A Rainy Day in the City

Day 64

The beautiful street where I live. Well, this is Bayswater, which is the street I live off of. Along the right is Kensington Gardens. It's so pretty when it rains and then the sun comes out.I use to the Tube a lot here. I'm really going to miss it.
Today I went for a walk through "the City"--it's the part of London that used to be enclosed by the Roman walls, so it's the oldest part of London. It now forms the center of business and banking.

St. Mary le Bows. Famous for the "bows" (arches) in its architecture, and it's bells. Technically speaking, you couldn't be considered a true Cockney unless you were born within hearing of these bells.
John Smith, of Disney's Pocahontas fame, haha.
Unlike most "Ye Olde Shoppes" in America, Ye Olde Mitre is actually old. This gives you a sense for how narrow London streets used to be in an attempt to squeeze more shops in.

A Tudor style building in London

The Mansion House, home of the Lord Mayor for the past 250 years. Today was the Lord Mayor's paradeDecorations for the parade


Leftover paradersApparently today was the 300 year anniversary of St. Paul's, so they had a carnival going outside, and free admission inside.


I took the rare chance to take pictures inside the cathedral. It was pretty dark and packed, but you can still see how beautiful it is.
They're doing a presentation of Dick Whittington's Cat in honor of Whittington, who was four times the Lord Mayor of London.
That railing is part of the whispering gallery.

A small church designed by Christopher Wren. Many people think this dome was an early version of the one he used on St. Paul's.
Part of a Temple of Mithras dating back to Roman times that was unearthed in the inner city of London.
London's Royal Exchange.
The Royal Exchange has a cricket on top
The "Great Gherkin" is instantly recognizable in the London skyline ("Gherkin" means pickle).
Some unusual architecture.
In classic English fashion, this pub is called The Hung, Drawn, and Quartered.
The Monument. It was designed by Christopher Wren and commemorates the Great Fire.
Several things of note in this picture. First of all, it's taken in a tube station. Obviously, it's underground, so here you can see the escalators taking you up to the surface. Also, the sign, the red circle with a blue bar through it, is the symbol for the underground, and you'll see it with various words like the name of the station, "way out", or "Underground". Also, there are advertisements running up and down on each side. This tube station always makes me laugh, because the left side has the same ad all the way up, and it's the word "pain" exploding.
Dear Katie,
Men in London wear scarves. I would take more pictures of them, but that would be weird since I don't know them. I don't think he noticed.
Today was rather wet, so I did a photo essay for class on rain gear. I thought I'd include it, so you all could enjoy how London keeps dry :)


This is in the front hall of a church where a wedding was going on.