London

 Chris on the famous zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios.
We expected a few people to be there but during the 1/2 hour or so we were there (wallowing in the atmosphere) the crowd ebbed and flowed.

The iconic Abbey Road Studio where the Beatles recorded much of their later work. The whole front fence is covered in signatures - not ours - of Beatles fans from around the world.

 This is it! The centre of the Beatles universe. (No idea whose signature that is).

 On our walk back to the hotel we passed many a street that seemed to be so typical of many we see on TV. Not sure of the architectural period but it's fairly popular throughout the area.

A walk through Hyde Park and Kensington gardens took us past Kensington Palace (home to the Young Royals as they are referred to), and around to the Albert memorial and Royal Albert Hall. We wondered why the reporters were outside Kensington Palace when Harry and Megan were in Australia? Cue the evening news and the story of Megan's pregnancy.
Our hotel was on the other side of Hyde Park off Bayswater Rd. so we had a decent walk that afternoon.

 Taking a "Walk on the Wild Side" at the Apollo in Bayswater, literally! The whole experience was a comedy of errors which would have done justice to a Monty Python skit - "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more!"

 

A walk around London isn't complete without a walk past Buckingham Palace.

 Here are some more iconic London landmarks.




The London Eye.


Below left - John on the Millenium Bridge with St Paul's Cathedral in the background.


Below right - The working replica of Shakespeare's Globe theatre.

Left - The Grapes pub - a downstairs bar with small Thames-side terrace and upstairs restaurant dating from 1583.

Right - Sir Christopher Wren's monument to the Great Fire of London. It represents a candle which was supposed to have started the fire, in a bakery in the area. It's commonly called The Monument and     is near the northern end of the London Bridge.

The Tower Bridge and The Girl With the Dolphin Fountain.

 Below right - The Tower of London with the Traitor's Gate at low tide.

Below left - The Shard, The Tower Bridge and The Gherkin.






















Greenwich is the home of 0 Degrees Longitude and the National Maritime Museum which houses a superb Captain Cook exhibition. He actually departed from nearby at Deptford, but nothing remains of the docks in that area, not even a plaque or monument. How disappointing is that?!


The Cutty Sark (below) is the last surviving British Tea Clipper.
The Museum has a collection of intricate figureheads from a number of ships (right).

 Worlds apart! Chris is in the Western hemisphere and I'm in the Eastern hemisphere. The Prime Meridian passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich leading to the term Greenwich Mean Time.


 Seen around London: Seals in the Thames; lots of familiar names from the Monopoly board; Downing Street (now barricaded off and guarded by police with machine guns).