2019 Day 02, London, England (Mon 09 Sep 2019) Photo Gallery by Alan K at pbase.com

2019 Day 02, London, England (Mon 09 Sep 2019)

London, Day 2. It was supposed to be the first stop on our trip. We were supposed to have three days there; Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

For those who came in late:
- #QantasSucks has been clipping the tickets on most of my purchases for the last 3 years now as well as harvesting that sweet, sweet marketing data on me so that I could obtain (what are essentially valueless) Frequent Flyer points.
- 9 months earlier I had asked for a business class upgrade and to do so I had to shell out for a higher grade of ticket.
- For this, I got nothing.
- Nothing save an under-maintained A380 which departed Sydney late, was stuck for over a day at Singapore due to faulty smoke detectors (130 year old technology), and which therefore landed us in London part way through Monday morning (peak commuting time) instead of early Sunday morning (quiet city, easy commuting). This was the same day that immigration systems at Heathrow had a nervous tizzy and left everybody queuing for about an hour.

The net effect? The traffic was so bad that the taxi fare ended up being about £75 courtesy of slow progress and constant stoppages, and we didn't get to the hotel until about an hour before lunchtime. In effect, then, we actually lost about one and a half days out of the time that we had in London. That time can never be made up again, so screw you Qantas.

Incidentally, if you see any grammatical clangers, don't assume that I'm illiterate; rather, assume that the artificial intelligence behind Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking is as thick as a plank. I've cleaned up quite a lot of the dictation errors but may not have found them all.

190909_073917_0583 "Hey, This Piece of S**t Is Gonna Get You To London! Er, Eventually."	190909_074948_0600 The Difference A Day Makes	190909_085649_0003 The Ol' Black Cabs They Ain't What They Used To Be	190909_100501_0005 First Contact, Finally
190909_100551_0009 All You Need, but Not Much More	190909_100917_0014 Space Is at a Premium	190909_111939_0018 The Belgrave From Outside	190909_112418_0020 The Bus at the End of Our Street
190909_112422_0022 The Cyclist at the End of Our Street	190909_112528_0025 Going Underground	190909_113000_0678 Stage 1 - Hotel To Baker St And Back To Green Park	190909_113141_0031 Down the Tube
190909_113235_0036 Branding	190909_113251_0041 Incoming	190909_114222_0049 The Next Stop	190909_114353_0057 Watching the Train Come In (More Motion Blur Fun)
190909_114623_0061 Built for Frequency, Not for Comfort	190909_114717_0065 Old School	190909_114841_0073 It Wouldn't Be Baker Street without...	190909_115048_0086 Another Holmes Tale
190909_115332_0089 Holmes, Holmes Everywhere!	190909_115743_0097 Underground, Aboveground	190909_120146_0102 Missing The Number 13	190909_120200_0104 May Be Doing It to Death
190909_120453_0114 Where There Is a Legend...	190909_121123_0119 Inside the Souvenir Shop	190909_121423_0122 The Gatekeeper	190909_121537_0126 Coattails
190909_122016_0130 So, You're Going to Give That A Miss?	190909_122125_0138 Begin Your Monopoly Collection Here!	190909_125000_0679 Stage2 - The Open Bus Tour	190909_125443_0142 Puttin' On The Ritz, And A Monopoly Education
190909_125941_0149 Nerrr-nerrp....	190909_125953_0153 Puttin' On The Piccadilly	190909_130327_0164 Marks, Until The Sparks Go Out	190909_130412_0169 Through A Piccadilly Window: Afternoon
190909_130436_0173 You Lie To Me!	190909_130452_0179 I Wouldn't Brag About It, If I Were You	190909_130521_0181 Delicious... Define That for Me?	190909_130548_0189 Looking Back At The Duke's Place
190909_130624_0196 Wellington's Arch. Sort Of.	190909_130708_0201 And Speaking of the Royal Artillery Memorial...	190909_130714_0203 A Better Look at The Duke's Pile (Apsley House)	190909_130727_0212 Apsley House Front On
190909_130810_0215 Choose Your Path	190909_130838_0218 Wellington As Ach... You WHAT??	190909_130936_0223 In the Footsteps of Napoleon Solo (Or Maybe Not)	190909_131303_0229 Welcome to Marble Arch
190909_131310_0237 You Can Lead A Horse To Water	190909_131352_0240 Cruising Down Park Lane	190909_131452_0249 Marble Arch From The Other Side	190909_131548_0255 Luxuriously Rough
190909_131725_0260 In Contrast	190909_131900_0267 And Back to Number One	190909_131907_0270 Arch in Profile	190909_131922_0274 Bomber Boys
190909_132015_0277 Green Park Gates. That is all.	190909_132201_0284 The Street Outside Patisserie Valerie	190909_132254_0293 A Palace Is A Palace, I Suppose	190909_132323_0295 Since 1612. Sort of.
190909_132339_0301 So What's The Story With Santa Maria Novella?	190909_132357_0304 Half Of 300 Years	190909_132428_0311 From One Form Of Art to Another	190909_132503_0320 Witty
190909_132948_0327 No, Not Eros at All	190909_132955_0332 Going Wide at the Circus	190909_133122_0341 The Long View Back	190909_133253_0349 Born 1720, Still Going Strong
190909_133324_0355 Hello Farmer George, Goodbye Big Ship	190909_133654_0370 Trafalgar Square - Under Repair Both Physically And In My Imagination	190909_133715_0376 The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist	190909_133742_0380 Watch Your Foreground
190909_133819_0383 Sheltering at the National Gallery	190909_134026_0387 I Guess Enough Time Had Passed	190909_135721_0391 Piatti Locali	190909_135725_0393 Within The Crypt
190909_141846_0395 The Remaining Monuments	190909_143236_0397 St Martin In The Fields Up Close	190909_143418_0400 Look Out Above	190909_143428_0403 A Wider View of St Martin's Lane
190909_143910_0412 See Not Just Nelson, You Will...	190909_144008_0415 Who Can It Be Now?	190909_152608_0418 Yellow	190909_152643_0420 Looking Along The Field
190909_152833_0423 Same Time, Different Place	190909_152940_0425 El Gato Demanding Her Dinner	190909_153802_0431 The Hay Wain Plus Cameo	190909_160000_673 Stage 3 - The Walk To Westminster
190909_161115_0435 Between The Paws	190909_161213_0440 More Dignified	190909_161225_0444 Show Me Some Tongue, Baby!	190909_161252_0448 The Dons Go Down
190909_161318_0454 Straight down the Lens	190909_161359_0461 England Expects	190909_161450_0464 Nelson And The Sky	190909_161533_0471 The Sign
190909_161633_0476 The Mood	190909_161735_0482 The Sign, Part Two	190909_161841_0487 The Admiralty Arch	190909_162014_0502 The Arch Closer In
190909_162144_0510 The Other Side of the Arch	190909_162216_0516 Marines	190909_162411_0523 Toward Buck House	190909_162622_0528 The Grand Old Duke of York
190909_162951_0533 The Other Side of the Mall	190909_163315_0535 The Horse Guards' Building	190909_163459_0549 Duck!	190909_163518_0553 The Squirrel
190909_163656_0559 Geese!	190909_163827_0578 These Are Not the Ducks You're Looking For	190909_164031_0587 Clive	190909_164140_0595 Boooorrriiisss.
190909_165921_0604 Once Upon A Time	190909_170020_0613 Let Us Begin with Lord Palmerston	190909_170115_0621 History on a Stick	190909_170136_0626 David Lloyd George, With Cape Flying
190909_170236_0631 You Aren't Him	190909_170316_0643 Scaffolded	190909_170345_0645 A Civil Dispute	190909_170500_0652 The Gathering of the Leavers
190909_170823_0656 Arise My People, and Buy Tacky Souvenirs!	190909_170846_0661 Not Boarding Today	190909_170917_0664 A Wider View of the Thames	190909_173843_0670 Parking: Anything Goes

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