London

Finally visited London. It was only a day trip, but I still managed to visit most of the major landmarks.



St Paul's Cathedral



Big Ben



Buckingham Palace (rather bland-looking considering it's the queen's home - no match for Versailles)



Piccadilly Circus (not nearly as big as I imagined - it's no Times Square)



London Eye (tempting but not worth the money according to some sources)



Tower of London (Beheadings "R" Us)



Tower Bridge (which I had always thought to be London Bridge)



Trafalgar Square (that place with the big lions)



The Globe Theatre (not the original one built by Shakespeare - that one burned down)



Westminster Abbey (where William and Kate will have their lovely wedding)



Covent Garden (old marketplace turned into a shopping district)



The Gherkin (my favorite building since I saw it once on an issue of Architectural Record)


By the way, my definition of visited is "stopped for a second outside to take a picture." I actually didn't have time to go into any of them.

Lovely city, but extremely confusing. Its layout is a mess and the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road doesn't help at all.


Handy tip for the tourist: "Look Right" "Look Left"


Amazing city overall with tons of stuff to do.  Very different from Paris (and much bigger too).  I will definitely have to make another trip since one day isn't nearly enough to see everything.  Besides, I was sore for days after busting myself biking around the city all day.  But if you're crazy like me, you can still have a go at it: Frommer's One Day in London (note: 10 Downing Street is kind of a letdown since they don't let you get close and you can't really see anything from the gates).

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