London, England

---

London! My second trip to the city of London, but this time I was not bound by the will of a travel group. Two and a half days to roam free where I pleased. Here are some pictures and reviews of the places I did encounter:

Hard to visit London without seeing the bridge. I walked across the bridge itself, and for 12 pounds you could go atop on a tour. Not wanting to spend too much I elected not to take the tour. On one side of the Thames River after London Bridge is City Hall. If you go there on a weekend, as I did, you are allowed to go to the top of City Hall for free. From there you get a great view of the bridge, as well as a good view of London's skyline.

The British Parliment is located very near the London Eye, and if you have the time and the money you should go for a ride in the Eye. It will give you a fantastic view of the city. There is a great park nearby there as well, where buskers preform during the summer.

There are many bridges, some for pedistrians only, which cross the River Thames. Some of the designs are quite interesting, if you're into civil engineering. I'm not, but I still had a good time walking about.

I cannot stress enough how imperative it is to pick up an Underground pass. They are cheap, and will get you anywhere you want to go, fast and effeciently.

Being an animal lover I stopped by the London Zoo. There was a lot to see, and you could get fairly close to the animals. My only complaint was that there were a LOT of school tours about, and the kids were running around screaming a lot. It made enclosed places unenjoyable, such as the aquarium display, and in some cases the animals would be too frightened to come out of hiding. I went in the morning, if you intend to go I may suggest an afternoon visit.

---

Photos

London Bridge
A view of London Bridge with HMS Belfast in front. The Belfast is a WWII vessel which offers tours.

London Bridge
Is not falling down...

City Hall
The unique design of City Hall easily caught my eye.

Winding Staircase
Staircase within City Hall.

Globe Theater
Shakesphere's Globe Theater.

Tate Modern
This musem of modern art has huge murial images on the side of the building...this being my favorite.

Mellineum Bridge
A pedistrian-only footbridge across the Thames.

Big Ben
Big Ben is co-located with British Parliment.

The Dali
There was a temporary Salvador Dali exibit outside the London Eye when I visited.

The Eye
London Eye

Eye on London
View of the London Eye with Parliment not far away

Trafalgar Square
A picture taken in the square of Trafalgar.

City
Another picture taken from Trafalgar Square.

Eros
The statue of Eros which rests in Piccadilly Circus.

Piccadilly Circus
As the title suggests...

Underground Art
There are many expmples of talented artists amid the city...just walk into a random tunnel and you could see displays like this.

London Zoo
Large reptile display at the zoo.

Strange birds
There is a walk-in birdcage at the zoo...watch out!

African Animals
There is a section of the zoo dedicated to Africa...if you catch a Giraffe feeding time they will walk right up to you.

Penguins
Penguins are always a hit. There are multiple feeding times in a day.

Gorilla Warfare
Gorilla Kingdom is about as close as I want to get to these lads.