London, England was made possible by our friend Sophie and her fabulous aunt Jane. They graciously welcomed us into their home so that we could get to know their fine city a bit better. We hadn't seen Sophie since our salt flats trip in Bolivia and we were excited to catch up in her native environment. They live in a borough of London called Brixton. The southern neighborhood is the seat of London's Afro Caribbean population and we had a great time people watching in the markets and on the busy streets.
Sophie took us on a walking tour of Parliament and Big Ben. We had a great time wandering through the streets of London without having to read a map every few blocks.
We did have to routinely remind ourselves that traffic comes from the LEFT. Za stepped out in front of several cars the first few days thinking the road was clear of traffic.
The London Eye is a huge Ferris wheel in the center of town.
Big Ben was looking rather handsome in the later afternoon sun.
We loved looking at all the lions scattered around town, especially the lions at Trafalgar Square. Sightseeing can be quite drianing so Sophie took us to eat a traditional fish and chips dinner. Josh liked the mushy peas best.
Sophie and Jane were fabulous hosts! We really couldn't have seen London without them!
We took a day trip to the Greenwich Royal Observatory to see the 0'0'0 meridian line. Although we became quite lost on several parts of the day, we had a great time!
The London Underground is pretty straightforward. We know now why they call the subway the Tube: it's very narrow compared to other subways. The network itself is huge!
We enjoyed this sculpture during one of our lost wanders.
We took a canal ride and saw many sights from the Thames River. This is not the London Bridge , but we thought it was much more impressive.
We finally arrived at the Meridian Line!
Josh stood on the line while waiting in line for a photo.
A geography nut's dream!
Our last day in London was spent at the Notting Hill Carnival. Apparently the largest street party next to Rio's carnival, there were wall to wall people covering the city. Sophie and her friend Ben wandered with us throughout the day.
On almost every corner, there was a sound system blasting reggae music.
This was our favorite Rasta man. What a great carnival!
On to Dublin to apply for our Indian visas and to visit our favorite musicians in this part of the world...
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4 comments:
Check out my Facebook profile pic. The sculpture in my pic has to be by the same artist as the one in your London pic. The artist is Anthony Gormley, and the sculpture in my pic is called "Quantum Cloud XX (tornado)". He is a British sculptor. The steel bars in both sculptures are exactly the same. Strange coincidence that we have pics by the same artist.
http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/object.aspx?ObjectID=968
http://www.antonygormley.com/
It's been great reading about your experiences (and living a little vicariously through you guys!) Can't wait until we get to see you again.
Love you guys,
Danna and Matt
Cheers from the city of peace in Bolivia...
Paul :)
hey you love birds! I'm loving every post from you two! I can hear the laughter from around the world...and it was just yesterday you were sitting in my living room before the big EMBARK! I've returned from my big Burning Man adventure which you should put on your 'to-do' list for the next years. Now I'm beginning the romantic world of freelance aka unemployment. Much love to you always and can't wait to see you again.
Sarah
ps. Zeta and Lauren say hi as well.
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