"London" a London Travel Page by OiKnow

What can I say about London? It is huge and varied in geography, population, architecture, art, and history. You can spend days walking the streets of London and barely scratch the surface of what it has to offer. London artfully blends history and cutting edge modern design. Between my first visit to London in 1990 and my second visit in 2003 several cutting edge projects were completed. Several new office buildings have been constructed including the pickle shaped one shown here and the new headquarters of Lloyds of London that was referred to by one tour guide as looking like an oil refinery dropped in the middle of the city.

A major city like London is a perfect place to observe and understand the people and culture of a country. Trafalgar Square is a gathering place, and a perfect place to watch the people of London at going to and from work and stopping to play. One major change has taken place in London over the past 10 years and that is the reduction of the pigeon population. City officials have made a concentrated effort to rid the city of pigeons by trapping and removing them, and discouraging or outlawing feeding them. At one-point city officials referred to Pigeons as, “rats with wings.” The result of this effort is that city parks and monuments are much cleaner, and more enjoyable.

Part of the Millennium celebration in London included the construction of the “London Eye.” A giant Farris wheel with a superstructure like a bicycle wheel. The “London Eye” is located on the banks of the Themes nearly across the river from the Houses of Parliament. There is a wonderful walkway along the bank of the river lending itself to a wonderful walk, with spectacular views of the city.