London

Last saturday I went to London. There is a good connection from Colchester by train. I went to Liverpool Street and took the tube - Central Line, certainly the wrong because I wanted to ride the Circle Line. Riding the tube is very easy although you have to check in/check out on every station. At first I went to the Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. It was just a big ceremony. Soldiers came from any direction and went into the palace - but no one left. It took almost a full hour. Due the fact that the area in front of the building was very crowded, I had no chance to have a look over the fence. In the end I saw marching back strangely.
Accordingly I went to Westminster Abbey. It was very, very crowded. The admission fee was £ 16. That was too expensive, especially because I am not very interested in religions and churches. So I took a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. So I visited the Houses Lords (upper) and the House of Commons (lower) which can normally be seen on TV. That was very very interesting, not only for historical reasons. Unfortunately it was not allowed to take any photos.

In the afternoon I went back to the Tower Bridge and it's exhibition. From the top I had a spectacular view particularly over the Thampes river as the sun set down. The engine room explained how the arms are raised. Averagely it opens/closes three times a day. As it was dark London appeared much more exciting also it was cold. That's why I took several high dynamic range (hdr) photos. I noticed no litter on the ground or grubby places. Despite being very busy there were only a few cars. I was surprised how crowded the tube was. Nevertheless it was fun to ride it.