I am having a very good and productive time in London so far, and I've officially extended my stay here to a total of 12 days. It is very nice not to have to pack up and lug my suitcase on a train for such a long time, and to have an opportunity to explore London in greater depth than I ever have before. But there is so much to see and photograph here, plus there are several day trips to other places I need to do, that I'm sure even that won't seem like enough!
In other news, I've caught my first cold of the trip, most likely due to the air I shared with hundreds of people during my crowded journey to London. It's not a horrible one, but today has been the worst of it - I slept until after 11am and still felt exhausted throughout the day. But the weather was good, so I managed to accomplish some sights in my neighborhood of Southwark, plus a night photography session at St. Paul's.
The weather has been quite consistently good the last couple of days; windy but with minimal rain and lots of sunshine. So I have been very busy running around the city, as predicted - walking until my feet feel like they're going to fall off then collapsing at night! This weekend is supposed to be less nice, so I'll probably shift my focus to interiors and hopefully take it a little slower.
Anyway, here are a few highlights from my first few days in London, pretty much randomly selected. This is only a small percentage of the things I'd like to share, but I have to go to sleep and try to get better! More will follow.
The Tower of London
The Tower of London is a castle complex that dates back to Norman times (11th century), with various buildings added and restored later. I didn't go inside yet, but walked around the entire perimeter while the light was nice. The Tower Bridge, named for its location by the Tower, is much newer (1894).
Once the sky started to cloud over, I grabbed a New York Pastrami sandwich and ate outside with a nice view of the Tower of London. It started raining within a minute of this photo, but hey, I'm from the Pacific Northwest. So I just tucked my camera safely inside my jacket, put my hood up, and enjoyed my lunch.
More Millennium Bridge
You'll be seeing a lot of this bridge, because (1) I like it, and (2) I use it pretty much daily, so I take a lot of pictures!
Tonight's Twilight Photos
Tonight I spent the magic twilight hour at St. Paul's Cathedral, which is just across the bridge so was a convenient choice for a tired and sick photographer. It is surrounded by very heavy traffic, which means fun with light trails!
One nice thing about twilight photography is that it gives me time to stand still and just soak up the atmosphere and watch the city go by. Most of my night exposures take at least 20 seconds, so I do a lot of standing around and waiting. That takes patience, but is also a good change from running around like I usually do.
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