The next picture has almost everything that I want to remember about London. It is taken from the steps of the British National Gallery, which is my favorite of the art museums that I've visited. For me, it was much better than even the Louvre. I took a CD tour that included a list of about 20 must-see pieces in the museum plus stories for every single painting in the Gallery. Unlike other museums that I've visited, the CD told not only the essential facts about the paintings, but more interesting points about what to look for in the paintings and sometimes details about the painters life at the time of the painting. Here are a couple of my favorites:
The Arnolfini Portrait
The Ambassadors
This photograph looks out to Trafalger square where, of course, it is raining, and includes the funny black-colored taxis and the double-decker buses, and Big Ben in the background:
The changing of the guards:
The small, white building on the lower, left of this picture is Shakespeare's Globe Theater that is supposed to be built in the same spot, of the same materials, and to the same design of the original. On the right, is the brand new Tate Modern Museum that is built in a converted power station.
In London, I also ate baked beans for breakfast, took a night-time walking tour over the trail of Jack the Ripper, rode the double-decker bus, and climbed the steps to the top of the giant St. Paul's Cathedral.