Many of my friends who have been to London have told me they love the energy of the city, the culture and heritage it offers, the Englishness of it, and love it just because it's London. Sadly, there are a few who found it boring. In the past I've shown you some London Skycrapers before. Today, I want to show you a few popular tourist spots but from a different viewpoiont, a different London. I'm also going to let you in on a secret spot to see the best sunset view in London.
喜愛倫敦的朋友會喜愛它的繁榮熱鬧，喜愛它充滿傳統和文化氣息， 有或者不需要任何原因，就只是因為它是倫敦。 不喜歡的朋友會覺得它沉悶，大霧。 如果你是後者， 我希望可以通過"不一樣的倫敦"讓你改觀。 這輯相片都是在晚上拍攝 ，經過特別效果修改，從另一個角度去看平日熟悉的倫敦。 "不一樣的倫敦" 的日落照，攝於著名聖保祿大教堂附近一個商場。 下次到倫敦推薦大家到這裏欣賞倫敦的美麗日落景色。
All these photo were taken one evening, when tourists have finished their sightseeing and shopping during the daytime. Then I have been playing around with some photo editing effects, to highlight some of the features. If you didn't like London before, I hope you will like my different London.
Oh, let me take you by the hand
And lead you through The Streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind
(Lyrics from Streets of London)
PICCADILLY CIRCUS
If you're one of the 100 million visitors that pass through Piccadilly Circus each year, this world famous neon sign would have been unmissable. Did you stand opposite by the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain watching in awe at the adverts on London's icon? By the way, did you know that Coca Cola has had an advert here since 1955?
Here's another view of Piccadilly Circus from the entrance to Haymarket. From here you can see the majestic architecture that has been here for as long as probably a couple hundred of years? I tried to accentuate the features from the exterior of the buildings through playing around with the photo editing effects.
Let's take a look at the opposite end of Piccadilly Circus towards Leicester Square. Still very busy at night time. In fact us Brits often say "It's like Piccadilly Circus here" to refer to things getting very busy and hectic. That's what it's like here all the time.
LEICESTER SQUARE
We're moving a bit further away from Piccadilly Circus, and have come to Leicester Square. You can still see Piccadilly Circus in the background. On the right is M&M, can you see its sign above the door? This is the world's largest candy store. Yes, you read it right - THE WORLD'S LARGEST CANDY STORE - in case you missed it!
Do you notice the Swiss glockenspiel here? If you've seen this when you were in London, have you ever wondered why it's bang in the middle of London? Kinda odd, right? Years ago, and we're talking back in the late 60's, where M&Ms is now, this building used to be the Swiss Centre. In 1984 the Swiss gifted the glockenspiel to London to promote friendship between the two countries. Tourists (me included when I was a kid visiting London with my parents) would hang around on the hour to listen to the bells chime and the figures moving around in a circle. The Swiss Centre was later pulled down but the glockenspiel stayed and was restored. It has become an integral part of this spot.
We're walking a bit further into Leicester Square now. Leicester Square is famous for the many cinemas around the square, and that's where the film premieres are normally held. There's a park in the middle of the square and every year the Chinese New Year celebrations are held here as China Town is just a stone throw away. On a normal evening, the park is a stark contrast to these glamorous and buzz film premiere evenings and the always busy Chinatown.
TRAFALGAR SQUARE
In less than 5 minutes walk away from Leicester is Trafalgar Square. Nelson Column stands tall in the middle of square surrounded by the many fountains. There are four bronze lions at the foot of the column, I still have photos of me as a kid sitting by these lions. I wonder how many other people have similar photos in their photo albums at home?
When I was playing around with the photo effects, I quite liked this outcome. I think it was the x-ray effect, but I think it made the photo looked a bit snowy instead, almost like something you would see on a Christmas card. Funny enough, the iconic red bus on the left hand side of the photo became a green bus. Definitely a different London.
This is the other side of Trafalgar Square, and this is the National Gallery. Behind it is Leicester Square. If you haven't been to the National Gallery before, I highly recommend you go next time you're in town. This was on my doorstep all these years when I was in London, yet I never set foot inside until two weeks before I was due to leave UK for Taiwan. I know nothing about art, but I wish had discovered it earlier.
SUNSET FROM A DIFFERENT LONDON
London probably isn't best known for its sunset views as people normally focus in its many iconic buildings. However, if you know your way around you can get to see some of the best sunset views in London. If you're familiar with some of the urban landscapes of London, you may recognise the famous St Pauls Cathedral. On the left you can see the London Eye.
You wanna know where I took this photo? I'll let you into my secret favourite spot - the roof terrace of a shopping centre. The shopping centre is call One New Change and is just behind St Pauls Cathedral. It is opened every day from 6am to midnight, and the best thing about it, it's free! So next time you're in London, don't waste money to go up The Shard.
After seeing a different London though my eyes, if you didn't like London before, I hope you will now.
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Check out all my travel posts here on Steemit Worldmap, and also my latest project @LadiesOfAsia where we share fun and cultural diversity across Asia Pacific.
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