Iconic London

Saturday, 14th September, 2019.

The weather was still blue-sky spectacular, so Ilona, Alexis and I set off to check out some of London's iconic sights.  (So did a lot of other people.) 

First stop - Trafalgar Square.  Nelson is still on his column.

Children are still climbing around his lions.

The National Gallery.

When I lived in London, I used to pop in and visit Van Gogh's Sunflowers whenever I was in the city.  I was quite delighted to see that it is still a major drawcard (see above.)  Not that the gallery needs to advertise - it was packed.  More about the National Gallery in a later blog.

A London bus and a London taxi in the one shot.

We walked up the Mall to Buckingham Palace.  The cool shade of St James' Park looked very inviting on this very warm day.

Queen Victoria's Monument (she's facing us) and Buckingham Palace came into view.

The Royal Gardeners have been industrious outside the palace, and the people were obeying the polite "Please Keep Off the Grass" sign.

Queen Victoria's Monument without the palace.  (She's facing back down the Mall, on the right hand side.)

The Palace without Queen Victoria's Monument.  Looks as though they're doing some badly needed cleaning.  Only the Union Jack was flying today (well, hardly flying, more like hanging limply in the warm weather),  As the Royal Standard wasn't flying, the Queen isn't home.  Maybe at a beach somewhere.

With the Queen away, it looks as though some of the guards get to go to the beach as well.  Only token guarding today.

The balcony above this guard is the one where the Royal Family come out and wave on special occasions.  No Royal Family today, only one token guard.  These pictures are a bit blurry, as they're taken from a long way off, between the railings of the front fence.  And you have to queue up to get to the railings to poke your phone through.

And oh dear, the sign reads "No guard changing ceremony today."

These guards, who (I know it should be whom, but who/whom says whom any more?) we caught marching off when our turn came to look through the railings, must have changed unceremoniously.

We walked back through St James' Park.  If you look closely, you can see a squirrel at the water's edge.

The park also features cormorants (pictured) and pelicans (not pictured).

We walked across the large open space where they hold the Trooping the Colour, to see the Horse Guards on their potentially kicking, biting horses.

Being naturally cautious, I elected to have the obligatory photo taken with a Horse Guard without a horse.  Although he was behind a chain, I didn't think he would kick or bite.

Then onto 10 Downing Street.  This is the best photo I could get to prove I was actually here.

I thought "the door" was the one with the curved top that you can see in this picture, but when I checked with pictures online, I think that "the door" is along the wall near the flowers in this picture.  Oh well.

Didn't have much luck with Big Ben either.  Here it is all wrapped up in scaffolding etc.  The Houses of Parliament were similarly hiding.

At least Boadicea and her daughters were still galloping along beside the Thames.

And the London Eye was still majestically turning.

Standing on Westminster Bridge, we watched this cruise boat disgorging its crowds of passengers one at a time, while hundreds more waited to take their places.  We left before they did.

Going home, we had to leave the tube at Harrow-on-the- Hill and take a bus the rest of the way because of track work.  This was pretty special for me, as this used to be my station.