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London

Speaker's Corner

Inns of Court

Leicester Square

Clapham Junction

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Camden Market

Knightsbridge

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The middle of London is generally a boring place to be. Without the pleasures of the Thames, or the allure of the big parks, one finds oneself in a relatively nondescript business district.

The column at right is one of the boundary markers for the London neighborhood of Holbourne.

There are a few interesting architectural attactions in Holbourne, such as these incredibly preserved buildings from the time of Shakespeare:

and the offices of the law corporations which make up the Inns of Court:

Remember the phrase "cutting through [bureaucratic] red tape"? Well, that's from the red ribbon used to bind together legal documents in old England. In the window in the image at left (click on the thumbnail to see the enlarged image) you'll see papers wrapped in red pape.

This is the Old Curiosity Shop, which was written about in the works of Charles Dickens. It had closed early in the afternoon, so we missed seeing its wares. Next time.

As we strolled the streets of Holbourne we passed this lively pub, the Seven Stars. It's just amazing that drinkers in the UK are polite enough to be allowed to imbibe out-of-doors. We in the US must be confined while we're enjoying alcohol. I'm not proud of this.

Next, Knightsbridge.