my cold, cold vacation part 2: Londontown

Day 1!

I arrived in the afternoon, got settled, wandered around a bit and saw Waiting for Godot in the evening. An auspicious start :)

This is just outside my hostel - people spilling over the bridge from the TATE Modern on the opposite bank of the Thames.


St. Paul's Cathedral


Walking along the Victoria embankment - still not too far from my hostel.



Highlight of the Victoria & Albert fashion installment: Early 1930s beaded tulle evening gown by Jean Patou.


Low point of the Victoria & Albert fashion exhibit. Yes, that's Juicy Couture. I decided to leave.


The West End. On my way to Godot!


Secret Illegal footage from inside Haymarket Theatre.


Chinatown Feb 13th - Chinese New Year's Eve.



Thames at night. (My little camera was trying really hard to take good night photos...)




Day 2!

Guided tour of "the major sights" in the morning, followed by Soho and further wandering - ending with delicious curry from Brick Lane.

Whoever decided that this needed to be painted at every crosswalk probably saved my life:


B-ham Palace was, aside from the shiny, shiny gate and the tour guide's comical account of the "Michael Fagan incident," not as impressive as I thought it might be.


St. James's Palace had more character.


In the guard box - taking advantage of touristy photo-op.


Vancouver and Canada love from London.


Admiralty Arch.



Westminster Abbey.


Westminster was really stunning in person. Enormous and ornate beyond belief.


On to SoHo: Regent Street


The CAMPER store.


Saville Row: where British dandies park their Mini Coopers :)




Lloyd's insurance building also know as "the Inside-Out Building." According to a tour guide this takes the prize for London's most hated building (over The Gherkin! which apparently people have started to feel affection for...) Architect Richard Rogers also worked on the Centre Pompidou, Paris's most hated piece of architecture.


Night bunnies.



Day 3!

Portobello Road! A side trip motivated mainly by the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Portobello Road's modern incarnation did not disappoint - plenty of fabulous antiques shops, street markets, colourful storefronts and appartments, artsy cafes and adorable boutiques! Though I don't have any pictures from the rest of the day (my camera's battery finally bit it), I also met my friend Rom for lunch who gave me a quick tour of LSE campus and divided the rest of my day between the National Portrait Gellery and the TATE Modern.

The blue circle on the blue house tells us that this is the former residence of George Orwell.


Just try not to feel giddy walking down this street :)



Colour!



Too many reflective surfaces :P



So despite the cold, and going in without much in the way of a plan - I succeeded in having a great time in London. Loved it almost as much as New York. Londoners, you are a lucky, lucky people.