RSS FeedFrom the streets of London
Feb 18, 2012 England, London, Photo Essay
One of the many things which I like about London is the people. Walk down a street near a tourist attraction, you get to see people from all parts of the world. I had posted earlier few photos of people from the streets of London which I had taken during my stay in 2009. (Here). I was back again in London last August for a week. Below are few interesting people I captured during the visit –
A tourist completely lost in her thoughts near Trafalgar square
A busker near Millennium bridge
A mom and daughter having fun near Westminster
One of the most common sight on the streets – posing for the photographs
A lone protester – follower of Brian Haw at Parliament square
Yet another common sight, (mostly non-tourists) – waiting for the special someone.
Colors of London
Feb 8, 2012 England, London, Photo Essay, UK
One of the many things I missed during may six months stay in London two and half years ago was going on a ride on Thames river. When I visited again for a week in last August, I didn’t miss it this time. We took the ferry from Westminster to Greenwich, since we had plans to visit Greenwich museum. As the cruise sailed along the river we were in for a surprise. Along with all the historical buildings along, either side of the river were lined up with buildings with bright, vibrant colours and even some of them with weird combination of colours on the. Here are some of them –
Edged and taken
Jan 4, 2012 England, London, UK
Cricket to an Indian is what weather to a British – a conversation starter. If I’ve to be a bit superlative, I can say Cricket runs in most of the Indians’ blood. For a person like me who is one of those millions who follow cricket, visiting Lord’s cricket ground was a must. During my six months stay in London in 2009, I set out visiting places on weekends. At last when I roamed around in the Lord’s stadium, I was delighted. But at the same time, I was a bit disappointed to not to see Rahul ‘The Wall’ Dravid’s name on the honor board – who missed scoring a century by just five runs.
While it took fifteen years for Dravid to get a century at Lords, I was back again in Lords within 2 years – just to see Dravid’s name on the ‘Honor board’. But I chose a wrong day to visit the stadium – which was a match day and visitors are not allowed in the pavilion on match days. The match was between Berkshire and Hertfordshire counties.
Instead of getting to see the honor board, I had an opportunity to witness few deliveries from the commentary box. While there was a buzz in the commentary box taking in the beautiful view, it died down as the bowler started his stride for his delivery. The batsman tried chasing a wide one and edged it effortlessly. The ball flew between the wicket keeper and the first slip, amid the oohs and aahs coming out from everyone in the press box. The next delivery was a similar one to the first delivery and the batsman repeated the mistake again and edged it for the second time. This time the keeper was quick to react and pouched the ball. Watching a fall of wicket form the press box compensated with the missed chance to roaming around the pavilion.
Here is a view of the good old Lord’s pavilion from the stands.
Statues and the sea gulls
Sep 15, 2011 England, Scotland, UK
One of the common sights one gets to see in cities and towns of England and Scotland is statues. Statues of Kings & Queens, Dukes & Duchesses, royal family members, war heroes, prominent historical personalities, literary giants and many more. These statues blend into the surroundings so well as if they are integral part of the place. During my first visit to England, I failed to notice a statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel for almost two weeks. But at the same time some of the statue stand out and command ones attention towards them. The intricate details on the statues, be it a stone one or bronze attracts and makes anyone to ponder about the effort & time taken to bring out such a beauty.
When you are living in a city and you are to see the same statue almost everyday, the interest gradually goes down. But what makes these statues more interesting are the flying artists aka sea gulls (or pigeons if you are not staying in a coastal city). They sit on these statues day in and out to come with their own art. Be it head, shoulder or forehand. and when there is a heavy rain, everything gets washed out and there is a fresh canvas for the sea gulls. And the painting begins again. :)
