Alana Bloom (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
patterns_bloom) wrote2017-09-20 03:19 pm
patterns_bloom) wrote2017-09-20 03:19 pm
Entry tags:
London
London is gigantic. Alana had passed through the city once before, when she was in college, but never had time to soak the place in. She can't help but compare the city to Paris. London's streets are mostly narrow, though some, like Fleet Street along the river, are larger. The city is cold, so Alana purchases a scarf with Starry Night sewn into it to match her black and purple Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress. She relegates the scarf to her purse when riding the underground, because that's broiling hot.
She starts her first day of four with the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace. She sleeps in, as she often does on this trip, so she doesn't get a good spot to see the soldiers in their red coats and hats, but enjoys the atmosphere anyway. She spends the time waiting for the Guard by sketching the Palace.
After the ceremony ends, she heads down the Mall towards Trafalgar Square, home to Nelson's Column. She pops by the National Gallery art museum, spending about two and a half hours there sketching some of the more prominent pieces.
Next is Whitehall, just outside Downing Street, before The Cenotaph. She rests for ten minutes outside the gate, trying to spot the Prime Minister, which she doesn't. Eating a late lunch at The English Pub, she puts her feet up to enjoy a scotch.
After returning to her hotel for an early night, she's told an anecdote about how the location is across from the apartment where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin--because he didn't want to wash the dishes.
The next few days pass in a blur. She visits the Tower with its ravens--and is amused by the corvids' keeper--and all of the royal grounds, sketching Fortnum and Mason and every statue she sees. She takes an open-top sightseeing bus to Tower Bridge and back, passing famous landmarks like Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, and the Horse Guards.
Alana enjoys London, just like she's enjoyed every city on this trip thus far, but she's starting to miss home.
She starts her first day of four with the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace. She sleeps in, as she often does on this trip, so she doesn't get a good spot to see the soldiers in their red coats and hats, but enjoys the atmosphere anyway. She spends the time waiting for the Guard by sketching the Palace.
After the ceremony ends, she heads down the Mall towards Trafalgar Square, home to Nelson's Column. She pops by the National Gallery art museum, spending about two and a half hours there sketching some of the more prominent pieces.
Next is Whitehall, just outside Downing Street, before The Cenotaph. She rests for ten minutes outside the gate, trying to spot the Prime Minister, which she doesn't. Eating a late lunch at The English Pub, she puts her feet up to enjoy a scotch.
After returning to her hotel for an early night, she's told an anecdote about how the location is across from the apartment where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin--because he didn't want to wash the dishes.
The next few days pass in a blur. She visits the Tower with its ravens--and is amused by the corvids' keeper--and all of the royal grounds, sketching Fortnum and Mason and every statue she sees. She takes an open-top sightseeing bus to Tower Bridge and back, passing famous landmarks like Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, and the Horse Guards.
Alana enjoys London, just like she's enjoyed every city on this trip thus far, but she's starting to miss home.