Sally & Justin: England

I am actually not sure what to think of London...
Perhaps it is a city that requires more time to savor. It is definitely city of many dichotomy.
One thing that really surprised me was that everything, including bars closed just about 11 pm. Where is the night life I ask you? Where are those famous bar hopping experiences? Perhaps I missed it all...
To tell you the truth, I guess I did a bit of that. I won't lie. London does have a night life. Bars are completely different from what I had expected. It is where things are "happening" so to speak.

Famous London Bar Scene at Night...

People talk about London Bridge, but well, the fact is, London Bridge is really not at all remarkable. It is rather on the ugly side.
Tower Bridge on the other hand draws one's eyes. The river scenery crossing the bridge is quite remarkable. My first morning in London started with this view of London as we headed toward Stonehenge and Bath.

View of Tower Bridge from London Bridge

Baker Street...sound familiar?
Sherlock Holmes?
Maybe not to some people, but for me, it has a special place in my heart. I don't think I ever thought I would get to see the real Baker Street.
I mean it is true that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, but to many people, he is almost as good as real.

Baker Street Sign

And who says Sherlock Holmes is some ordinary fictional character?
If a fictional character has a museum dedicated to him/her, that's got to be one popular character. I guess what I'm trying to say is that he is as good as a real living person. Most living people don't even get a museum of their own.After getting off from my Big Bus at Picadilly stop...I walked few blocks and wala, I was in the middle of a huge square!

Sherlock Holmes museum

I would highly recommend the Big Bus Co. for tour purposes. All the employees are extremely nice, very informative, and definitely better than their competitors. You might save some time in queue (line if you are American) of several museums purchasing tickets through them.

Trafalgar Square

The four lions surrounding the statue...I hear that they were actually made from melted canons. This is where I was to meet my walking tour group (of Big Bus Co.).

Trafalgar Square

I am not quite sure where Haymarket began and where Picadilly started. I'm sure I am in the middle of both sections of the town. Regardless, the theaters were in abundance here.
I was actually expecting to see an actual market like that in My Fair Lady at the Haymarket, but of course that was only my dream.

Haymarket/Picadilly

Okay...people find making fun of these Guards something fun to do in London. Personally I felt rather sorry for this lone Guard, who'd have to stand hours like to unmoving.

Lone Guard

I never thought the guard changes were a big deal...as supposed to all the other attractions in London, but I guess it is one of the main tourist attraction.

St. James' Palace

Thankfully with our guides, we had one of the best view of the Changing of Guards.

Changing of Guards starts at St. James' Palace

When the Guards started marching...
the Old Guards they call it since these are the guards that were on duty.
...we started marching as well, following the Guards toward the Buckingham Palace.

Changing of Guards

The New Guards came from the station near the Buckingham Palace. We ran and got there just in time to see them march out and head toward Buckingham palace for changing ceremony
The flag was not up. Queen was not in residence, but well...did I really want to see the queen? I don't really think so...
Afterward I started my walking toward of own through Victoria Station and up toward Westminster Abbey.

Changing of Guards at Buckingham Palace

I was merrily walking down the street, not even thinking that I'd run smack into the Westminster Abbey. I think it has a tendency to sneak up on you. It does not at all look like a beautiful Gothic Abbey when you look at from the back side.
Then Wem! You hit it and your mouth drops.

Side of Westminster Abbey

I made conscious decision not to go into the Abbey. I know it is bad of me, but looking at the line and amount of time I had left to still see many other sites of London, I had to say adieu from the outside.

Westminster Abbey from the front

I couldn't stop taking pictures of Westminster Abbey. It just looked so different from each different angle that I became confused as to how many pictures I actually took.

Westminster Abbey

I think if U.S. had Parliament building as beautiful as this one in Washington D.C., more people would want to live there and more people would be awed by the political system in U.S.
I would have thought it some sort of castle, but there it was on the map labeled as "Parliament". How can anyone function in official capacity in such a lovely building?

Parliament

As I walked around the Westminster Abbey, across the street to Parliament and back, the Big Ben stood there, trying to outshine them all.Yup..Big Ben was every bit as impressive as I had imagined it to be. After the Westminster Abbey sneaking up on me, Big Ben was less of a Bang to my system, but it still was more than I had expected from seeing on movie and pictures.

Big Ben and surroundings

Big Ben

The best view I had of the surrounding areas of the bridges and the bridges themselves was on the 2nd level of the Big Bus.
After the Parliament, passing the Big Ben, I grabbed my bus again and crossed the London Bridge toward the Tower.

View from the Big Bus

Well...I actually didn't believe this place is really the Court of Justice. Looking at from the purely architectural point of view, it is more of an Abbey or Gothic building than a court.

It is hard to believe they actually use this building as a court, but it is true.

Court of Justice, from the bus

I was not flying inside the helicopter to take this picture.
Okay, it is easy to see that I was actually on a tall bus crossing the bridge, but one could have a large imagination and think I was taking this from a helicopter tour.
Seen close, Tower bridge is another impressive and pretty structure...and coolest thing about it is that, the draw bridge actually works!

Tower bridge from the Bus

I was somewhat disappointed with the Tower. It was advertised too much as THE place to see in London. Actually I would have been more impressed with Westminster Abbey, but that's just me.
Still, with the free tour group I straggled along, the history and the blood and gore factor was worth it, not to mention most great view of Tower Bridge from there.

The Tower

This gorgeous view of the entire Tower Bridge can only happen from the Tower itself.

I wonder...what is the history of it?

The Tower Bridge from the Tower

Someone forgot to tell me that British museum is larger than what it seems from the front.
I barely managed to drag myself there, my Meccah in London with the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts, at the end of most tiring day. My day had started with the Sherlock Holmes.
It is hard to believe, isn't it?
Fortunately, my body had a life of its own once it started to see the statues of Ramses and the funerary artifacts.