Tuesday, September 07, 2010

LONDON UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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When I came back from the English coast I stopped in London for the day before taking the Eurostar train back to Brussels.

First thing I noticed when I got out of the station was that London had become a big construction site ! Everywhere they were hammering, digging and working on buildings, and I saw cranes a little bit everywhere.

For cars, buses and pedestrians it became an acrobatic work to get through the streets and sidewalks. London prepares itself for the Olympic games in 2012 ! It will become a beauty !

Meanwhile the beauty gets its face lifiting

a little everywhere

except on Trafalgar square, where I missed the pigeons which had been chased away ! No pictures anymore with pigeons sitting on your head and 10 others on your arms and shoulders.

Downing street, where the prime minister lives, looked like a zoo, with all the tourists staring inside the grids (not cage), and when a red car came out everybody made necks like a girafe, to see who it was but it was only the plumber. Apparently they had some troubles with the water pipes.

The Thames and the London eye looked the same, although I saw a few cranes there too.

I had never seen this touching memorial with the inscription : "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" (Winston Churchill)

Big Ben still looked uncovered but not the buildings around it.

Niketown was still there

and the good old English pub too

The parcs looked green

and I regretted that I didn't have enough time to see Sister Act

I enjoyed Carnaby street and made a walk through the Liberty store, before I had to go back to St. Pancras station to take my train home.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to see Downing street for some reason. I've always heard of the Palladium. How cool to finally see a picture of it. The Thames I always thought would be blue and not as murky as it is. I ask you Madame Wikipedia what city isn't under construction now days. It seems like everywhere you go there is something going on. Great photos my friend :)

LadyFi said...

Ah, London in its full beauty. Even an old dame needs a bit of a face lift now and then...

BraCom (Bram) said...

Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos

Have a nice week,
Greetings, Bram

My Word Tuesday post

Seen on My World Tuesday

Marina said...

That's the next place I want to visit:London! Perhaps on Novembers or Christmas vacations.
By the way, how much did you pay for the train ticket? Should we drive there or take the train? I believe driving must be difficult in that country...

Sylvia K said...

What a terrific tour of London, Gattina! Your photos are marvelous! I'm really sorry that in all my travels in Europe I didn't get to London. Seeing your photos is the next best thing! Great looking city! Hope your week is going well. Enjoy!

Sylvia

Dianne said...

I love that everyone tried to get a look at the plumber LOL

beautiful photos
I love London

Melli said...

Wow! You had a LOT of great adventure on that trip! Gattina... when I grow up, I want to live down the street from you... and be your playmate!

Nessa said...

The different types of buildings and monuments is amazing. The generations are very marked.

Shey said...

Beautiful sights all over! London is on top of my "to-visit" list. I just hope I will get to visit it soon. I'm sure everyone is excited for the Olympics & preparing the city for it. :)

Loree said...

Oh no. No pigeons in Trafalgar Square? It won't be the same again :(

A Lady's Life said...

The streets are quite wonderful. But then they would be with so many years behind them.
Yup.......:)

Trotter said...

Hi Gattina! I’m back!! One week off, one week to deal with the mess created by the absence, a birthday almost no one noticed and a weekend to rest a little bit...

Those Games are going to be an event... But before there will be a nightmare for Londoners... ;)

Meanwhile Blogtrotter Two is enjoying a fabulous hotel: the Cala di Volpe in Costa Smeralda!! Enjoy, comment and have a great weekend!

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I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

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