365-49 to 365-55 A Week in Pictures

On the 21st of this month, I will have lived in the UK for 7 years. Of that 7 years, I will have lived in London for 4 1/2 years. I was looking through some photo albums recently, when it dawned on me that living here, I’d never taken photos of those ‘iconically British’ things – the post box, the telephone box and the Routemaster Bus. So, inbetween my normal activities, I kept an eye out for these and managed to complete the set pretty quickly. So, in celebration of my 7 year montheversary, here are some iconic London moments taken over the last week.

Day 49 – The Red Postbox

First off, the post box. I don’t remember what postboxes in other parts of the world look like, really, but I suspect they’re the same, else where has the term ‘post office red come from. Here’s a picture of a London post box though.

Day5 50 – The Telephone Box

Definitely iconic. For some reason these are seen world over in brochures of England. A strange thing, really. Even stranger is seeing them dotted in random, basically uninhabited parts of the country side.

Day 51 – The Routemaster Bus

There are sadly few of these buses still around. They are great. You hop on and show your ticket to a mobile conductor. I don’t know why they’ve phased these out on all but tourist routes. I guess because it takes two people, driver and conductor and is therefor less cost effective. Or because you can get off and on while the bus is in motion, which makes them more dangerous and open to law suits? Anyone with better information, please do share!

Day 52 – Coffee Morning

So, not so iconic for England, but definitely so for the USA! I met up with a friend for coffee on a rain streaked day.

Day 53 – Supercalifragilisticexpilidocious !

A walk along the South Bank reveals new wonders every day.  I look forward to my little one being old enough to enjoy these escapes in to a Mary Poppins chalk drawing!

Day 54 – I really was there!

Typically, Ameli sleeps her way through all the great things we’re trying to expose her to! At least she’ll have proof that she was in fact there! (There being the London Eye. A new[ish] icon on the London landscape.)  Like the Eiffel Tower in France, it was only meant to stand for a short time, in celebration of the millenium, in this case. Opened in 2000 as the  Millenium Wheel it caught on and is now the most paid for visitor attraction in London, with 3.5 million visitors a year. It does provide spectacular views on clear days though, and is entirely worth the money – we’ve done it three times!

Day 55 – Learning to Crawl

And speaking of iconic moments, here’s one of our very own. Yes, that’s my not yet 5 month old. Too fast. Always too fast.