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Visiting the UK

Jump to: Panoramic composites | To London | London, Part 1 | Edinburgh | London, Part 2 | Leaving London

To London: BUR - DEN - ORD - LHR

Shots from the United Red Carpet Club at Denver, looking at the airport and into downtown Denver. No pictures from Chicago O'Hare, as I was running from gate to gate due to a short layover. United International first class is nifty enough- being able to lay flat is damned cool. Aerial photos are of London as we make our final approach.

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Denver
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12x zoom
@ downtown
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dinner
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breakfast
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the pod
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controls
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1st class
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Highrises
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Famous stuff
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London, part 1

Westminster Abbey/Big Ben/Parliament on the west bank of the Thames, then a stroll along the south bank via the Aquarium/London Eye up past the weekend book faire, a Japanese robotic/anime art exhibit, Shakespeare's Egg, Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, then across the Tower Bridge. Up to the Tower of London and a short view of the business downtown. The we got pretty lost over in Ealing/Acton Town trying to meet a friend at a pub... walked a few extra miles...

The next day was a through exploration of the Tower of London, and then a somewhat-brief run through the Tate Modern. Wandered over to Oxford Circus afterwards to look at the shops, stop at HMV, and find both a pub (the Flag and Lamb) and a little Italian place for dinner.

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Big Ben
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Flags @ Parliament
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Westminster
Abbey
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Eye
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Skaters
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Tate Modern
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Shakespeare's
Egg
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Tower Bridge
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City Hall
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Tower of London
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Lost in Ealing
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Mmm, kebab...
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Wagamama
for lunch
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Guided tour
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Traitor's Gate
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in the Armory
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Past layouts
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of the Tower
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Snack time
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Big mall
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Tate Modern
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Exchange rates
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Oxford St
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HMV
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Red buses
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Borders
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Maplin
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Smart Roadster
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Right off Oxford St
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Best Western at
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Heathrow
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Hammersmith
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Edinburgh (Scotland)

On a train to Edinburgh. Could have flown cheaper, but we weren't aware of any cheap plane tickets that worked with our last-minute seat-of-the-pants planning.

Just under a 5 hour train ride through York, Darlington, Glasgow, Newcastle, etc. Dinner at the "best" Indian restaurant in Scotland according to the travel books, the Kalpna. Walked around at night shooting pictures of Old Town and the castle, then a pub called the Three Sisters. Next morning was a tour of the castle, the Scottish Museum, a real meal of fish and chips (YUM!)... then back to London.

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York
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Darlington
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Window, meet rock
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Newcastle
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Hotel Ibis
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5th floor
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view from Ibis
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Dinner
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Camera break
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The Castle
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National Gallery
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Inside Three Sisters
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Old Town
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National Gallery
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Edinburgh is
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rather hilly
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Castle in daylight
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Overlooking the
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city
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Very large cannon
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Fish and chips
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Nissan Primera
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Bagpipes
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35mm equivalent
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432mm equivalent

London, part 2

After one night in Edinburgh, we took the 2nd to last train back to London (5:00pm). We bought ANOTHER US to UK prong adapter because Erik and I both forgot our own sets at home... then Erik lost the one he'd bought the day before... I don't know if he ever got much use of of this 2nd one...

We noticed a few nuclear power plants on the way back to London, in addition to the usual British countryside. One thing about London that our friends mentioned: London exists in its own universe compared to the rest of Britain. We didn't do much the night we returned to London, but the next day we walked around quite a bit and did some more exploring. Kensington Gore held the Royal Geographic Society and the Royal College of Art, plus some major sites that we skipped: Kensington Palace, V&A Museum, Natural History Museum, etc. We also stopped by Harrods (another truly unique place).

Then off to downtown, for a tour of Westminster Abbey, the Imperial War Museum's very impressive collection of actual military hardware (not replicas!), and general walking around. We then visited Chinatown before the Ars meet in Islington that evening. Chinatown was quite a bit smaller than I expected, at least compared to what I've seen in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

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Kings Cross station
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Kensington
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Virgin Megastore
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Kensington Gore
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Prince Albert
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Royal College of Art
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Royal Geographic
Society
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Join us!
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Towards Harrods
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Harrods
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Lunch
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Lamb! Yum!
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Burberry
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Temple Church
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Note obleisks
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Temple Station
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Big Ben
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Westminster Abbey
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Big Ben
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Imperial War Museum
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15" guns
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Sopwith Camel(?)
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Jagdpanther
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M4 Sherman
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V-1 rocket
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V-2 rocket
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FW190
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Spitfire
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Thunder SAM
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Exocet
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P-51 Mustang
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15" shell
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Chinatown!
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Roast duck
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Decorative gate
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Toward Piccadilly
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Passed out
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Alfa Romeo
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Ars meet 1
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Dinner @ Parveen
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The pub is closed?!!?
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Pub owner
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From London: LHR - ORD - DEN - BUR

Plenty of aerial photos. Many places of historic or cultural interest such as Westminster Abbey and the Tate Modern discouraged taking pictures, so I found myself with two 1GB flash cards and at the end of the trip with one card still completely empty and the first card only 90% full. Suffice it to say I was somewhat disappointed that I had so much space left, so I got busy looking out the windows while waiting at Heathrow, flying over London, and then crossing over Ireland. Plus a few at Chicago.

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B777 anyone?
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B747-400
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New terminal
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London
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Hedgerows
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Scottish-Irish coast
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Ireland (35mm)
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432mm equivalent
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Food in 1st class
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Final approach at
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Chicago O'Hare
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Big line of planes
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waiting to takeoff
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9 aircraft waiting
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Fluffy clouds!
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Southwestern US
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Panoramic shots

Done in Autostitch. No other perspective correction applied.

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Big Ben
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Looking east
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Looking west
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HMS Belfast
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Near Tower Bridge
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Tower of London
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Inside the Tower
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Take 2
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Hunter Square,
Edinburgh
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Take 2
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Edinburgh
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Looking from
the castle
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Church in Edinburgh
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Temple garden
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Piccadilly Circus
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Take 2