The Clock Tower, famously known as Big Ben, is the name of the tower at Houses of Parliament in Westminster. The Chinese affectionately call it the Big Dumb Bell, as the pronunciation for BEN is identical to the word dumb in Chinese.
Trafalgar Square is just a few minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus. The square was under renovation when I was there; in normal days it should be pretty crowded.
I believe most tourists have heard of Piccadilly Circus, but I doubt many of them know the name of the iconic fountain located at the famous traffic intersection.
It’s officially named the Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain, or Shaftesbury Memorial.
The winged-nude statue on top has a name too… Angel of Christian Charity, popularly known as Eros after the mythical Greek God of Love.
Piccadilly Circus is a busy place; surrounded with theatres, shops, malls, hotels, restaurants, pubs and endless traffic. China Town is just a few blocks away as well.
The neon signboards at Piccadilly Circus are quite a scene at night; probably not as splendid as New York’s Time Square, but spectacular regardless.
When I visited London a few years earlier there were lots of pizzerias and Kebab stores around, but only a few of them remained in the area. I still managed to grab a pizza nearby, but disappointingly it wasn’t as good as it used to be.
London & UK travelogue
Next: Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column, London, UK
Previous: St James’s Park, London, UK
St James’s Park is the oldest of the Royal Parks in London, located just beside the Buckingham Palace. Photos from my 2005 trip; just passing by…
Sceneries from the Blue Bridge
First destination during my UK trip in October 2005, the Buckingham Palace.
Arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in early morning on October 5, 2005; taking a free ride from by brother who was working nearby.
KLIA was much busier than a few years ago; reminded me that I hadn’t been travelling overseas (except neighbouring Singapore) for almost five years… quite a long gap for a self-proclaimed travel enthusiast lol.
Plane departed at 11am; and after 11 hours of movies, sleep, food and toilet visits, the plane touched down safely at Heathrow Airport in London evening.