Wanker

A debate in Richmond. This was also featured in Shit London, lucky me.

Bank of England

Bank of England on a sunny autumn day.

Lloyds reflections

Reflections in the City of London.

Lloyds to Docklands

I showed the view West from the Lloyds Building two posts back. Here's the view East to Docklands. You can make out the Lloyds Building's distinctive outer fixings.

Lloyds of London

It seems my automatic posted didn't work! Apologies for prolonging the suspense. I spent Open House London at Lloyds of London, an amazing 1980s concrete structure that was just made a listed building. Here we see "The Room" where insurance brokers meet do their thing.

Open House: view to St Paul's

The wonderful Open House weekend lets the public visit hundreds of buildings not normally open to the public. I thought about waiting in a 4-hour queue to get inside the Gherkin, but the rain today put me off.

Saturday, however, was gorgeous and I visited two very cool, very famous buildings. This a view from the first. Anyone wanna guess what it is?

morning moon

Caught this nice view of a morning moon on my way to work last week. I couldn't take my eyes off it -- I try to really savor this clear, blue London days because I know they will be few and far between in a few weeks.

Sunset over Olympic Park

Setting sun and airplane trail in Olympic Park.

I managed to snag tickets to Paralympics Athletics on Friday. The atmosphere was incredible. We were in a tiny minority, waving our American flags, surrounding by a sea of British flags.

orbit, meet mcdonald's

Two symbols of London 2012. More from Olympic Park tomorrow.

Art?

I went to an "unofficial" public art exhibition in Finsbury Park this weekend. Artists had deposited works around the park without permission and then publicised the event on Facebook. I got there early, as was encouraged, so I could see the art before it was confiscated by park authorities. This is one of the pieces and, I confess, I don't get it. An Olympic flag thrown into the bushes where parkgoers normally chuck their rubbish? What can it meeeeaaaan?

Also, the park authorities must have Facebook because I saw them inspecting some of the artworks on my way out of the park, though they had left them in place as of this afternoon.

spray painter

This artist on the South Bank was making beautiful, intricate (and impressively small) pieces using spray paint, stencils and pieces of paper. When the weather is nice, artists like this man are all over London's streets.

Goodbye, Olympics!

All good things must come to an end and the London 2012 cars are all lined up to be taken away. Olympics withdrawal is in full swing. But, man, did London put on a show or WHAT?

rad covers

Totally bodacious radiator covers in Hackney.

Women's Marathon

I managed to see some of the women's Marathon yesterday as they ran a few laps around Museum of London. Quite exciting.

The frontrunners.

One of the American runners, pursued by cameras.

waiting for the athletes

Some Olympic events are taking place on the streets of London. I managed to see part of one of these events. Check back tomorrow to see which one.

London 2012

Perhaps you watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony last night? Well, the East End is not the only part of London getting a makeover. The whole city has been bathed in orange and pink hues. Here we see a make-shift bus stop at Russell Square used to transport journalists to the Games.

red estate agent's

I shot this building a while back when it was painted a bright pistachio green and housed a record store. Some of you commented that it was unusual to see an LP store surviving in this age of iTunes and iPods. Well, here we are four months later and the building is now bright red and home to an estate agent specializing in commercial property. Go figure.

Haggerston Baths

You may recall this photo I took a while back of the old Kentish Town Baths. This is Haggerston Baths, but it looks awfully similar. I wonder if the same person designed both?

Diamond Jubilee Flotilla: The Dregs

Despite the wonderful images you might have seen on TV, this was most Londoners' view of the Diamond Jubilee flotilla if they headed down to the river. I only got this shot by holding my camera above the heads of those in front of me. The flags were nice to see (especially the bright ones with the Queen all decked out in yellow).

See the shard disappearing into the mist in the distance?

colorful blobs

Hard at work on the disused railway path that is now the Parkland Walk in north London.

view from ally pally

Nothing like a sunny day and a view.

Ally Pally

Tremendous weather in London the last few days. All of London was taking advantage of it, including these folks at the People's Palace, Ally Pally.

hole in the city

Construction is a common sight in London. Much of it will be finished for the Olympics, though this giant hole in the middle of the financial district looks like it's got a while longer to go.

sunny sunday at mol

Nothing like a sunny Sunday at Museum of London to make you fall in love with the city all over again. (Because in all the rain and cloud we usually get, I sometimes forget how truly beautiful the city can be in the sun.)

Jubilee rising

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is coming up in a matter of weeks and the city is getting decked out. Most of the major tourist thoroughfares are covered in bunting or Union Jacks. Here we see how it's achieved in Covent Garden.

red barge

I like visiting the Docklands in the southeast every once in a while. It's so different from the rest of the city, it's almost like being on holiday.

foggy shard

See the Shard...?

And don't be fooled by this shot of Docklands. It's bright sunshine outside right now.

St Paul's YHA

One of my favourite things to do on the weekends is wander around the City, the central business district of London. It's mostly offices, plus some landmarks like St. Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England. Because it's a place where people tend to work rather than live, on the weekends it can get very quiet and peaceful, especially in the side streets.

Last weekend I ran across this stunning building right near St. Paul's. From the Latin inscription along the top, it looks like it might have had some function related to the Cathedral in the past. Now it's the local youth hostel!

gnomes welcome you

Noticed these funny little faces above the windows and doors of these houses in Archway. It went on for a block or so. They're a bit like little porcelain gnomes and they made me chuckle quietly to myself.

shard with a top!

I can see the Shard! And it's almost finished!

men (not) at work

Deserted work site. I love capturing this little still lifes throughout the city. It makes London somehow feel smaller or more personal.

muscly soviet man

Public art designed by the 'People's Artist of the USSR'.

reflections

Reflections!

hydrogen bus

Hydrogen bus! I couldn't help but think of the Hindenburg...

st dunstan part 3

St Dunstan from another angle. Always remember to look up.

st dunstan part 2

I've posted about St Dunstan in the East before, a bombed-out church that's been turned into a park. I imagine it's packed with office workers having their lunches during the week, but on the weekend it's a calm oasis in the middle of this metropolis.

riverfront

Riverfront in the sun. I live for days like this.

B&W

You'd be forgiven for thinking this was a black and white photo. Some intrepid charity shop employee packed this display with exclusively black and white merchandise. It certainly caught my eye.

springtime

Daffodils! Daffodils everywhere!

electric car

Look! It's plugged in!

Haze and Sun

On a sunny day like today, who can resist a meander in one of London's many parks. This was taken on a sunny but hazy day in Hampstead Heath. Can you see the outline of the far off London skyline? Usually, these buildings are much clearer.

green records

Funky record store in Bloomsbury.

molten earth

If you go to the Natural History Museum through the eastern entrance on Exhibition Road, you get to enter up this escalator that travels through the Earth's molten insides.

kensington snow

The last of the snow pictures for a bit. Here's Kensington Gardens in all its frosty glory. Kensington Palace, the Royal residence there, is closed for renovations but reopens in time for QEII's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

overground undersnow

When it snows in London, everything shuts down. No plows and only so many people who can get out with their shovels and salt. So the Overground rail services near my house were ineffective for a while.

snowy london

When it snows in London, the lights from this enormous city reflect off the white snow and the white clouds and the whole city glows golden.