A Few Odd Photos from London

Here's what you've been dying for all week, a few pictures from my walking around London for two days. I have tons and tons more, but they can get boring. I did wander away from the tourist hubs to get an idea of what the city is like for those who live there, as I did with most cities I went to. Usually I didn't take my iPhone when going out at night, so there aren't going to be any friendly faces, just touristy pulp. It's exciting to observe the oddities of a city from another culture. Each little one provides you with a new nugget of information with which to understand folks (or realize how much you don't).

Here's a strange barrier on the sidewalk outside of the Houses of Parliament. I guess this is to make sure cars don't hop on the sidewalk, and I'm glad they chose such a reasonable and predictable shape.



Some ferris wheel and some building.



A picturesque little street near the Thames on the south side.



Austin's is better.



A blurry carbon-fiber body BMW M3 in a showroom. It was so pretty.

A building on Victoria St. that might be worth visiting if you're into photography. Lots of angles and lines and colors and reflective glass.

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Located in Regents' Park, this is a sculpture honoring the puma, the famed mascot of Springfield Elementary School.



You can't see it well here, but as I was walking around Primrose Hill (a hill in London with open green fields at the top of which you catch an incredible skyline of the whole city) and about 30 horses ridden by officially-dressed men slowly trotted on by, much to the incredible disappointment of the folks in these cars, I'm sure. Also, it smelled.



And here's that view from Primrose Hill. This area (the same as the above picture) is steeped in money, since it's quiet and peaceful (right next to Regents' Park) yet close to the center of the city. Walk around and you'll see some beautiful cars (Aston Martins and whatnot) guarded behind gates.


Anyways, that's some of what I saw in London, clearly besides the typical sights. One of my favorite encounters was near Buckingham Palace. I was trying to get around the gargantuan abode to get to the train station, so I asked one of the policefolk guarding the area (and thus partly responsible for the safety of the queen). He was a very nice person, and, well, he embodied dry cynical British sarcasm.

"So how do I get to Victoria Station?" 

"Yeah it's the queen's birthday next week. Her official one, rather. She gets two, reasonably. So things are closed off for a practice run for her parade. She gets a parade, reasonably. I think we had a pretty big one a few weeks ago, but that's alright.  Anyways it's going to be a pain in the ass."

I say thanks and he points me in the right direction, and I start to walk off. Now, on this side of Buckingham Palace, there are two nearly identical paths to get out, a giant open walkway, and another smaller sidewalk running right next to it.

He says "Oh wait. Now this is going to sound stupid, because it is, but you can't walk along that open walkway, because clearly since nobody at all is using it, you shouldn't either because in six hours a fake parade is going to march down that way. If you walk there..." 

"You'll have to shoot me?" Now at this point, I immediately regret saying that, because it feels akin to yelling "BOMB" in an airport. But...

"Well, I think the queen herself will shoot you." 

Charming. I love you, London.