London

Back in early May, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to London for a work trip. It was just for half a week, but it would be my first time stepping foot into Europe so I wanted to make the most out of it. I arrived on a Sunday before noon and used the rest of the day to walk around; here are some pictures.

Architecture

The first thing that stood out to me was the Gothic (I think?) architecture. I’ve never seem so many buildings exhibiting that style where it felt commonplace. Granted, I was probably walking around the more touristy part of London. Nevertheless, it was definitely different from what I was use to in North America. As for what these buildings are, I don’t really remember. The obvious one is Big Ben, but the others should be buildings of prominence as well.

Buckingham Palace

Home of the Queen; it’s quite a fancy place. I mean, check out the detail on the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom (yeah, I just Wikipedia’d that); it’s pretty impressive. And another tidbit from Wikipedia:

According to legend a free unicorn was considered a very dangerous beast; therefore the heraldic unicorn is chained…

I didn’t even notice the chain until I read about it just now. Anyways, that’s just the gate. The guards were quite cool too. I’m curious on what they think of tourists. Getting stared at all day by foreigners must be a bit odd. And if you look at the last picture, you can see a mix of the old and new guard.

Chinatown

And then there is of course, Chinatown. A staple in any major city.