After a few days in the great city of London I’m inspired and impressed, and admittedly glad to be back home in more familiar surroundings. Everything is big in a big city, and London is huge. London is a city of great history, contrast, ambition and culture. Have a look:
We walked by foot and saw these great places among many more, showing in a few hours the diversity of London.
I’ll walk you briefly through the snapshots. Starting at the top left with the fascinating Barbican area, which was built after the Second World War in an area that was completely destroyed by bombs. The deep crater made a challenging building site and they tried to create an utopian self-supplied village where people could live, work, go to the theatre, eat, exercise, etc.
Top right is the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral as seen from the modern shopping mall next to it.
Bottom left there’s an old tower surrounded by newer buildings that has, believe it or not, been transformed into a dwelling for one unique little family. I would have loved to go house-crashing there to see their living arrangements, but we didn’t have time on our brief excursion.
In the middle is the shard of glass under construction which will become the tallest building in Northern Europe with 72 floors, 310 meters high, containing apartments (among other things) for the rich and famous. Our guide told us the rumour that Robert de Niro is buying a penthouse suite to be rejuvenated by the pyramidal forces.
To the right is a seven story apartment building which looks tiny, surrounded by The inside out building (with all the infrastructure on the outside),The Ghurkin and another office building.
Hi Nicone!
You’re right – everything in the city is huge including the crowds. I hope you had a great time in London. In as much as I love London, I can’t imagine living in the city – it would be just far too hectic for me. It’s great for visiting and sightseeing.
BTW the photos you took are fantastic.
Thank you ever so much, Funkkeejooce!
I had a wonderful time in London and I sure am going back there (soon, I hope – two of my girls really want me to take them on a trip there next summer), but I share your sentiments about not wanting to live there. To me Oslo is too big and the city in which I live is just the right size for me, with a population of about 175K (1/10 of London!).
Have a great weekend!
Nicone-thanks for the grand tour. I’m sure London is a marvelous city. I grew up in New York City and never really enjoyed living there. Just too big and crowded for someone looking to live the simple life. So much traffic, and everyone is in such a hurry. Plus, there was a terrible lack of nature. There wasn’t a single tree-spruce, oak or maple-on the street where I grew up-all brick and asphalt. I prefer a small town with easy access to secluded hills, streams and forests.
Thanks for the tour. It sounds like you had a marvelous time. The photos remind me how I uncomfortable feel when concrete structures taller than trees loom over me. I dislike big city living and choose to live where the population density is low. Visits to cities are always exciting but the exhaust from cars makes me ill within a 1/2 of arriving, and the lack of nature makes me feel totally out of place. I zip in to shop and zip out again as fast as I can.
It’s always wonderful to arrive home because what my property has is what nothingprofound lists above and more (hills, streams, creek, pond, forest and meadows). I can look out any window and aside from my fences I cannot see a single man made structure or human beings. What I see is gorgeous forested landscape, pastures, meadows, birds and wildlife. This is the environment I love. The urban jungles gave no hold on me at all.
You’re very welcome, NP. Yes, I prefer the small town too, and the simple life is the ultimate goal (still working on it). I do enjoy the occasional visit to a large city with great culture and architecture. In London they preserve some green lungs, which makes it so much more pleasant. I visited New York City in my youth and I remember it as a (beautiful) city of asphalt and sky-scrapers.
Hi TT!
I had a great time in London, but my neck hurts from looking up at all those tall buildings (occupational hazard, I guess).
It sounds like you live in a truly wonderful place!
I lived in London for a couple of years when I was in my twenties and really loved it at the time. Over the following 2 decades I have moved several times – each time to a smaller place.
I now live in a village with just 55 houses. So small we don’t have street or road names, just the name of the house and the village. I love it. Nearest house is half a mile away.
Saying that, I am only 50 miles from London so if I get a yearning for major museums, galleries, shows or shops, I can getb there in just over an hour..
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I can understand that, Juliana. It’s the best of two worlds…
Sounds like you’ve found your heaven on earth.