Tag: clock

Big Ben Oversees Parliament Square

My first visit ever to London. I emerged from the Westminster tube station shortly before noon on a heavily overcast Saturday morning. I was with two of my dearest friends from the US, a couple from Cambridge, Mass, and we were on our way to Westminster Abbey. We had decided to meet in London, because I am not inclined to visit the US while Trump and his crime family loot and destroy everything they can get their hands on, and my friends were happy to escape the US for a few days of catching up and hanging out in one of the world’s great cities. As we walked over to nearby Westminster Abbey, strolling and chatting definitely took precedence over searching for the perfect angle to get a photo of Big Ben. We all took a few shots of Parliament Square for the travel scrapbook and that was pretty much the end of it.

Big Ben and its surroundings are one of the most photographed urban landscapes anywhere in the world. Even if you arrive on a perfect day with magnificent natural lighting and have plenty of time to explore vantage points and shooting angles, your odds of coming up with an image that says something unique or new about Big Ben are very long indeed. When I visit places like Big Ben and Parliament Square in London, I am looking for sharp, properly exposed, and well-composed images that say “I’ve been there.” If one of my images has something that sets it apart from vacation scrapbook cliches; well, I can live with that.

Back home and looking through the pictures from the walk, I decided the photo above did a reasonable job of summarizing my trip to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Saturday tourists and a few Londoners going about their business add some motion in the foreground while a tired Churchill leans on his cane next to Big Ben, and all framed by an ominous gray sky.

When we emerged from Westminster Abbey several hours later, the clouds had gone from ominous to puffy white and the scene was bathed in warm sunshine.

Altogether a successful outcome for the day: Big Ben photos now have a place in my travel scrapbook and I have great memories of a delightful day in London.

The Belfry of Bruges, Belgium

Belgium just happens to be on my mind right about now, so I decided to take a break from Denmark and the Danes today.

Bruges was the first city in northern Europe visited by merchant vessels from Genoa in the 13th century, becoming the endpoint of seaborne trade going through the Straits of Gibraltar, along the eastern Atlantic coastline, and through the English Channel to the low countries in the north. Today much of the center of old Bruges is a beautifully preserved UNESCO World Heritage site drawing tourists from all over Europe. The Belfry, visible from everywhere in the old city, stands in the Grote Markt in the center of Bruges.

As for Belgium being on my mind, I just finished watching that country’s national team defeat the US team 4 to 1 in a World Cup football match. While I sympathize with the US players who now have to come to terms with being beaten and knocked out of the World Cup competition, I can’t say I am put out or upset that the US lost. Given the performance of the garbage representing our country right now, the US does not deserve to win any accolades these days. It is as simple as that.

Belgium moves on to a Quarterfinal match with Spain on 11 July.