London, England is one of the oldest cities in the world. The city was originally founded by the Romans but the land was inhabited long before that so humans have lived in what is now London for thousands of years.
Road paved with stones in London, in the City of Westminster near Paddington Station. It does have an ancient look although it may not be as old as one might think.
London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. As such it is the center of the British Empire.
Strangely enough I tend to change airplanes at the Heathrow Airport in London quite often when I fly between Europe and North America, yet, until recently I have never been to the city.
Heathrow Airport.
During as recent trip I had to wait 12 hours for my connecting flight, so I have finally decided to leave the airport building and actually go and walk around a bit in London which is a surprisingly pleasant thing to do. Also in England the locals do speak English so I don’t feel completely lost if I need to ask for directions or some such.
The express train from Heathrow goes to Padding Station.
Domine dirige nos virtute et industria. — The motto of the Great Western Railway Company, displayed inside Paddington Station.
Even the station and its vicinity is full of interesting stuff — especially if you have never been to London before.
All around the statuion there are bears, stuffed bear stores, and all sorts of bear related insignia.
Even though the city looks old, there are surprising signs of modernization. For example I have seen electric cars plugged in on the street (I don’t think I have even seen such a thing before).
The future is here. Plug in electric cars being charged on the street in London.
The city is very clean and civilized, friendly for walking around on foot. Local pedestrians seem to ignore red lights altogether and just cross the street when cars are not close enough to hit them.
There are plenty of maps showing where you are and the immediate vicinity as well as signs pointing to popular destinations — very much unlike Toronto where you have no way to figure out where you are if you are lost downtown. So it was very refreshing for me, as I can get lost easily.
Signs pointing to nearby points of interest. I wish we had those in Toronto…..
There were some unusual signs as well, e.g. one warning of equestrian traffic (and indeed there were people riding on horses nearby).
A street in Westminster with a sign warning of equestrian traffic. And really there were people riding horses further down the street.
Actually not far from that corner there is a large green wooded park area composed of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.
Bayswater Road, just outside Kensington Gardens.
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