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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

Tories Our NHS

Bit of protesting on Embankment.

Occupy LSX 2

Another view of Occupy London. There were a lot more tents than I had expected and, unfortunately, the square wasn't smelling too great.

Occupy LSX

 

Finally made it to Occupy London a few days ago. Here you can see the Banksy installation in the form of a Monopoly board.

Poppy Appeal

Every year in the week or two leading up to Armistice Day--that's today, the anniversary of the end of World War I--the British Legion organize the 'Poppy Appeal'. Volunteers stand outside tube stops selling little paper poppies for donations of any size and proceeds go to helping veterans. Apparently this is also a thing in Canada, but not in the States. Perhaps that's because the poppy is symbolic of WWI, a conflict which doesn't loom quite so large in the American psyche.

Anyway, this is a shot of a video / slide show that is being projected on a building opposite St Pancras International Station. I bought a paper poppy from the nearby volunteers dressed in WWI uniforms.

ideally...

I think I will be pursuing that store / building fronts theme for a bit. Until then, I will post some of my leftovers. Here we see a sign from the Frieze Art Fair, now long gone, but an important date in the global contemporary art scene.

Memorial

My new job takes me to Westminster where I photographed this memorial to soldiers who died in the First World War. As if an afterthought, they've also etched in a bit at the bottom dedicating it to those who died in the Second World War as well.

I generally don't theme my photos to reflect anniversaries, holidays, or important dates, but this memorial made me think of the anniversary of 9/11 in a weird way and all the people in the world who have died as a result of human hatred. So there ya go, for whatever it's worth.

willsenkate prolonged

Remnants of that Great Even in April. These will no doubt be available in tourist shops for years to come.

beach volleyball

And the Olympic-related disruptions begin in full force!

RIP Amy

I live not far from the Hawley Arms where Amy Winehouse used to go. The bathrooms are full of messages to her. Excuse the unsightly flash.

London Riots

In light of recent events, I don't have a picture for you today. Instead, I'd like to share this video of a justifiably angry woman in Hackney telling off the idiots and looters burning up her neighborhood. If you have sensitive ears, there's a bit of swearing, but this woman tells it like it is.

Stay safe, Londoners. And if you are able to take some time off from your normal routine, follow @riotcleanup on Twitter and help your neighbors make our city a decent place again.