I have been to London a few times, yet I hesitate to mount these photos. Part of the reason why is that so many of my trips were in the pre-digital camera age, and the scanned images appear to my eyes blurry and indistinct. Not to mention that in those days, one took photos rather rarely, and it's hard to understand in some cases, when I took so few photos, why I chose the things I did. Then, of course, it's rather rare to have brilliant light in London, so everything seems muddy, all the time. The result that these photos are a bit underwhelming. However, I've decided to put them up for their nostalgic value, if nothing else. And here they are.
Photo List (Total 106 Photos)
Click bolded headers below to view, or click "just the best" for quick tour
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London with Jim in 1986 (7 photos) - My first trip to London, and to Europe, was with Jim in 1986. I will never forget the magical feeling when the tube from Heathrow came above ground, revealing terraced brick houses all smashed up against each other, the plumbing on the outside of the buildings, with little hardscrabble yards, and I thought "I'm in London". It seemed such a miracle. Nonetheless, there are almost no photos at all remaining from this trip. Part of the reason for this is that Jim's camera developed a problem, and many of his photos were ruined. I seem to have taken few photos myself. This hardly seems possible from the perspective of today, and yet it happened. When I look at the few photos in this gallery, I have to say, I ask myself "that's what you took a photo of? Really?" Seven photos and one is a butt ugly photo of the Thames? I'm a little bitter about this. One of the things that is also funny, though I suppose predictable, is that of these seven photos, I unknowingly retook one of them again in 2001.
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London with Yvon in 2001 (45 photos) - In 2001, Yvon and I circumnavigated the globe, and London was our first stop. It was his first visit to the city, and from London we went on to Shanghai.
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London with Yvon in 2004 (54 photos) - In 2004, we went to London with the intention of spending a bit of time there, then taking the Chunnel to Paris. As it happened, though, Yvon ended up experiencing an allergic reaction and we ended up hightailing it back to Canada as he gradually puffed out, landing at St. Mike's on our return. So, these photos, though digital, show a rather abbreviated trip to the city.
