Salvador Dali's Space Elephant
Found on the south banks of the River Thames in London.
DALI UNIVERSE -
County Hall, Riverside Building, South Bank
Dali Universe is a permanent exhibition of art works by the 20th-century Spanish
surrealist artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989) which is housed in a 3,000 square metre
(32,000 square feet) suite of galleries at County Hall in London,
England. It opened in 2000. Over 500 works are on display, including
sculptures dating from 1935-1984, drawings, lithographs, gold and glass
objects and a Dali-inspired furniture collection.
South Bank Lion statue on the southside of Westminster Bridge, London
A bit of history - the South Bank Lion used to be red, created in 1837, that used to
stand outside the Red Lion Brewery near Waterloo, which was demolished in 1949 to
make way for the Royal Festival Hall. The lion was then moved to Waterloo
station, having been saved at the request of George VI. When Waterloo was
made bigger in 1966, the lion was moved once again, to its current resting
place at the south-east corner of Westminster Bridge. The lion was then renamed
the "South Bank Lion". The Coade Stone statue was designed by W.F. Woodington, and
is 13 feet long and 12 feet high, and weighs over 13 tons.
The Houses of Parliament & Big Ben & Westminster Bridge.
Piccadilly's flashing ads. Picture taken in 2007.
London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. One of the world's leading business, financial and cultural centres, and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the major global cities. Its population is very cosmopolitan, drawing from a wide range of peoples, cultures and religions, speaking over 300 different languages.
Within the City of Westminster, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premiers are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district, and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops and London's "Avenue of Stars" which honours achievers in the entertainment industry.
Europe's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, famous home to the vast Selfridges department store, John Lewis, House of Fraser stores.
The adjoining Bond Street in Mayfair is an extremely upmarket location, complimented with the Knightsbridge area - home to the Harrods department store - to the southwest, home to fashion, jewellery, and accessories design houses.
London offers a huge variety of cuisine as a result of its ethnically diverse population. Gastronomic centres include the Bangladeshi restaurants of Brick Lane and the Chinese food of Chinatown. Soho offers a huge variety of restaurants including novelties such as Garlic and Shots - an entirely garlic restaurant, whilst more upmarket restaurants are scattered around central London, with concentrations in Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Notting Hill. Across the city, areas home to particular ethnic groups are often recognisable by restaurants, food shops and market stalls offering their local fare, and the large supermarket chains stock such items in areas with sizeable ethnic groups.
The Houses of Parliament & Big Ben
The Houses of Parliament with clock tower, Big Ben, are the ultimate symbols of London. The Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminste. Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are in the former royal Palace of Westminster, which was the king's residence until Henry VIII moved to Whitehall. The current Gothic Revival buildings date from 1840 and were designed by Charles Barry. (The earlier buildings were destroyed by fire in 1834.) Assisting Barry was Augustus Welby Pugin, who designed the paneled ceilings, tiled floors, stained glass, clocks, fireplaces, umbrella stands, and even inkwells. There are more than 1,000 rooms and 1 3/4 miles (3km) of corridors. The clock tower at the eastern end houses the world's most famous timepiece."Big Ben" refers not to the clock tower itself, but to the largest bell in the chime, which weighs close to 14 tons and is named for the first commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall.
London Eye - Millennium Wheel
The London Eye stands 135 metres (443 ft) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge - one of the most famous and photographed bridges in the world. It has become an iconic symbol of London. Tower Bridge is situated within walking distance from the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and the Tate Modern, if you do the South Bank from Westminster Bridge you can include Tower Bridge on a circuit around to St Paul's Cathedral. As for the Bridge itself - well it spans the Thames, but has two wonderful walkways suspended above the road which you can go up into and enjoy panoramic, amazing reviews down the river on both sides. At night also the walkways provide a perfect place to see the lights of the river and the City of London.
London Underground
The London Underground is a railway system - also known as the Tube - that serves a large part of Greater London. It is the world's oldest underground system, and is one of the longest in terms of route length. Services began on 10th January 1863 on the Metropolitan Railway; most of the initial route is now part of the Hammersmith & City line.
Tube Posters
A study by TNS which "discovered" that Tube Car advertising provides the traditionally reserved British public somewhere to direct one's gaze, so as not to risk catching the eye of a fellow passenger. A further study 'The London Commuter' found that a third of commuters think that advertising on the London Underground brightens up their journeys.
Tube Poster
The most important leg of all three-legged stool is the one that's missing. A brand ad in the underground. Ad posters like these stick in people's minds on their way to work. Sometimes things are obvious but we think too much and don't see them. We forget fundamental observation.
West End theatre
London's main theatre district is located in the heart of the West End of the city centre, and is traditionally defined by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east although The South Bank Complex is now considered by some to be part of it. Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane, Shaftesbury Avenue, and The Strand. This area contains approximately forty large theatres and is often referred to as Theatreland. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic or middle brow plays, and comedy performances.
Running shows in London:
The Mousetrap at the St Martin's Theatre
Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre
The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre
The Lion King a the Lyceum Theatre
London has been the setting for many works of literature. Two writers closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire, and Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets has been a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens's works are characterized by attacks on social evils, injustice, and hypocrisy. He had also experienced in his youth oppression, when he was forced to end school in early teens and work in a factory. Dickens's good, bad, and comic characters, such as the cruel miser Scrooge, the aspiring novelist David Copperfield, or the trusting and innocent Mr. Pickwick, have fascinated generations of readers.
"In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice." (from Great Expectations, 1860-61)
Charles Dickens (1812-70) 15 Buckingham Street WC2 (1833), 48 Doughty Street WC1 (1837-39), 1 Devonshire Terrace (15-17 Marylebone Road NW1) (1839-51), 14 Great Russell Street WC1, Tavistock House, Tavistock Square WC1 (1851-60), 26 Wellington Street (1859-70). With some reason Dickens has made his mark on the London landscape. With at least nine plaques commemorating him, and numerous pubs, restaurants and buildings named after his characters and books there is little escaping his presence. As Ed Ginert (2000: 97) has commented, there is little of London that isn't Dickensian, 'so intensely did the author walk its streets and use both its major landmarks and more obscure sites in is stories'.
