i <3 london

so im back.

theres always this odd feeling after coming home from vacation. iguess the fact that the trip is still fresh on your mind, and its timefor the day to day life to return. but its especially hard when yougrow a attatchment to the place you had just visited... in thisparticular case, its london, england. I LOVE LONDON! from the moment istepped onto the cobble stone streets, i kept thinking, 'ya, this ismy kind of town'. london just has this strange aura about it, that icant quite put my finger on. its really something great. is it thefact that there is a nice little pub located at just about everystreet corner? the nice blend of old, historic buildings mixed withmodern highly stylized buildings? the swag british accent? excellenttop notch museums? or the fact that london is a hub city, meaning thatyou can travel just about anywhere for very little money.

i dont know why i am so ga-ga over london. maybe its because ive beencouped up in toronto for so long, that being dropped into a city likelondon has skewed my vision of what a city should be like. i dontknow. bottom line is, london has really made a mark on me. its a towni definetly need to go back too.so we stayed in london for 6 days. and 3 days were spent in paris,france. my impression of paris? it was so-so. i liked it, but it wasntmy favorite. ya you can hang out at little cafes all day with acappocino and a smoke or eat wine and cheese, but doing that everydayisnt really my thing. i had steak frites everyday when i wasthere...now i do love me some steak frites, but having it everyday fordinner was kind of pushing it. french cuisine isnt at the top of mylist. i will have fish and chips over frois grois any day.

below are some pictures. i hope you have a high speed connection, because this b*tch is about 50 pics long

the millenium bridge that crosses the rivers thames. the bridge is
just outside the tate modern.


a row of black cabs just outside big ben...


...and if you look in the other direction, you can see the london
eye right on the river thames.


me on the phone with the queen of england.


this is london bridge, really, it is.


this is borough market. a huge outdoor food market. lots of fresh
food to be had here. this is where jamie oliver does all his grocery
shopping.



a shot inside borough market


one of the government builings.


outside of the british museum. off to see the michealangelo exhibit.


no this is not a toy. its a real car


one of the many busy london streets.


this is at the design museum. jamie hewlitt had an exhibit - he
is one of four designers nominated for designer of the year.


again at the design museum with a lot of interesting chair designs.


walking along the financial district. notice the big egg shaped
building in the background.


no this is not a factory, it is a office building. pretty nifty.


an old church with the gerkin building in the background. a nice
mix of old and new.


an interesting courtyard in the financial district. its all
little restos and shops of people to grab some lunch.


louis vuitton london


a litte neighborhood in camden. swatch pallette neighborhood.


on the chunnel on the way to paris.


the streets of paris


the front of the Centre Pompidou


the paris skyline at the top floor of the pompidou


the st.sulpice. yup, the same church found in the da vinci code.


one of many small alley ways filled with little restos


cappochinos and baurdeux's. thats what you do when in paris.


more paris buildings


inside the paris metro


another shot of the meto


a local paris soccer field near the eiffel tower.


and there she is, the eiffel tower. this is as close as we got.
there were wayyyyy to many tourists for my liking.


a better shot of the tower. this was taken on the train heading
towards some paris shopping.


arc de triomphe de l'etoile


first mcdonalds sighting in paris


ahh. the grand louis vouiton paris


i had to purchase a little something from the LV. for a split
second i felt like a 'high roller'. they serve your champagne as you
wait for them to retrieve and wrap up your purchase. nice!


hello louvre


more paris


more paris


apperently steven seagal is a huge hit (muscially) in europe.
there are posters everywhere. thats right, steven seagal of under seige fame.


back in london, i found a little vintage clothing shop called
mendoza. obviously, i had to take a pic of it.


off to the royal albert hall. this is how i find out that ROBERT
CRAY is opening for clapton. a piece of paper taped to the wall at the
RAH.


the royal albert hall is one classy joint


here is robert cray opening for clapton


and here is my man clapton. he played for just over 2 hours
straight! amazing stuff.


on my last day in london, we decided to jump on the london eye.


another shot from the london eye


my last picture of tower bridge. a lot of people mistake this for
london bridge.


finally, we checked out the science museum to see the pixar
exhibit - 20 years of animation.


i miss london. but i will definetly be back.