champagne and police

The festivities began early yesterday with a 6 AM wake-up call and 8 AM mimosas. These rather appropriate balloons were for sale at an "Official Merchandise" stall in St. James's Park. The gold-crested gates lead towards Buckingham Palace and the Mall.

I particularly liked the police all dressed up in their Sunday best, white gloves and all.

willenkate

It's finally D-Day. Wills and Kate are gettin' hitched today! I hope they have these "Let Them Eat Cake" cupcakes at their reception. Wish me luck as I brave the throngs for a glimpse of something--anything!--this afternoon.

Kentish Town!

Phew! A quick break to catch our breath up in Kentish Town before heading back into the city for Royal Wedding madness.

NBC in Trafalgar

My countrymen over at NBC are taking over Trafalgar Square for their Royal Wedding coverage. I'm inclined to check it out for a glimpse of Brian Williams -- way more exciting than Wills and Kate.

For HRH and Miss Kate

I had never heard of The Lady magazine, but apparently they are gifting their building to the Royal Couple. I would've preferred a food processor or a stand mixer, but whatever.

Union Jacks on Regent

So, there's no getting away from it now. The Royal Wedding is on Friday and all of central London is decked out for the occasion. This is Regent Street, looking very patriotic. The next few shots will document what's going on in the city until the Great Day is upon us.

Sorry for those who are already sick of weddingspeak. I can't help it, especially since my visiting friend is taking me to all the tourist hot spots again, so these are the only photos I've been taking. Bear with me. It'll all be over soon.

Morris dancers

Morris dancers spotted in Soho on St. George's Day. They were collecting money for Help for Heroes, a veterans society.

Oh yeah, and happy Easter, for those of you celebrating.

St. George's Day

It's St. George's Day, celebrating the patron saint of England who slayed the dragon.

My personal hero, Mr. Ricky Gervais, had some interesting things to say on his blog about "that magical time of year when uptight liberals are afraid to celebrate for fear of seeming racist, and racists get angry because St George's Day isn't racist enough." It must be complicated being English. Not too easy being American, either, I guess.

The above photo was taken in Cambridge during the World Cup in 2006. England made it to the quarterfinals and the entire nation exploded in St. George Crosses...until the inevitable defeat.

The Shard Progresses

So, pretty much I'm obsessed with the Shard. I just see it everywhere these days and am consumed by its progress. But it occurred to me a few days ago that I don't actually know how much it has progressed since I first noticed it. I see it almost everyday and so the change has been gradual.

Snapped the top photo a few days ago and now I can compare it to the one below which I took in December.

Welcome home

This happy couple greets travellers arriving at St. Pancras International Station.

Week of Tea

A bit of shameless plugging today.

Over at the Geffrye Museum, UCL Master's students are developing an exhibition and accompanying resources for the Stories of the World Cultural Olympiad. A blog is also part of this project and my colleagues are in the midst of soliciting photographs of tea mugs for the exhibition's flickr page. Since I'm sure many of my faithful (?) followers are tea drinkers as well as photography enthusiasts, why not submit a picture of your favourite mug?

You can find the original call for photographs at this blog entry.

And if you happen to be based in London, do come down to the Geffrye to see the fruits of our labours when the exhibition opens in mid-May.

Oh, and the photograph is of an art deco tea set in the Geffrye's collections.

Shameless plug: done.

Destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666

You see these signs all over the City. Evidence of the tremendous damage done by the Great Fire.

Hay's Galleria

Hay's Galleria is a restored docks on the South Bank. Now occupied by the usual suspects of chain retail stores.

The Mudlark

mud·lark  /ˈmʌdˌlɑrk/
–noun
1. Chiefly British . a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide.
2. Chiefly British Informal . a street urchin.

recycle!

 

Recycling is awesome and colorful!

fishes on plates

Non-food items at Borough Market.

I'm writing a essay for one of my courses about Borough Market, so have been spending a lot of time there lately. I promise the Borough Market pictures will ease up as soon as I turn in my essay...

welcome to olympic city

Obviously, the Olympics are coming to London next summer and St. Pancras International Station recently unveiled these Olympic rings welcoming visitors to the city. I like this shot from the back so the gaudy colors aren't as visible and you can see the approaching trains.

The entire station is in the midst of refurbishment (also in anticipation of 2012), so it's looking particularly shiny and beautiful these days.

the ship

Now a real estate office.

Blows Yard

Dickensian backstreets by Borough Market.

brownie shard!

Arrived at Borough Market early enough on Saturday to see this impressive creation at the Flour Power City Bakery stall. They'd sold enough brownies by noon that it was unrecognizable.

But you can tell what it is, right? It's the Shard (that omnipresent, all-seeing eye as fellow blogger raskolniikov rightly described it)! You really can't escape it.

epic pub lunch

Spring has definitely arrived in London, and what better way to celebrate than an outdoor lunch? Here we see a pub lunch to end all pub lunches. The scampi were the best part.

Ritzy

Fancy a flick?

two for a quid

Art for sale on Brick Lane, c. 2006.

Gherkin meets Tower

The view from Tower Bridge -- one of the oldest and one of the newest buildings in the East End, side by side.

spot of sun

Some late afternoon light by Embankment.

wash your hands with eagles

I was fascinated by these branded soap dispensers at the Crystal Palace football ground.

Wham bam color!

These colo(u)rs bowled me over. Too bad it was closed when I went by -- I fancied a bit of recess. Also notice the rising Shard in the background, to the left...

Peeking

Peeking down a side street.

King & Queen

Bit o' signage in Fitzrovia.

camouflage

This month's Theme Day on City Daily Photo is "Edges." This photo clearly shows how the HMS Belfast has been painted to melt into its surroundings -- it's hard to tell where the ship ends and the city begins. In other words, their edges blend together. Ta da!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants