13: london icons - the auroran sunset

Here at abelard.org, we take a lot of photographs. Many of them are pretty or interesting. This is the thirteenth in a regular “photograph with little or no explanation or comment” feature.

This week we give you some of London’s iconic buildings. First the Palace of Westminister, the British parliament, with the Big Ben clock tower in the corner and Westminister Abbey half-hidden behind. Notice the typically dire British weather, despite the photo being from the middle of summer.

The Palace of Westminister. Image credit: the auroran sunset
[Taken in England in Summer 2003.]

Here’s what happens when you don’t have a camera:

Claude Monet - Houses of Parliament. Image credit: Courtauld Gallery

Next another of London’s most famous buildings, St.Paul’s Cathedral, one Christopher Wren’s many beautiful works of art. Unfortunately, as you can see, the building has been woefully neglected and is now in a disgraceful state of disrepair.

St.Paul's Cathedral. Image credit: the auroran sunset
[Taken in England in Summer 2003.]

Next up is a new icon: the London Eye, a huge Ferris wheel set on the south bank of the Thames almost opposite the Palace of Westminister. A gorgeous bit of modern art:

Orange glowing leaves. Image credit: the auroran sunset
[Taken in England in Summer 2003.]

Our fourth icon is Tower Bridge, what the American millionaire apparently thought he was buying when he bought London Bridge and transported it off to Texas. Through the middle of the bridge you can see the BT Tower or Post Office Tower. Blame the ghostliness on the lovely mixture of British weather and the smog that hangs around any big city.

Tower Bridge. Image credit: the auroran sunset
[Taken in England in Summer 2003.]

Here’s another picture that results from camera-impairment syndrome and perhaps the wrong eye-goggle prescription:

Tower Bridge and the Thames by Andre Derain. Image credit: ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London

Our fifth icon is a ship: the Cutty Sark. The Cutty Sark was one of the last and most famous of the tea clippers that raced back and forth between England and India. It now sits around being admired near Greenwich. Here are those famous masts:

The Cutty Sark. Image credit: the auroran sunset
[Taken in England in Summer 2003.]

Our last icon - the MoD Building / Ministry of Defence Building in Whitehall - is not as famous as our earlier ones, but it is still a pretty building in good condition. Out front is the Obelisk.

Ministry of Defence Building. Image credit: the auroran sunset
[Taken in England in Summer 2003.]