Wednesday, December 23, 2009

ROUND AROUND LONDON

LONDON - DECEMBER 2008

The «pocket sun» was working and the weather was gorgeous for a winter day in London!!


"LONDON EYE"


"ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL"


"THE CITY OF LONDON"


"CHARING CROSS"


"CANARY WHARF"


"ST. JAMES PARK"


"THAMES"


"BARBICAN"


"DALI"


"BIG BEN"


"CAUTION - FILMING IN PROGRESS"


"CANOEING"


"WESTMINSTER PALACE"


"VICTORIA TOWER"


"BURGHERS OF CALAIS"


"BIG BEN AND LONDON EYE"


"NELSON MANDELA"


"WESTMINSTER ABBEY"


"LIVING BY THE WINDOW"


"EVENING SHOPPING"

58 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! Sun in London? In December? Something must be wrong… ;)
No, it’s just the consequence of my private «pocket sun»… It seems to work everywhere, even in the hardest conditions, probably with the exception of Iceland… in summer… ;))
Enjoy and have a great holiday season!!

SusuPetal said...

Gil, a Merry Christmas for you and the ones you love!
Helsinki has got heaps of snow!

BLOGitse said...

Now I miss London and it's your fault! :)

See you 'next year'!

Happy holidays!

Olivier said...

Les photos "vue d'en haut" sont magnifiques, de vrai cartes postales. Superbe.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Le rêve d'Icare nous poursuit avec tes superbes photos aériennes de Londres.
Joyeux Noël.

alicesg said...

We have a similar The Eye in Singapore and we called it The Singapore Flyer and till now I have not tried it out yet cause there are a lot of construction going around in that area. Will try out once all the construction are done to have a good view...lol. I am going for a short xmas break. (will be in corner of Singapore) Will continue blogging in 2010. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. :)

HalfCrazy said...

Ah, I missed your pictures!

London is just one of the best places in the world!

Probably the one I recognize the most is the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben! Never ceases to amaze me!

Stella Bella said...

enjoyed looking at them! :D really good!

Miss Kim said...

Hmmmm.... I see you have chinese comments too!!!!!

But regarding London... how lucky you were to have such BLUE skies!! Brilliant!

Mariposa said...

London looks beautiful. love your 3 posts on it. the museum looks so intriguing. and the sights are so captivating! Your pictures are really clear. good camera ;)

Have a wonderful christmas!
thank you for your comment on my oporto post :)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful scenes of London.

Happy holidays to you and your family!

Paz

Thérèse said...

London from up there: beautiful. I miss London... and thanks for posting Dali too...

Emery Roth said...

Lovely clear sharp images. I'm not sure who you paid off to get that clear sky, but I'm even more curious how you got so many shots from high angles over the city. What's your secret. Beautiful!

Alexander said...

haha... nice contrast. Love the photos. It's freezing this year though.

Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

hpy said...

If I go shopping downtown I won't have time to visit London!
Guess you had nice weather during your visit. The photos are so bright.

Cergie said...

La Grande Roue (très en sécurité dans les bulles ici) est un endroit idéal pour survoler la ville. J'avais photographié la Seine et un bateau mouche depuis celle de la Concorde, mais de nuit et sur un simple siège qui bascule. Elle est revenue d'ailleurs au bout du jardin des Tuileries.
Londres est une ville mythique pour le shoping... et les petits gâteaux, le thé au lait.

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Gil,

Lovely London and its shops (i Love shopping in London) and great beautiful towers , churches -wonderfull westminster Abbey- great parks -for concerts- and more is wonderfull in London!. The blue sky is looking pretty too:)

Wishing you a warm winter and maybe also a white Christmas? We have snow here, so a White Christmas teh!

Greetings JoAnn/Holland

Caroline in the City said...

Great pictures! I was in London this time last year for New Years and it was pretty crazy!

Thanks for the comment about my Amsterdam header.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I enjoyed the aerial view of Londaon, Gil! I can't wait to visit someday and see all of these sights myself.

Merry Christmas and a happy healthy 2010 to you an your family!

joo said...

How strange, both of us were pottering around London - wow, we might have even met somwhere!
Love your photos (as usually!!) especially the last one.
Let me wish you Merry Christmas, love, exciting travels and good health:)
Joo

Regina said...

Hello GMG. Those are gorgeous. Love the architectures!
Thank you for sharing.
Merry Christmas!
Cheers!

Regina said...

Hello GMG. Those are gorgeous. Love the architectures!
Thank you for sharing.
Merry Christmas!
Cheers!

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

Packing !

Oman said...

Fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving gifts are all the buzzwords in a Christmas setting. Make your Christmas a one to cherish for years!

b.c. said...

wonderful series!

Have a merry Christmas!

Ron said...

Fabulous pictures! Brings back many memories of my time in London.

Merry Christmas!

yyam said...

Oh...these pictures make me so want to visit London again! I love London except for the prices of things! :) I've yet to visit the famous restroom at Harrods...I can't imagine paying so much to visit a loo! Haha!

Have a wonderful X'mas!

magiceye said...

thank you for the lvely trip in the london eye!

Venksh said...

Hello Gil,
Wow London Eye is really amazing and gigantic very thankful for sharing pic n exp of London Eye.
have a great holiday season and Merry Christmas to u and to ur family.

kven,
http://kollywoodmoviereview.blogspot.com/

Gattina said...

You make me homesick with your wonderful pictures ! especially at Christmas time, because the nicest Christmases I spent in London when my son was living there !

diane b said...

fabulous pictures of London. You get a great viw from the eye. You had a nice day for photos.A little different there this week.

99 said...

Feliz Navidad querido amigo!

Ashira said...

I love the shopping center all lit up. A lot of buildings are lit up like that in Moscow too, especially now because of the holidays!

mhel said...

So, you spent last Christmas in London. Beautiful place.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas. :)

Galaxy6139 said...

wow, so nice... I haven't been there, hope in the future ^^ Very beautiful pictures you have

Merry Christmas and Happy New year

Neelima Vallangi said...

beautiful pictures of the London Landmarks! Loved the London eye, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey the most!

Rajesh said...

Amazing shots of city of London. I loved each one of the shots. It is not possible to choose any one of them as best. All are best.

Merry Christmas.

Shionge said...

No matter which part of the world you are now Gil, Merry Christmas to you and your family with a blessed year ahead :D

Nikon said...

Really fabulous photos, Gil - excellent shots.
Have a great holiday!!

rochambeau said...

Pristine and beautiful!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!

xox
Constance

juka14 said...

Hi Gil, a Merry Christmas!! The view on the city from the London Eye looks great. Hope to see it one day.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Look what I've missednot having been able to visit your blog for such a long time! To be honest, I missed the world view!

Impressive pictures, as always!

Theres a Charing Cross in Ooty too (my hometown), built by the British, during their times here!

Brilliant, as ever!

I've been away from my fellow bloggers and their blogs for a long time now and feel disconnected....! Feels good to be back!

Wishing you and folks a merry Christmas and a very happy new year!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous! Loved the airport scene. heading to
chicago for the New Year

Maria Verivaki said...

i love london!

Cutie said...

Great pictures... I love the video too... Thanks for sharing.. Merry Belated Christmas!!!

S-V-H said...

I'm your 46th commenter now, Gil...smile.... sorry for my longer absences recently. It has nothing to do with your wonderful blog, I have just some online projects going on and that occupies me very much.

London is still worth a trip for short or longer time, it's a magic city!

Your photography is great, Gil!!

Happy and for the most a peaceful new year to you and your loved ones!

Susanne

kyh said...

Great views of London! So beautiful... :)

And Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones! :)

Pietro Brosio said...

Hi Gil! Your "pocket sun" seems to work very well and is really useful during the travels! Great pictures and landscapes of London, I've been in almost all those beautiful places!
Happy new week!

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! You probably didn’t notice (except Lynn and Cutie, who were from all those who came later the only ones to see it...), but this post was edited on Christmas Day to show a flash mob at the Lisbon airport; an original way for the Portuguese airline and the Airport manager to wish a Merry Christmas to all passengers at the airport at that early hour (6:45 a.m.). Unfortunately I wasn’t there, which means that I’m stuck... ;) And you probably won’t notice that I’m writing this here, as I’m also becoming convinced that most of you don’t even notice that I reply to all your comments... ;) Meanwhile, as most of you were actually distracted, I moved the video to the next post... ;))
Anyhow, this is no time for jeremiads, so let’s forget all that and go swaggering ahead! ;) London seems to have had much more snow in 2009 than in 2008, so I was lucky to be there in 2008 rather than this year!
Christmas time has passed and now people are preparing for 2010! Hope is always that it will be better; hopefully!!! ;)

Susu,
I’m sure you had a great Christmas Day! We had a grey day here, rainy and cold (this meaning +7º centigrade...). But Saturday the sun returned to its usual glory and people headed to the Shopping Malls for the traditional promotion hunt before the official Sales start on the 28th... I stayed home, dreaming of Patagonia and reading the last Philip Roth, «The Humbling»... ;)
xoxo

BLOGitse,
Lucky girl; it seems you’re gone on vacation while the poor guys stay trapped in front of the computer... Good reason for you to be missing London or something else; I’m missing travelling... ;)

Olivier,
Il y avait une grande collection de photos prises du «London Eye»; j’en ai choisi quelques-unes et j’espère qu’elles soient les meilleurs… Ça vaut bien la peine de payer pour aller en haut… ;)

Daniel,
D’abord c’était Icare; après M. Sigmund de Vienne est venu avec toute une théorie sur le songe de voler… Mais vraiment, quelque soit l’explication, le rêve de voler reste toujours là… ;)

Alice SG,
It seems that there are always a lot of constructions going on in Singapore... But when they will end I don’t know if your view won’t be obstructed by the constructions... ;)
Lucky girl, able to make some Christmas breaks, even if it is in the corner of Singapore... I’m stuck!! ;))

Halfcrazy,
And I missed your comments!!
Now, less enthusiasm... there must be many «best» places in the world to make London one of them... ;)). OK, it depends of the concept of «best»... and I may concede that London is one of the most interesting cities around the world, which comes closer to your definition of «best»... ;)). Too confused? Just a Quarter Crazy ;))

Stella,
I’m glad that you liked seeing the pictures, being an expert in United Kingdom as you are...

Kim,
It seems they attacked immediately after I visited your blog; it must be the old Enver influence still running around the blogs posted from Albania... ;)). But as you see they were immediately gone into the most precious archive: rubbish bin... ;))
As for the blue skies believe me: I’ve a miraculous «pocket sun» that works everywhere, except in Iceland, in summer... ah, and it also seems to have problems in Ireland, in summer also... ;))

Paz,
Thanks! London in the sun has some marvellous spots to show; and I didn’t stroll through the parks this time...

Thérèse,
The London Eye at the beginning came to me as an odd invention, a bit out of time near the Houses of Parliament; but some years later it proved an interesting feature and providing some awesome views over the City!!
Dali is a must, wherever shown!!

Trotter said...

Part Two, to satisfy Blogger's restrictions...

Mariposa,
You’re becoming a real eco-blogger: one comment for three posts... ;)). Just kidding, it’s great to read you here...
The camera is a Canon G9; it seems they are already on the G11... My only problem with it is that the zoom is far from being interesting; it seems that the Lumix is better on that feature...
My pleasure to see you in Oporto. Lovely pictures! My daughter was also studying Spanish in Salamanca in <a href="http://blogtrotta.blogspot.com/search/label/Salamanca>January 2006</a>; both the train and bus connections to Lisbon were awful, but she was lucky enough to have a nice Dad to catch her once and then a nice car to make the return trips... ;)

Ted,
You know, I’ve a pocket sun that accompanies me when I travel; I charge it in Lisbon (not today, as it is raining...) and use it abroad... ;). It doesn’t work in Iceland and Ireland in summer, it seems... ;)
The high angles were taken from the London Eye; at a height of 135 metres, it’s the largest Ferris wheel in Europe. The largest in the World, for the time being, is the Singapore Flyer at 165 metres...

Alex,
What’s the contrast? You don’t have a pocket sun, that’s the point... Better move South... lol!!

Hélène,
That’s because you take too much time shopping. I make the same complaint here; it must be genetic... ;) Whenever I need to shop, I see first what I want, enter the shop, try, buy and get out... But I know people who go to the shop, try and try to find out what they need, if they need... No time to visit then... lol!!
Enjoy your visits... ;)

Lucie,
Cette Roue est bâtie dans la tradition de la Riesenrad à Vienne; préparée pour le froid et la pluie; je me demandais toujours comment on pouvait aller sur celle de la Concorde en plein hiver… ;)
Ah, le thé et les scones au Ritz ou, un peu moins cher, à l’«Orangery», juste à coté du Palais de Kensington et tout près du Mémorial Diana…. Tu as du bon goût… ;))

JoAnn,
I can imagine you shopping in London; it’s better to avoid bringing your credit card... ;)). But either you enjoy the blue sky or you get inside for hours shopping and shopping: you can’t eat the cake and have it... ;)
We had a wet Christmas; rather grey, but no snow...

Caroline,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment at Blogtrotter! From the many times in London, I believe that only once I was there for New Year at Trafalgar Square; rainy, grey and nothing special... Didn’t repeat! I’m glad you found it pretty crazy... ;)

Pat,
You have better start packing immediately to see it life! ;) New York-London is surely the most flown transatlantic route and probably one of the most flown in the world...

Joo,
So you were also strolling through London in early December 2008? Amazing... ;)). The last photo is a collage of four; not so succeeded; I’ve to ask Peter which programme is he using to get such magnificent collages as the ones he shows at Peter’s Paris!!
Exciting travels is a great wish, but hard to accomplish in my present conditions... :-(

Regina,
If you love the architectures, you surely had a great show here, displayed from the London Eye!! ;)

G@tto,
I wish I could say the same...Unfortunately from here you can only hear: «stuck»!! What a shame... ;)

Norman,
The only difficulty during these days is that you always eat too much, too cholesterol and too sugar... For the rest it’s perfectly OK! ;)) Hope you have had a great Christmas time!!

b.c.,
As for the series, this blog, modesty apart, has seen better... for Christmas, merry is ok!! ;)

Ron,
I’m glad to bring back your memories of London; it seems you had a great time there, so it makes sense to remember!!

Magic,
My pleasure to show London to you straight from the top of the London Eye, and moving… ;)

Trotter said...

Part Three! Blogger is getting more and more difficult; now it doesn’t take the traditional html links in the comment section; at least the long ones like the one I had for Mariposa about Salamanca... Awful temperament... ;)

Yvonne,
I wonder why everybody wants to get back to London; I see nobody dreaming of heading to Ouagadougou, no offence... ;); and the prices will surely be much lower... ;)). OK, Harrods has its charm and a dress code. It prohibits: «...ripped jeans, high cut Bermuda or beach shorts, swim wear, athletic singlets, cycling shorts, flip flops or thong sandals, dirty or unkempt clothing.» In addition, «any extremes of personal presentation are prohibited as are bare feet and exposed midriffs.» However, you may find some of these items for sale at, imagine… Harrods!! As for the restrooms, it seems that they no longer charge visitors to use the restroom facilities. They have had such a policy in the past, and they surely don’t encourage non-shoppers to use the restrooms… But you’ll be safe there… ;))

Kven,
The London Eye (135 m) was the World tallest Ferris wheel at time of construction (2000); now it’s the third after the Singapore Flyer (165m) and the Star of Nanchang (160m)…

Gattina,
Lucky girl to have your son living in London; better than that only if you had someone who would be living in New York… ;))

Diane,
There is a Ferris wheel in Melbourne, the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere: the Southern Star (120 m)... You know my «pocket sun» works; this year I didn’t go there... ;))

99,
¡Gracias querida! Me gusta mucho leerte por acá…

Ashira,
There are at least two department stores (not exactly shopping malls) on those four pictures: Selfridge’s and Marks and Spencer; the other two pictures were taken in Oxford Street and at Covent Garden!!
Will love to see those Moscow lights on your blog!!

Asian Traveller,
No dear. I was in London early December 2008; Christmas I spent in Lisbon, as always... Stuck! ;)

Galaxy,
I’m sure you’ll be getting to London rather sooner than later!! And I’m also sure you’ll enjoy it a lot...

Neelima,
Well I wouldn’t say landmarks; actually most of the pictures were taken from one of the landmarks: the London Eye... Westminster is surprising to me; actually, the first time I saw it (in 1973) it was almost completely black; and in <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8039/1360/1600/086-LONDRES-WESTMINSTER-MM.jpg>1980</a> it was still dark. I couldn’t imagine seeing it so white... ;)

Rajesh,
No need to chose any one of the pictures as best; you may enjoy all them at the same time, with same rank... ;)

Betty;
Lisbon, Portugal! That’s where I am... stuck!! ;)) Thanks for your good wishes; may the Hew Year bring some interesting trips... much needed here, that’s the least I can say... ;)

Paul,
Thanks! I’ve seen much better, but you all are very kind to make these look better than it actually is... ;)

Constance,
I’m glad you liked the pictures! These came out particularly well this time and the pocket sun contributed to give London a fabulous light for the photos!! Cristal clear, indeed!!
xoxo

Juka,
I wouldn’t say to you to get the Eurostar right now, as it could be intended as bad taste humour after what happened last week; but London isn’t that far away and there are a lot of connections; so, start packing!!

Rakesh,
I was also missing your comments here!! And we’re all glad that you’re connected again with your Blogger friends!!
It’s amazing that Ooty (must confess that knew not the town...) has a Charing Cross the Brits exported their icons everywhere... ;))

Lynn,
So, you’re the first after the edition and that Flash Mob is superb. I think that both Air Portugal and ANA, the airport management firm, had a great idea to greet the passengers... I wish I was there; departing... ;))

Maria,
That’s a very nice sentiment... No wonder, London is lovely indeed! ;))
Did you see the Flash Mob?

Trotter said...

Part Four (this time it was busy...;)):

Cutie,
You saw the video! That was an amazing show early in the morning and at a venue people wouldn’t think of; wasn’t it?

Sue,
You came late this time, but better late than never... ;))
I see that you have been busy with all the projects for 2010, always with some wonderful excellent pictures around!! Thanks anyhow for taking a minute to drop by here and leave a comment!!

Kyh,
Great day, ideal light and the chance to get up the ride on the London Eye at the perfect timing; that was the secret for what I got in December 2008 to post in December 2009... ;))

Pietro,
No doubt about it... ;))
I’m sure you made a meticulous visit of London!!

valeria said...

I am so impressed by your travelling! No doubt you are a globe trotter and your photos are perfect postcards. Thank you for sharing your immense archive with us and for the message you left on my blog.
Happy new year!
Valeria

GMG said...

Valeria,
Thanks for taking your time to come here and to comment for the first time at Blogtrotter! Loved your Verona blog and will be visiting it more often!

Light and Voices said...

Merry Christmas! Oh my gosh, your photographs make me wish I could go to London again.
Joyce, IL, USA

Trotter said...

Joyce,
Start packing... ;)

Ms.N said...

i cant say i am a fan of the london eye, but some of ur pics are great, especially the one of st.paul's cathedral!

Trotter said...

Ms.N,
It's hard to love that ferris wheel almost in front of the Houses of Parliament, but the views from up there are awesome!! ;)