London in January: Day 4 part 2

Houses of Parliament

Taken from the park.

From this angle, the Houses of Parliament almost look like an American Ivy League university. Even the people waking around seem to be dressed rather like students.

The HOPs as a whole are not nearly as attractive as Westminster Abbey, but certain parts of the structure are very nice indeed. I like this section of it, which has wonderful long lines but isn't nearly as cluttered and fussy as the architecture at the other end of the complex (see pic below).

Houses of Parliament Again!

This part of the structure is rather ungainly and not nearly as elegant as the towers that we normally see in postcards or on TV.

Up close, it is at once breath-taking and puzzling. All that size and scale, and yet, could they not have made it just that little bit prettier?

View of Westminster Bridge and the London Eye from North Bank of the Thames

They are building one in Singapore, and there's one in Malaysia now, but this is the original Eye. Kind of like an extremely large ferris wheel.

I had forgotten that the London Eye is in fact really tall, as can be seen from the scale in the photograph. Of course, London is not a particularly sky-scraping city, and the areas around the Thames are generally quite low built. Still, look at how it dwarves the County Hall building behind it.

Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the Thames from the Southbank

I made my way across the Thames, fighting crowds, kids and vendors. Lots of people selling sausages on sticks, for some reason. I know sausages are the quintessential British breakfast food, but the "on a stick" concept seemed very non-British to me.

Westminster Abbey can actually be seen between Big Ben and the HOPs. Just a glimpse and very blink and miss, but it is there.

You think I have a HOPs fetish?

Taken from Jubilee Bridge

I liked the way the sun reflected off the surface of the Thames, but these were very difficult photos to snap with a lower end digital camera with few customisable options. I did my best with by adjusting the brightness levels. In the end, I was quite pleased with the way these turned out.

I had put away my camera and was over the half-way point of Jubilee Bridge, heading back to the North Bank. Then I saw that dark bit of cloud moving towards the sun. It was an opportunity to take a photograph without the sun shining straight into the camera lens! I whipped out my camera, and almost lost the camera casing in the process. The wind was picking up and I was revisited by the fear of losing my glasses again. By the time I had gotten the camera casing safely into my pocket and positioned my glasses firmly on my nose, the cloud had almost passed the sun entirely. I still had to readjust the brightness control and switch the camera setting to low light. Not at all plain sailing but I managed to get that third shot in what I term the 'Thames Silhouette' collection.

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

Taken while leaning against a traffic light pole at Charing Cross junction.
Buses kept getting in the way!

For a Sunday, there were so many people up and about in the centre of the City. I don't know why, but I had expected it to be quieter, rather like what I had seen in Edinburgh and Paris. Then again, Trafalgar Square seems to be quite the hang-out joint - there were people just sitting around, waiting for other people or talking on their mobile phones. And then there were the pigeons .... they were all over the place!

One of the Lions at the foot of Nelson's column

Actually, as monuments and sculptures go, these lions are something of a monstrosity. But I dutifully took a photograph, and managed to photograph someone else taking a photograph. The place was milling with people posing for pictures and people taking pictures. But there also seemed to be a fair few "natives", unhampered by cameras and just seemingly walking about and enjoying the sunshine.

As a point of interest, the brown building in the background is Malaysia House. I must say, they got themselves some pretty prime piece of real estate! There was a huge Visit Malaysia banner at the entrance of the building - obscured here by the lion.

Trafalgar Square with National Gallery in Background

Negotiating my way across Trafalgar Square was an exercise in pigeon dodging. I have a deathly phobia for birds, which did not help matters. It took me a full five minutes to cover a distance that would normally take no more than two minutes, had there been no birds in the way, hell bent on flying up and swooping low within inches of my head! I almost bailed, but I was determined to get to the National Gallery, to revisit a few old favourites.

After my near-death experience with the pigeons of Trafalgar, I spent a very pleasant 2 hours in the National Gallery. I could not find the famous Leonardo cartoon/sketch of the Madonna and the child, as the space was cordoned off. Perhaps the work was undergoing restoration. That was a disappointment as I had hoped to see it again after the hoopla of the Da Vinci Code movie and book.

I did get to see the works of the more "modern" artists, and in a new and improved space. They had moved the Van Gogh and Impressionists collection to a special space in the basement, with a theatrette outside screening short documentaries on the lives and works of Munch, Monet, Manet and others. These were fascinating; I watched 3 of the reels but could not stay for more.