go for a walk to Westminster Cathedral. On the way, I saw my first red phone booth. Smelled like someone used it as a personal water closet. I know, because my wife made me go inside it for a pic (on the E-PL1, so it's not here to post).


The Albert. My wife and I wanted to stop in on our way back, but forgot.


When we got to the Cathedral, I was blown away. I don't get to see much architecture like this...




I've also been going on a symmetry kick.




The ceiling work in the little chapels wasn't too shabby either.






So, after a couple hours there, we got hungry and went on the search for some grub. My wife has to eat gluten-free, so this meant asking around a lot. It also led us into Victoria Station... I'm not sure why.






OK, more to come soon.

Chris02

Looks like you had fun in London some great shots

choudhrysaab

Thanx for the virtual tour of the place I've never been

silversx80

Thanks, Chris and Abi.

Continuing on...

My wife really wanted to see a play in the Globe, so after our trip to the Westminster Cathedral we took a walk.

I'm not sure which bridge this is, but I thought it made in interesting shot. The sky added a bit of drama to boot.


Because there were a lot more people than I'm used to, I started to take a lot of shots when nobody was in the scene... or perhaps just one person.


The ruins of Winchester Cathedral, if I'm not mistaken.


Another vacant scene


I love old ships, and this little bit of processing seemed to fit this one in particular.


On a texture kick too. This is a wall from a building that started off in the 600's AD as a convent.


This building, to be exact


Another door, from the building above


Final shot of the place, I swear.


... and we walked through rush hour.




Finally, the end of the first day.


We ended up getting tickets to see a play at the Globe for the following day. The Mysteries of the Globe... or something like that. Really interesting show.

Pics of the Globe, and more to come soon.

Thanks for looking.

silversx80

More photos.

So, the following day, we didn't have to get to the play until 2pm, so we went for a walk. My wife spotted a Clarks shop the day we walked to the Westminster Cathedral and said she wanted to look at shoes. We decided to head there first, since we had no big plans until 2. We took the underground to Westminster again.

What better way to start off this post than with another door?


More people!


No People!!


Sleeping on the job...


I thought these looked neat.


Well, no shoes, and it was time to head to the Globe.

(In my best superhero voice) Back to the UNDERGROUND!!!

Westminster


To Southwark


Ah, the Globe... not really, but a good replica.




From our seats


Show was really interesting. I liked it. Afterward, we felt we needed to get some Fish & Chips. Since my wife can't eat gluten (anything with wheat, barley, rye, and a few others), she couldn't have the typical fish&chips. It just so happened that a place near Leicester Square, The Mermaids Tail, had a gluten-free batter and dedicated fryer. We decided to walk... across the Thames.



It was Rush Hour again. More people!


Not sure what this place is, but it was interesting to me.


My immense sweet-tooth was very unhappy they were closed.


Again, not sure what this place was, but you can see why it caught my eye.


I have no idea what these ones smelled like. I was too traumatized by my first red-phone-booth experience to find out.


Another door.


Almost there!


... and I thought European portion sizes were supposed to be smaller. I wasn't complaining, though.


More to come!

dgebben

Yep England is a great place to visit. Great public transportation system and what a history.
I was there in 79 long time ago still remember like it was yesterday.

silversx80

More again, and onto one of the most memorable moments, for me. We left the Mermaid's Tail, hunched over because of all the food we ate, and decided to walk back to our room to burn some of it off (2-3 miles). As we walked, something magical caught my eye... an oasis!

Heaven!


M&M's are the perfect candy, and bring joy to all. Not a sad face in the entire store.


4 levels of FUN!!!


Because I'm a geeky engineer






If you're not drooling, you must not be human.


I could live, permanently, in this place.




Well, we got our 4kg of candy and left.


An interesting walk home.
"Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors."
"Beware the moon, lads."


Feet were getting pretty tired, so we hopped on "the tube" at Westminster.


Changed in Victoria.

Wossa

Glad you had a fantastic time in London, I live here but it was still nice to see how you have captured my city......congrats there are some lovely pictures.

silversx80

Thanks Wossa!

So, back at it. The next day, we actually did get to Westminster Abbey. Since they didn't allow photography in the building, I had to settle for some shots outside. I wish I did get a chance to photo indoors, but I was so taken aback by the scale of the place that I'd have had an aneurysm for sure.

A few shots while waiting in line, just to show the attention to detail on the outside of the building.







After we left, I didn't get any shots of the abbey. We did decide, however, to walk over to Buckingham Palace. Last admission was at 4:15pm. We got there at 4:15.

Again, shots from outside.






The fountain seemed to be the local hangout.




The fill slider in LR3 got quite the bump for this one


We started our walk back, and to get some grub for dinner. I had to get another phone booth shot.


I'm not sure what this building is, but I'm glad I had my 11-22mm lens with me.


Walked by the Abbey on the way back. Flipping huge.




Parliament... again.


Last shot for the night, on the way to a restaurant.



Once again, thanks for looking. More to come soon.

Wossa

Hi Silversx80

The building with the sloped glass design is known as the The Waspish Lloyds Bank building.

nwilkins

Hello,

The building in your second series with the large dome which you didn't recognize is St. Paul's Cathedral where Charles and Diana were married! Nice pix.

GSPeP

Nice pictures.

I've been to London several times and I find it a very interesting city with millions of photo oportunities.

fujione

Great series. The compositions were great also. Thanks for posting them.