well i recently went to london, and even though it is a city that is extremely dense with millions of people, it does not have that many tall buildings. However, the ones that do exist are amazing. The old architecture is great, the pictures I am posting are from the business/financial district however. My new favorite building is the one below.
and here are a couple more from the business district
This reminds me that I never posted my London photos. I'll have to do that sometime when I'm bored while I'm here.
Speaking of London. I stayed in London for a week just about a month ago. I was staying at a hostel virtually equadistance between the Russel Square and King's Cross tube stations. We used those stations everyday while we were there. And those were where two of the four bombings took place. Craziness.
Very cool pics! I love that bullet shapped tower (british tower?). What does that look like at night? If its lit, UPC should take note on how they light the building, because it looks to me as if it has an all glass exterrior as well.
OmahaDevelopmentMan wrote:Very cool pics! I love that bullet shapped tower (british tower?). What does that look like at night? If its lit, UPC should take note on how they light the building, because it looks to me as if it has an all glass exterrior as well.
The tall building is Swiss Re's building, IIRC, and the short stubby one is the Greater London Authority's Headquarters (Local Government)
I was last there in March last year, and stayed at a hotel on Russell Square, taking the tube right through there. Hit a lot more *personally* for me than NYC ever did, having never been there =(
I stayed across from Russell Square two years ago, and the Russell Square station was just around the corner. It also hit home to me, after seeing the distruction between there and Kings Cross. I think our hotel was the Le Meridien Russell, which from a quick google seems to just be called The Russell now.
On a lighter note, remember to Mind The Gap, Please... Mind The Gap!!! I found The Underground network to be amazing; topping NYC, Paris, Chicago, Munich, DC, etc...
jsheets wrote:I stayed across from Russell Square two years ago, and the Russell Square station was just around the corner. It also hit home to me, after seeing the distruction between there and Kings Cross. I think our hotel was the Le Meridien Russell, which from a quick google seems to just be called The Russell now.
On a lighter note, remember to Mind The Gap, Please... Mind The Gap!!! I found The Underground network to be amazing; topping NYC, Paris, Chicago, Munich, DC, etc...
Yeah, the tube is a study in contrasts.. it's amazing and goes everywhere... but it's also really nasty hot in the summer sometimes, and has lots of breakdowns, etc. It needs some serious investment. But yeah, people here in Chicago think the L is so incredible, and really, it sucks. It goes nowhere =(
I lived in London for two years, from 92-94, and lived through a few of the IRA "annual bombings" of the financial district. The most disturbing was missing a train, and taking the next one, and having to stop for two hours because the one I missed had two of the car roofs ripped off as the train passed under a bridge that was bombed. Or the time I sat in a pub across from the National Theatre waiting for friends to exit from Miss Saigon, and the next day the same pub was demolished by a bomb in the toilet of the men's room. It gives you a different sense of how life works in other countries, and the inherent dangers faced, sometimes unknowingly, but always in the back of your mind. I am still spooked when I see a bag or backpack laying unattended somewhere. I sat glued to CNN for two hours and it all came back, along with the 1000's of incredibly good memories of my time there.
JSheets, I definitely love the Tube, and it definitely beats NYC and Chicago. But I have to say, I was way more impressed with the Paris Metro. It's cleaner, more modern, smother running, very accessible and comfortable.
The one thing the Underground has on the Paris Metro, however, is the coolness of the Tube Stations. They kick |expletive|.
aaron, i would HIGHLY have to disagree with you, i have always loved the tube, and since i have been to paris, i have realized that the metro doesnt even compare. The public transport in NYC, Chicago, LA, Paris, etc...is minimal compared to the London transport system. I dont know of many places that are as easily accessible/easy to understand as the London Underground, and people who have had more than a week to understand it would agree with me
Well, we'll both have to agree that both systems are amazing. I think one of the major reasons people generally find the Tube easier to understand and to use is because it is all in English, and maybe the Paris Metro frustrates some people partly because they don't understand French.
However, I absolutely agree that the Tube is amazing.
This last trip was my second time in Europe and London, and my first time in Paris. Until experiencing the Paris Metro, I was a total "Tube-glorifier". However, after using the Metro in Paris, and then going to London, I couldn't help but find the tube a little slower and a little diritier. I just thought Paris had a top notch system.
I will also say that London's Tube expansions are amazing, and their new stations are sleek, modern, and easy to use. And again, I love the character of the older London Tube stations.