Lo London!

We arrived London on Xmas day 12/26/2015 and as expected it was wet and cold but not freezing cold, just mild cold. The main thing that bothered me in London (and the same with all European cities) was the cigarette smoking. People smoke at the entrance of buildings so that you certainly passively smoke with them each time you pass by a door. Apart from that, I really enjoyed London, especially the double-deck buses and the friendly people. I can say I saw all the major attractions, namely Big Ben (shown in the picture), Trafalgar square, Picadilly circus, Westminster London Eye, St. Paul's church, Tower of London, Buckingham palace, Hyde Park, Harrods, and the British museum. We climbed St. Paul's cathedral all the way to the top of the dome and saw all of London city from above, see the picture to the left.

The main modern building in London is the Shard building, which was built by a Qatari millionaire. Visiting Harrods was an exquisite experience. A ring sells for 1.2 M pounds, and a bracelet that goes with it sells for 10 M pounds! The London tower is another great attraction. The ancient wall of London lies near it and was built by the Romans around 100 A.D. The bridge opens at certain times to let ships pass under it which is a magnificent scene as you can see in the picture to the right.

The food in London is modest at best unless you eat at an Italian restaurant. Picadilly square is vibrant and live at night, especially we were there during new year eve. It is a circus, thus the name Picadilly circus. We spent three full days in London and stayed in Islington which was central to all the major attractions, and lied next to Angel station which allowed us to use public transportation to go anywhere in the city. Unfortunately there were floods in Wales and Scotland at that time so our trip was limited to London.