London 2004 - Part 3 of 3

Buckingham Palace

Steve relaxes with one of the statues on the huge monument in front of the palace.

From the palace, we took a pleasant walk through St. James Park.

We climbed 530 steps (many of them steep and tightly wound) to the top of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral to enjoy a terrific view of the city below.

This was a common theme everywhere we traveled.

We enjoyed the baskets, window boxes, and flower gardens.

We weren't tired enough, so after St. Paul's we decided to visit Westminster Abbey.

On the exterior of Westminster Abbey are sculptures honoring 20th century martyrs: Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, Wang Zhiming.

The 19th century statue at the top of the fountain in Picadilly Circus was meant to represent Christian Charity, not a pagan god of love, but everybody calls him Eros.

Everywhere we turned in London, we found statues, monuments, historical markers, fountains, and grand old buildings. At the same time, it's a modern, constantly-changing city.

At the entrance to Westminster Abbey.

Victory atop the Wellington Arch.

The new towers over the old.

[Note: This was our first trip to London. We returned a few times, including living in a small apartment in The City for a month in 2018.]