December 29, 2006

An American Tourist in London

My second day in London was significantly more hectic than the first. Sadly, none of my tiredness tonight is a result of public transportation, bums, or any other unsavory elements; I'm just tired from cramming in almost all of London in one day. Between visiting St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the British Museum, and the Parliment, I am surprised I am still capable of typing.

St. Paul's Cathedral

My second time at St. Paul's Cathedral (I first went in 2002) was not much different than the first. It was very much as I remembered it, and perhaps the only difference in perception was that it now seemed smaller, when compared to St. Peter's in Rome. I took the trip up to the Stone and Golden Galleries once again, though I had forgotten how crazy the climb is in the final stages (to get to the Golden Gallery). Already soaked from the Stone Gallery, I was a little afraid I would tumble to my death whilst climbing the creaky, winding, metal staircase, but as luck would have it, I was not meant to die at St. Paul's. The first time I went it was also raining and very windy; we'll see if my photos this time around are any different from the last time.

Tower Bridge

This was my first trip to Tower Bridge and I have to say that it was a pretty remarkable structure. Getting to know the history of the bridge, as well as the mechanism by which its middle sections are lifted to let large ships pass was fun, especially for the engineer in me.

Tower of London

Having been to the Tower of London once in 2002, today's trip was mostly focused on actually seeing the crown jewels, which I think we passed on the first time due to the long lines. This time the line was long as well, but deceptively so: the line was around the block, but only took about 10 minutes to pass through. Still, that was 10 minutes in the cold rain and biting wind. Was it worth it? I suppose. The big diamonds are kind of cool, if, you know, you're into that kind of stuff.

British Museum

By the time we made it to the British Museum, it was already nearly 3:30 PM and we still had not eaten. Unable to find food on our walk towards the Museum (we came from Russell Sq. Station), we went in, quickly grow tired, and only caught the highlights (and by highlights, I mean, Ancient China and India, the Rosetta Stone, and parts of Ancient Greece). That museum is so big though, it will likely take an entire lifetime to get through it. I just have to remember to look at other exhibits the next time I'm there.

Big Ben

Finally having had the foresight to bring a tripod with me, I was adamant on getting a picture of Big Ben at night. Though this morning's rain had somewhat dashed those hopes, by nightfall it was relatively clear and so we ventured out to Southbank to take some photos. I spent nearly an hour messing with the manual controls on my Nikon D70 and got some photos I liked, but nothing that was perfect; maybe it was that subpar zoom lens that I was using. I knew I should have bought that telephoto lens last year!

After Big Ben, we managed to crawl home and I'm typing this with my last bit of energy. Tomorrow's schedule includes Westminster Abbey, possibly the Imperial War Museum, and a train to Paris. Until next time!