Wednesday 29 July 2009

Big Ben!

Think of London and what is the first icon you think of? Tower Bridge? Tower of London? THe Underground sign? Probably not. Chances are that you pictured the clock tower from the Houses of Parliament in the heart of London. I was there today. I took so very many pictures of it from almost every angle possible. Here's a bit of London trivia for you. Big Ben is the name of the bell inside of the clock tower, not the clock itself. I was there when Big Ben chimed on the hour and the half hour which was really neat. I couldn't get over the size of it. Most of the time when you see Big Ben in pictures, it doesn't seem all that large, but when you're there, it's huge! I tried to get some pictures of it to show the size but I don't know whether or not I managed it.

From there I took a stroll to Westminster Abbey. I only took a couple of pictures from the outside because I wasn't interested in going inside. It is BIG though, I'll tell you that much.

I hit a third London landmark on my way back to my flat. I stopped off at Harrods. Oh my goodness, it's insane! The sheer . . . wealth it represents is so massive! I wandered around a few of the floors. There were purses for £800 and pet beds for £80. I actually got Neo's souvenir from there. It doesn't say Harrods on it, but that's OK, he can't read anyway. Before I left, I had to check out the loo. It was so lavish! I've only seen bathrooms like that in the movies. If it wouldn't have been odd, I would have taken some pictures in there just to show the ostentatiousness (is that even a word?) of it.

After Harrods, I decided to give my lousy sense of direction a little workout. I left via a different door than I arrived at for Harrods so I really had no idea where I was except that I was in Knightsbridge. Well, for the first time since arriving in London, I actually found my way (well sort of, I ended up at a different tube station, but I found one which was the bigger deal).

Pictures of the day are here.

5 comments:

  1. Very cool pictures. Lots of Big Ben. It is amazing how large it is!

    Btw, you are way better than me. I would have taken pictures of the ostentatious (yes it's a word - great $10 word!) bathroom. lol. I did while I was in London the first time (though I was back in high school then). People thought that maybe the bathroom I took the picture of was my hotel room. LOL. If only. :P

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  2. OK, so we are back from the beach, B is back from Italy, and has taught me how to post a comment. All of this means that I have FINALLY been able to get to your blog and photos. Yeah!
    Wow, have you been busy. It sounds like you are having the time of your life. I am so happy for you! T2

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  3. Carol Ann Ferris1 August 2009 at 22:31

    I have been trying to get my comment to post, to no avail. I hope this one works. I thoroughly enjoy each and every post. You are bringing back some wonderful memories of my visit to London.

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  4. Melissa and Ann2 August 2009 at 05:31

    Wow Jules! you have had so many adventures! Are you sure you are coming home!?

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