Tower of London was already closing when I reached there; not that I planned to go in anyway. The place is often ranked as the must visit place in London ahead of other tourist spots, but I’m not interested with its attraction somehow.
The Tower Bridge in London, one of the world’s most iconic landmark and probably the world’s most famous mistaken identity in which many foreigners mistook it as the less-spectacular-but-historically-rich London Bridge.
The Clock Tower, famously known as Big Ben, is the name of the tower at Houses of Parliament in Westminster. The Chinese affectionately called it the Big Dumb Bell for its Chinese pronunciation pun.
Trafalgar Square, one of the world’s most famous squares, located in the heart of London. Unfortunately the place was under renovation during my 2005 visit; the fountains were not working, and the usual crowd hanging out somewhere else.
Piccadilly Circus, a famous road junction, popular hangout place, and iconic tourist spot in London.
Most tourists probably don’t know the name of the symbolic fountain though… it’s officially named the Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain, or Shaftesbury Memorial in short.
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 by theatres, shops, malls, hotels, restaurants, pubs and endless traffic. The neon signboards in the area are quite a scene at night; probably not as splendid as New York’s Time Square, but spectacular nonetheless.
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
Previous: St James Park, London, UK
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St James’s Park is the oldest of the Royal Parks in London, located just beside the Buckingham Palace. I’m in love with the park (and the connected Green Park) since my first visit in 2001; and Londoners seemed to be really fond of it too.
Scenery from the Blue Bridge
First destination during my UK trip in October 2005, the Buckingham Palace.
