Maybe I’ve become more attuned to noticing them in the past few years or possibly they simply were not here in my previous New York City life, but I keep coming across pretty cool modern buildings in Midtown that I don’t recall seeing before our expatriate period. Such as this…
I lately find myself party to occasions where my friends – who share the same background with me and, like me, deeply loath socialism in its most manifestations – lament the approach of the end of the world as we know it on account of current administration’s proposed policies. From…
I recognized in the last couple of weeks that I very much enjoy walking the streets of New York City. Even such tourist-infested locations as Times Square.
Lack of inspiration and general preoccupation with other matters do not leave me much room for blogging these days. In lieu of any entertaining or enlightening material, here is a snapshot from my illustrations backlog. Combination of sunlight and ominous clouds always makes for a somewhat dramatic effect.
As I have been wandering around the neighborhood area to rack up steps on my pedometer, I frequently find myself on the paths of the Green Chain Walk, a loosely connected walking circuit in Southeast London that we first explored more than two years ago. Here is a stretch of…
From my little backlog of pictures taken with the expressed goal of eventually being published here on the blog, here is a view of the Canary Wharf financial district from the Grand Square of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Only 20 years ago, there were no skyscrapers in…
I am not very much inspired to write anything at the moment, so instead I am picking an item from my little backlog of random illustrations. This is not a particularly good picture, but I sort of like the feel of it. It was taken with my little pocketcam in…
This is one of the most-fashionable streets in St John’s Wood in Northwest London. I took a few pictures of it with my pocket-cam when we were last in the area, and then managed to stitch a couple of them in a serviceable wide-angle picture. And this is…
This could be a street in any number of American suburbs or smaller towns. Yes, the cars are parked somewhat in the opposite direction, but otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to place it. You’ll have to believe me when I say that it is a street in the quieter parts…
Continuing our walk along the Thames Path (which we started here), we can more closely see the fine buildings at the Blackfriars Bridge end of the Victoria Embankment on the north side of the river. The red one on the left is the “new” Sion College building (dating to 1886),…
The Thames Path along Southbank, from the London Eye (seen in the previous installment) to the London Bridge, is one of my favorite walking routes in Central London. At intervals, it gets very congested with tourists and other gawkers, but it is mostly tolerable. The views, though, are great. Here…
Westminster Bridge is always chock-full of tourists and you often need to step into the roadway to cross it. However, it offers brilliant views over the Thames, so after walking past the Big Ben, we made the requisite effort. Here is what the river looks like. And here…
Continuing with our walk around London sights (previous entry is here), we come to the Parliament Square. Despite the fact that it is one of the busiest traffic circles in central London, the actual square in the middle – obscured by the bus in the picture, unfortunately, – is a…
We have seen dozens of royal palaces around Europe, and the Buckingham Palace in London is one of the outwardly dullest of them, grey, blocky, and all. (The interior is quite impressive, though, if you ever manage to visit it during the two months in the summer that the palace…
Walking along The Mall (which we entered via Admiralty Arch) towards the Buckingham Palace, we leave the lovely St James Park on our left. Even in February, on a warm day, you’ll find people basking in the sun here. Imagine what it looks like on a balmy summer weekend (yes,…
One of the streets converging on Trafalgar Square (the previous entry in the series) is The Mall, which runs straight to the Queen Victoria Memorial and the Buckingham Palace. Access to The Mall from the square is through Admiralty Arch. Its name symbolizes solely the fact that it adjoins the…
On to more famous sights now (the previous entry in the series is here). Trafalgar Square, in my view, is the center of London, where every first-time visitor to the city eventually finds himself – and, potentially, lingers for a while. It can be insufferable during staged public events and…
The next installment of our virtual walk around London (the previous post in the series is here) has just one picture, of the corner of New Row and St Martin’s Lane in the West End Theater district. Seemingly nothing special here, but I find these kinds of streets irresistible. …
Continuing the tour started in this post, here are a few shots made in Bloomsbury, a fashionable residential area which is home to the British Museum, among other academic and historic sights. The focal point of the area is the pleasant Russell Square. The massive building towering over…
A couple of weeks ago, Natasha and I spent a gorgeous Saturday – the first truly great day of the year weather-wise – walking a visiting old friend around central London. Along the way, I snapped a couple of dozen pictures of London views, some famous sights and a few…