Spring Break in Retrospect II: London

London! The great city of England, the setting for so many works of poetry and literature, a center of commerce, a center of politics, a center of tourism. I would call some parts of the city posh (to use a British turn of phrase), but that is only because they are the very standard of posh-ness. Our stay there, covered by our study abroad program fees, was both pleasant and fascinating, complete with seats at a performance of Les Misérables in Her Majesty's Theatre, a guided tour of the oldest university in the English-speaking world, visits to St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Westminister Abbey, a journey through the Old Testament world in the British Museum, and a circuit upon the London Eye. As a general rule, I rather dislike cities: a bit too much bustle, noise, and smog for my taste. But the few days we spent in London were very much worth it all.
And now I have some pictures. Do enjoy:

Upon arriving at St. Paul's Cathedral. Day 1.

A view of the street in front of the cathedral. London-esque, if I do say so myself.

Our group got to ascend the stairs to the top of the dome of St. Paul's (the first of many such climbs). Here is a nice view of part of the city, stretching nearly all the way to the horizon.

The Thames River, taken from right outside of the Tower of London. As dirty as its cracked up to be, although the word on the street is that it has improved quite a lot. Take note also of the destroyer moored permanently on the far bank. I don't know about you, but I thought that was pretty cool.

The White Tower itself.

A shot along the walls of the Tower. Inside each of the small towers was some sort of exhibit about life in the castle in years past. In one of them, I got to pick up a sword.

Now the oldest building into which I have ever set foot.

Roses in Kensington Gardens. Some friends and I wandered into the park while waiting for the Victoria and Albert Museum to open. It was a good decision, to say the least. The gardens were quite lovely and, to top it off, we found a Whole Foods. Day 2.

Piccadilly Circus. Lights. Everywhere. Think Times Square.

"Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!"

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Trafalgar Square. That clock to the right is counting down to the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. On the other side, a clock counts down to the closing ceremony.

A street in Oxford. Day 3.

This shot is of Christ Church College, which we were fortunate enough to be taken upon a tour of; it is quite a beautiful place.

The Buttery! This is outside Christ Church Great Hall, where the members of the college eat their meals together.

Courtyard inside of Christ Church.

The ceiling of a Divinity school lecture room, the first room in the university built expressly for that purpose.

Our intellectual pilgrimage wrapped up with a visit to the Eagle and Child pub, where C. S. Lewis and the other Inklings met together every Tuesday morning for nearly 25 years. Perhaps we picked up some residue of intellectual greatness while we were there?

The front of the British Museum, one of the world's foremost collections of ancient artifacts, and home to the famed Rosetta Stone. Day 4.

Just inside of the entrance. The glass dome is a rather recent addition; this part of the museum used to be an open courtyard. Our fantastic tour started here, focusing upon artifacts from the Old Testament era which corroborate the history of Israel recorded in the Scriptures. Pretty neat stuff.

Westminister Abbey, magnificent cathedral and burial place of the kings and queens, along with many other famed historical figures from the fields of science, music, and literature.

The view from the beginning of our ride on the London Eye. Our entire group rode in a single pod.

A shot of the Eye. That's one big ferris wheel.

A shot from the top. Here you can see Parliament Hall, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and a rather wonderful evening view of the great city.

A parting shot as our ride came to an end of Big Ben across the Thames. This is one of the old and truly great cities of the world. Who knows how many people have watched the sun set in this place?

The next morning, seven of us departed from London early in the morning to fly out to an equally great city: Paris.