~~~
~~~
London, Page 2
Click on the pictures to enlarge
This is even worse than overpriced attractions that close early: I almost got stuck in London. The perpetually slow underground and Heathrow "Express" got me to Heathrow exactly 40 minutes before departure, the moment the gates close. Having thus arrived "late," I had to run through the airport and beg and plead with five British Airways agents to board me onto the flight to Muscat or I would have been stuck in London another day or two at least. Fortunately BA seems to have cool gate agents (unlike the witch of a gate agent I encountered in New Zealand with Qantas) and they got me aboard the flight.
 |
The Marriott County Hall London occupies London's old municipal office building along with an art museum, the aquarium, and a McDonald's. The 1920s-vintage building gradually fell into disrepair, and when London government decided to refurbish it in the mid-90s, Marriott made an offer that couldn't be refused. Many Londoners were quite upset that the building, across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament, fell into private hands. The Dali exhibit in the lower level was quite impressive... I've never known anyone with a drawer fetish! |
 |
Nighttime is pretty much the only time one can get an uninterrupted shot of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament since there are so many tourists on the sidewalks at other times. |
 |
Shakespeare's The Globe theatre has been magnificently restored along the Thames. |
 |
Cannon overlook the Thames at the Tower of London in front of the Tower Bridge. |
 |
I think that the object in the foreground at center is an unexploded water mine... it goes along with the cannon. |
 |
Dead Man's Hole, under the Tower Bridge, is the site where executed courpses were pulled from the Thames after being ceremoniously dumped in at the Tower of London. One of London's more interesting sites, it's free and open 24 hours. |
 |
The view from the Tower Bridge over the Thames. |
 |
This low ceiling can be found in the boiler room at the Tower Bridge, where water is heated to steam, stored condensed, and released as a counterbalance to draw the bridge open. |
 |
London Bridge City I once went into a rant at this point about London calling itself "Bridge City" until a Brit (who agreed with my negative assessment of London), wrote that the sign should read "London Bridge, City," with City referring to the City of London neighborhood. |
>> Next Page: Muscat, Sultanate of Oman >> |
|