London - Day 5

In my desire to visit less touristy type of places, my 5th day was devoted to visiting places of more 'local' interest. First stop of the day was to tour the BBC in London.



Here's a view of the main courtyard. Hard to tell from this vantage point, but the entire BBC facility is designed as a question mark. And no, it wasn't built that way for Doctor Who.



But Doctor Who is the most notable show (especially for Americans) to come from the BBC. As we are about to head in for our tour, we were allowed quick photos with the Tardis.



Certain shows with celebrity guests have 'green rooms' where they wait before being called onto stage. This was a view of the green room at the London location.



Here is a view of the green room from the other side of the room.



Once the tour of the BBC was over, I spied a mall a block down. I'm a mall rat so I was anxious to check out the Westfield Mall. The mall is bigger than what it looks like here, this is just an open court area.



A view of a second level. Notice the VUE, it's essentially a cinema inside the mall.



I'm not generally one for eating inside malls but this time I had to. In the US I'm used to seeing McDonalds, Arby's and other fast food restaurants, but this was fancier. I probably paid a bit extra, but it was still cheaper than take-away.



In a way I'm glad I didn't rent a car. For the short time I was in London it was so much cheaper and more convenient to take the Underground. Here is one of the few stations where the Underground platform was outside.



Okay local UK'ers. Explanation please.



On my way home I passed the 'Queen's Market'. Try as hard as I might, I never did run in to the Queen shopping. We must have kept missing each other. As the theme of my day went, this certainly didn't look like it was being over-run with tourists. Still it was interesting to check out.



A long hard day of trying NOT to be a typical tourist, I finally arrived back home. This is one of the few shots I took of the Falcon Hotel. Some would call it and the rooms tiny. I called it quaint and I'd stay here again.

London - Day 3

My first stop of the third day was not a place many American's were likely to be, Lord's Cricket Ground. With little to no exposure to cricket in America, it's understandable. Still, it's a part of the UK I wanted to see.



While we were given the tour, we had the opportunity to see a few players warming up.



A better view of the cricket pitch (playing field). Though I'm certainly not a cricket expert, I did pick up a few ideas on how to play and some of the terminology. After the tour we were welcome to stay and watch the game for as long as we wanted.



I made my way back to the Thames for another afternoon of viewing the sights. I believe this is part of the Canary Wharf centre. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, I thought this building was spectacular.



Though I never made my way over to this in person, I felt a photograph of the O2 Millennium Dome was a must. Maybe next time I can catch a show here.



This was the shopping centre of Canary Wharf. I'm not sure if that's the technical name for it, so again feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.



One of my favourite pictures taken while in London. This is obviously the London Tower Bridge. Tours are also available here to learn a bit about the bridge, the construction and usage.



While taking the tour, I came across this sign. I got to wonder, imagine if this were the boasting in any of today's constructions.



Another fresh perspective of Tower Bridge. This time from beneath. You always see pictures from the top or the side, so I thought this was unique.



Can you get any more iconic than a photo of the Tower Bridge behind the City Hall building?



It was finally time for me to pay a visit to the London Eye. I promised myself a ride no matter what the cost was. Ultimately, I didn't feel it was too bad considering it was likely to be a one time thing.



The ride is nice and slow, giving anyone a chance to see almost all of London. You can hire out the cars for weddings and such. The joke is, the ceremony is performed on the way up. At the top you kiss, then it's all downhill from there.



Another picture of Big Ben, this time an aerial view. Only the London Eye would enable me to take such a picture.



Looking out towards the Thames river once more.



As I reached the top of the eye, I spotted this BBC New helicopter flying overhead. I decided to see how good a shot I could get. I'm actually happy with what I got.



Obviously, most of my shots in this segment are going to be aerial. This time it's the Aquarium. I never did find the time to pay a visit, though I can always visit the Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago if I ever get the urge to look at fish.



Do you see what I see?



Finally, the day was coming to a close. It began to rain and I caught this rainbow just as I was heading for the Underground and my way 'home' for the day.