London, Looking Up

My first visit to London proper was for one full day in 2007 so I had to choose carefully. I made a visit to Covent Garden (which captured my heart), explored the Tower Bridge from top to bottom (see Mixed Blessings post), and took one of the open top bus rides all around London.

Three wonderful things came from that first bus ride. Firstly, I got an overview of London's layout which has stood me in good stead. Secondly, all those unexplored brilliant bits have kept me coming back whenever possible. Thirdly, and probably least important, I discovered the upper level details of London's buildings. Sitting on the top of that double decker bus one comes face to face with the amazing ornament that decorates London first floor exteriors (that would be our second floor), and from there one can hardly avoid looking further up. Instead of seeing the whole building, as you tend to do from street level, you see the lovely little bits that Victorian and Georgian architects stuck on every possible space.

The amount of stone work in central London is mind-boggling, it must have kept hundreds,
if not thousands, of stonemasons busy for years.


And so you get in the habit of looking up, which can yield great rewards - not just carvings, but windows, brick work, and tile work.

The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

Near Covent Garden.

On the Strand.

The photos above were all taken in my first three days in London...there will be more.



Sunshine Comes Softly

"Sunshine comes softly through my window today."  (Now those of you old enough to remember Donovan can sing it, if only in your heads.)

Rarely do I wake up to sunshine coming through my window without that line running through my head. In fact, rarely do I wake up with sunshine coming through my window - full stop. Here in the Pacific Northwest, even lovely sunshiney spring days rarely start first thing in the morning. There is usually an hour or two of fog, or high clouds, or "overcast", before it burns away and the sun is well and truly shining.

We've had a few lovely spring days this year, but this morning I opened my eyes (a little before 7:) to actual rays of sunshine. For a few moments, I simply laid there, feeling the warmth on my skin. Then I opened my eyes, looked to the window, and realized how incredibly dirty my bedroom window is.  While I waited for my coffee, I walked to the sliding doors, gazed out the window, then back again to my desk...covered with a fine layer of dust...okay, not so fine, a pretty thick layer of dust. Now, as I sit at my computer, the sun is shining through the very dirty glass on the door to the deck.

The sunshine may come softly, but it carries a big stick - Time to do some Spring Cleaning!