London Calling

This week, I (Jackie) have been going through the photos from our Summer 2006 visit to London as part of an overall "digital reorganization project." It has been interesting to see what captured my attention during that trip and to reflect on the experience (as well as see how bad some of the photos turned out; my camera at the time was much slower and heavier than the one I have now. Thank you, Mom + Dad for my Coolpix). Although the primary purpose of the trip was for Will to visit Cambridge and decide whether or not it was for him, we spent the majority of our time in London sightseeing. Neither of us had been to London (or the UK) before, so from the start it promised to be an exciting visit (in fact, for one of us -whom shall remain nameless- this trip was the fulfillment of a childhood desire born out of the particularly painful experience of being left at home in [West] Germany one weekend to play Barbies and GI Joes while her parents and infant brother traveled to London without her*). Here are a few photos from Summer 2006.


Thanks to some fantastic planning by Will's stepmom, our hotel was in a very nice part of central London. This was evident by the plethora of Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, Aston Martins, and Bentleys we saw parked on the street. Will, needless to say, was in car-watching heaven. 10% of the photos taken during our trip were of cars. For serious.


£15 is a bit pricey for a ride on a glorified ferris wheel. Even if the ferris wheel was used in a BBMak video. Nonetheless, I like the character that the London Eye adds to the city's skyline. And yes, I am somewhat proud of this semi-decent picture.


Piccadilly Circus with the statue of Eros. At the time, there was a Virgin Megastore near the conglomo screens that Will insisted we had to visit because it was "one of the last Virgin Megastores on the planet." I think it's gone now. Queen Elizabeth's grocer, Fortnum + Mason, is a little ways down the street. Definitely a store worth visiting for lovely, unique food souvenirs and/or pretending you live during the Victorian era...


The Tower of London. Well, one of the Tower's towers anyway. Once a palace, fortress, and prison, today the Tower is famous for being the keeper of the crown jewels and other assorted gems. It's also known for being home to disgustingly huge ravens.


Will hanging out with Pericles at the British Museum. The BM was/is quite possibly our favorite London museum. It houses the Rosette Stone, Myron's Discus Thrower, and several other antiquities we recognized from our school textbooks. One of the great things about museums in London (aside from the fact that the British Empire conquered half the globe and stole many fantastic things from other civilizations), is that admission to most is free (unlike, say, in Paris).


Patisserie Valerie (Pat Val for short) is a London café/bakery chain that sells incredible ice cream sundaes. I think we visited the one in Sloane Square twice in 5 days (we shared!). This was our last day in London celebratory sundae (before heading out to Cambridge).

*The following is a paraphrase of conversation that Jackie often had with her parents growing up. It was usually prompted by watching home movies/slides or looking through photo albums:
Jackie: Mooooooom, Daaaaaad, why didn't I get to go to London, England? Why did you take Little George?
Parents: We couldn't leave your brother, sweetie, he was only a baby. Besides, we could carry him on our backs. You were too big to be carried, but too small to walk so much.
Jackie: But Mooooooom, Daaaaaad, I wanna go to Loooooondooooon.
Parents: Well, when you're grown up you can go. Find a rich husband and he can take you.

And now I'm stuck here...