07-17-2020, 06:29 PM
I mentioned here that I decided to take a virtual tour of the London Underground (except overground), and I'm pleased to report that I'm done. (At least, with all stations in Zones 1, 2, and 3...they get WAY scattered beyond that point, and 242 stations felt like enough for now.
Anyway, some people asked me if I'd put together a London Ride to share. I've done so, and it's called "Aris' Ride through Tourist London City Ride". It's about 8.5 miles long. Before you select it, a few warnings.
1. If you like uncrowded natural beauty where things don't change much from frame to frame, you're going to hate this. The "city ride" part of the name will suggest that you ride it in city mode, but I prefer not to. I like to see the streets and everything...but if too much traffic or too many people annoy you, you might want to choose city.
2. There were a few "blank blue" frames after Buckingham Palace, but the rest of the trip is okay. I'll try to address that in version 2, along with some other things that didn't quite come out the way I wanted them.
3. When you get to the Houses of Parliament, you may want to quit out of my trip and then resume it later. For some reason, my route skipped Westminster Abbey, which is on the same square as Parliament, and you don't get a good look at Big Ben without the scaffolding. Some of the other shots in the area were taken when the scaffolding wasn't there.
For those who are interested, here's what you're seeing.
0%- Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner
6%--Buckingham Palace (Queen’s home)
14%--St. James Palace (Oldest royal palace in the UK)
17%--Piccadilly
18%--To your right, Fortnum and Mason (have your high tea here!)
20%--Piccadilly Circus
22%--Haymarket (the western part of the theatre district)
25%--Trafalgar Square, with its statue of Nelson, it’s lions made from melted down cannons, and the National Portrait Gallery on its north side. Also visible to the NE is St. Martin’s in the Fields.
28%--Keep an eye to your right and you’ll see the horse guards, mounted on their horses and dressed in red. (Wait for the busses to clear!) Not long after, you’ll pass Downing Street, home to the Prime Minister, on your right, but you can’t really see anything.
34%--Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (to the southwest). I’d suggest suspending the tour here and exploring this area before continuing.
36%--To your right, across the Thames, you’ll see the London Eye (ferris wheel).
41%--Villiers Street. London is filled with little shortcut lanes like this. Google will let us take this one.
44%--The Strand, an upper class district in the 12th through 17th centuries, now best known for theater.
47%--Aldwych, the convention center-point of London maps. The building on the right with the sculpture was the old home of the BBC World Service.
51%--The beginning of Fleet Street, which has become a metonym for the national press. If you ever saw or read “Rumpole of the Bailey”, here’s where he hung out. There’s a lot to see. The Dragon statue marks the beginning of the City of London. Two door down from The George (on your right) you’ll see the original store for Twinings Tea, still in business. There is a little passage immediately to the right of The George that you should take if you make it to London—I’ll leave where it goes a surprise.
57%--Saint Paul’s Cathedral. ‘Nuff said.
66%--It’s only visible for about two frames, but off to your left, opposite if a church to your right, you can see the monument to the Great Fire of 1666. It’s a tall pillar with a golden bowl of flame at the top.
70%--A first view of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, which continues for a while. The view from the middle of the bridge gives a different angle on some things we’ll see later.
77%--A decent view of the Shard, the tip of which we’ve been sing for a bit.
80%--View across the river of the City, including “The Gherkin” and “The Walkie Talkie”.
84%--The HMS Belfast, permanently moored on the Thames.
88%--London Bridge, which is pretty unremarkable. Tower Bridge is the one everyone loves.
90%--To your left, Southwark Cathedral. There’s a nice stained glass of Shakespeare, here.
91%--The Golden Hind, a sea-worthy reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s ship.
95%--The Clink, which was a prison, now a museum. Look up and to your left when you get on Clink Street to see the skeleton in the gibbet.
95%--To your left, the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
96%--Ahead, the building sometimes termed “The Boomerang” or “The Belly”.
97%--Wrapping up, we cross the Millennium Bridge and return to St. Pauls.
Anyway, some people asked me if I'd put together a London Ride to share. I've done so, and it's called "Aris' Ride through Tourist London City Ride". It's about 8.5 miles long. Before you select it, a few warnings.
1. If you like uncrowded natural beauty where things don't change much from frame to frame, you're going to hate this. The "city ride" part of the name will suggest that you ride it in city mode, but I prefer not to. I like to see the streets and everything...but if too much traffic or too many people annoy you, you might want to choose city.
2. There were a few "blank blue" frames after Buckingham Palace, but the rest of the trip is okay. I'll try to address that in version 2, along with some other things that didn't quite come out the way I wanted them.
3. When you get to the Houses of Parliament, you may want to quit out of my trip and then resume it later. For some reason, my route skipped Westminster Abbey, which is on the same square as Parliament, and you don't get a good look at Big Ben without the scaffolding. Some of the other shots in the area were taken when the scaffolding wasn't there.
For those who are interested, here's what you're seeing.
0%- Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner
6%--Buckingham Palace (Queen’s home)
14%--St. James Palace (Oldest royal palace in the UK)
17%--Piccadilly
18%--To your right, Fortnum and Mason (have your high tea here!)
20%--Piccadilly Circus
22%--Haymarket (the western part of the theatre district)
25%--Trafalgar Square, with its statue of Nelson, it’s lions made from melted down cannons, and the National Portrait Gallery on its north side. Also visible to the NE is St. Martin’s in the Fields.
28%--Keep an eye to your right and you’ll see the horse guards, mounted on their horses and dressed in red. (Wait for the busses to clear!) Not long after, you’ll pass Downing Street, home to the Prime Minister, on your right, but you can’t really see anything.
34%--Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (to the southwest). I’d suggest suspending the tour here and exploring this area before continuing.
36%--To your right, across the Thames, you’ll see the London Eye (ferris wheel).
41%--Villiers Street. London is filled with little shortcut lanes like this. Google will let us take this one.
44%--The Strand, an upper class district in the 12th through 17th centuries, now best known for theater.
47%--Aldwych, the convention center-point of London maps. The building on the right with the sculpture was the old home of the BBC World Service.
51%--The beginning of Fleet Street, which has become a metonym for the national press. If you ever saw or read “Rumpole of the Bailey”, here’s where he hung out. There’s a lot to see. The Dragon statue marks the beginning of the City of London. Two door down from The George (on your right) you’ll see the original store for Twinings Tea, still in business. There is a little passage immediately to the right of The George that you should take if you make it to London—I’ll leave where it goes a surprise.
57%--Saint Paul’s Cathedral. ‘Nuff said.
66%--It’s only visible for about two frames, but off to your left, opposite if a church to your right, you can see the monument to the Great Fire of 1666. It’s a tall pillar with a golden bowl of flame at the top.
70%--A first view of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, which continues for a while. The view from the middle of the bridge gives a different angle on some things we’ll see later.
77%--A decent view of the Shard, the tip of which we’ve been sing for a bit.
80%--View across the river of the City, including “The Gherkin” and “The Walkie Talkie”.
84%--The HMS Belfast, permanently moored on the Thames.
88%--London Bridge, which is pretty unremarkable. Tower Bridge is the one everyone loves.
90%--To your left, Southwark Cathedral. There’s a nice stained glass of Shakespeare, here.
91%--The Golden Hind, a sea-worthy reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s ship.
95%--The Clink, which was a prison, now a museum. Look up and to your left when you get on Clink Street to see the skeleton in the gibbet.
95%--To your left, the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
96%--Ahead, the building sometimes termed “The Boomerang” or “The Belly”.
97%--Wrapping up, we cross the Millennium Bridge and return to St. Pauls.
