There are so many sights to see in London that you can get overwhelmed what to do next. We wanted to take a ride on the London Eye but the line was hours long. As much as we wanted to ride it, we weren't willing to stand in line so long. Instead, we spied boat tours to Greenwich at Westminster Pier and decided to take the trip. Our trip down the Thames to Greenwich was quite nice although a bit windy. The cruise takes you on a journey through London, passing through Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf and London's Docklands, finally arriving at Greenwich, from where time all around the world is measured. After spending a few hours in Greenwich, we headed back to London. Unfortunately, the weather worsened and we started the return trip though a constant rain. As we came around a bend in the river, we came upon this scene of the famous Gherkin Building and I was able to get a decent shot of it.
Tribute in Bronze
Walking around the cities in Europe often serves as an informal history lesson. There are monuments that everyone recognizes and then there are others that commemorative some special time or event that may be less known. I came upon this monument on a street in London opposite the London Eye. It is an amazing tribute to the men and women who fought in the Battle of Britian which, in essence, saved England from being overrun by the Nazis. Not only was England ill-equipped for the battle (4,000 planes vs. 1,660 planes for the Allies), but their pilots were inexperienced and not well trained. It was through their sacrifices and efforts that England won the 3-month battle for air superiority over England. The victory led to Winston Churchill's famous quote, " Never was so much owed by so many to so few." Unveiled in 2005, the monument is a granite structure that has bronze panels that depict various aspects of the battle in the air and on the ground. While the sculpture contains a number of scenes, the most amazing one is this section that shows a group of pilots scrambling off to their planes. I was quite taken with the textures and details of this monument and think it pays great tribute to the airmen.
Giant Spoke
I thought I would give you another uncommon image of a very famous icon. When looking at this subject, I was trying to figure out how to capture it in a way that showcased the size of this popular attraction in a way that was different from the thousands of other photographs of it. The spindle in this photo is approximately 225 feet in the air. The cables include 16 rim rotation cables and 64 spoke cables, which are similar to bicycle spokes, holding the rim tight to the central spindle. Did you guess what it is? No, it's not a big bicycle spoke in the sky but rather London's very famous tourist attraction, the London Eye. Have a great weekend everyone