"London - Centre of the Empire" a London Travel Page by Bwana_Brown

London has always been my favourite of all the world's cities. It is probably because I was so interested in history and geography as a child and read so many accounts of events that took place all over the globe. Somehow, many of them had a link with the decisons that were made in this once centre of the British Empire. I think all that reading also gave me the wanderlust and I began travelling the world as soon as I finished my university degree!

My first taste of the city was in 1974 on a two-day stopover while flying from Spain to Canada at the end of my first two years in Zambia (I was broke and had no money to explore the city!). This was followed by a really good visit in 1979 when I took a 6-week between-jobs vacation in England while moving with my wife and family from Canada to Papua New Guinea. The last decent visit to London was in 1981 for only a few days as part of a 9-week around the world trip mid-way through my PNG contract. Since that time, although I have been to England in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2004, commitments involving my wife's family have led us away from the city, usually headed for Cornwall. Finally, with none of our three girls coming to visit us for Christmas 2005, due to their living from one coast of Canada to the other, we decided to spend the Season with my wife's parents and sister in Cornwall. However, we decided that enough was enough and we would make time for at least a one-day visit into the heart of London to refresh our now fading memories of this amazing city!!

This page is a combination of our mid-December, 2005 Christmas visit and our July, 1979 impressions. The city has not lost a step in those 26 intervening years! This view of Big Ben attached to the Houses of Parliament was taken as we descended on the London Eye on a bright but chilly winter day.