Acrobatic Performance

I was walking through St. James Park near Buckingham Palace when I saw the horses and riders above. I am not sure who they are guarding--the Queen is in Australia. Then I came upon an acrobatic performance sponsored by the Vienna Tourist Board on a vertical wall next to the statue of Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square shown in the video below. Trafalgar Square has really been cleaned up. When I was last here it was mostly a haven for pigeons. Apparently they banned feeding the pigeons. Now the square is more of an entertainment venue.

Kensington Museums

Today I visited three museums in Kensington: The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum of art and design . I thought Monday would be a quiet museum day, but it turned out to be a mid-term school holiday. So a lot of kids were there. I was impressed with the number of young people in the science museum. At the right is a model from the Science Museum of the Montgolfier Balloon which was used for the first human balloon flight in 1783. After visiting the museums, I walked through Hyde Park. One of the things which I love about London is the beautiful parks.

British Museum

Today I visited one of the finest museums in the world--the British Museum. Since I was there in 1979 they moved the British Library and Magna Carta to another location. They created Europe's largest covered courtyard at the center of the museum. The museum still houses the Rosetta Stone and many other artifacts, some of which are thousands of years old, from the early civilizations of Egypt, Rome, Greece, Iran and many others. To see these objects from the old world is why I travel to Europe.

Trafalgar Square and National Gallery

I spent Friday exploring Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square. I visited the National Gallery shown above. This is my first visit to London since 1979 and navigating the winding, angled streets which seem to change names every few blocks is coming back to me. I took a double decker bus sightseeing tour to refresh my memory. There is a lot of construction going on in preparation for the Summer Olympics next year. In 1979 when I went to the kiosk in Leicester Square to buy same day tickets for shows, they were 4 or 5 pounds. Today they are ten times that. I am exploring whether it is cheaper to buy at the kiosk or go to to the theaters directly.

London Arrival

I landed in London on Thursday afternoon. I only had to wait about 15 minutes in the passport line. I love being able to walk downstairs at Heathrow and get on the Underground. My hotel is 1 block from the Earl's Court Underground station. It is about 20 degrees cooler in London than Italy.

Bellagio and Lake Como

Wednesday we visited Bellagio and Lake Como. However, the weather was very foggy and overcast, so not a good day for photography or visibility in general. Wednesday evening we had the farewell dinner for the tour group. Thursday morning we get up early to go to the Milan airport and everyone goes their separate ways. I fly to London.

Venezia

I spent the day in a floating city relying mostly on boats for transportation. Above is the Grand Canal with the heaviest traffic. On the left one of the smaller canals from the Gondola perspective with one of the many bridges in the background.