I like the spirit of this great London which I feel around me.
Charlotte Brontë
During the summer of 2018, I spent three weeks working as an on-site program coordinator for an American study abroad program where students earned course credits in the history of architecture and urban studies. The first two weeks of the program were in London, and the final week in Paris. When the program concluded, I returned to London and met my spouse for another week there together. This HDR album includes photographs from both London phases of the trip from a variety of spots around the city.
British Museum: This is my favorite museum, even though I really think they should return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Every time I enter the building I am taken anew with the Great Court and the contrast between its tessellated glass roof and white stone interior.
St. Paul’s Cathedral: Built at the end of the 17th century by architect Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul’s Cathedral and its towering blue dome is a defining landmark of the London skyline. I climbed the dome and was rewarded with striking views of the city. I also crossed the Thames using the Millennium Footbridge to visit the Tate Modern.
The best bribe which London offers to-day to the imagination, is, that, in such a vast variety of people and conditions, one can believe there is room for persons of romantic character to exist, and that the poet, the mystic, and the hero may hope to confront their counterparts.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chiswick House: This is villa located in Chiswick, a west London district, is a lauded example of neo-Palladian architectural style with an octagonal central room and dome.
Westminster Cathedral: Not to be confused with Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral is a Catholic church completed at the turn of the 20th century. It is made out of brick and stone in a neo-Byzantine style and features a tall tower and a series of green oxidized copper domes.
Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens: I visited the Rose Gardens, located within The Regent’s Park, when the flowers were in bloom. The garden is planted with an encyclopedic 85 different varieties of roses.
Also shown in the album are photographs of the Docklands, the Albert Bridge, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the University College London. I spent a semester at UCL studying abroad, and it felt surreal to go back to the urban campus, and to London, a decade later.
Above all ryvers thy Ryver hath renowne,
From “In Honour of the City of London” by William Dunbar (1465-1520?)
Whose beryall stremys, pleasaunt and preclare,
Under thy lusty wallys renneth down,
Where many a swan doth swymme with wyngis fair;
Where many a barge doth saile and row with are;
Where many a ship doth rest with top-royall.
O, towne of townes! patrone and not compare,
London, thou art the flour of Cities all.
