The tower anchors one end of the Houses of Parliament, and it's all just downright impressive. As soon as you emerge from the Westminster underground (tube) station, Big Ben is pretty much in your face or "just there" as the British say. It rings on the quarter hour, and you can't not notice.
What better place to start a tour of a city you've never been to and meet a friend you've never met. My fellow graduating student and friend-from-afar Steve was flying over from Geneva, and our plans were to meet at Big Ben at 11 a.m.
Big Ben and Parliament alone were enough to take in, but the most fun -- and wonderful-- aspect of the setting was grasping the relationship of the river Thames (prounouced "Tims") to the setting. It's an issue of proportions and reference points, really, perhaps best explained in contrast to the beautiful Ohio river whose bend embraces the Midwestern U.S. city where I live.
A Beautiful River vs. an Intimate River
The Ohio, which means "good river" in native American Iroquis language, later translated to "beautiful river" by the French, is about 3,330 feet wide at the Indiana-Kentucky border. It's not a short walk... In fact, you just don't see people on foot crossing the parallel twin bridges that link the city where I live to Kentucky.
So when I read in the guidebooks about walking across the bridge over the Thames, I was not picturing a stroll.
If such a thing as a river can be intimate, then the Thames fits that description.
It's only about 825 feet wide, roughly one-quarter the width of the Ohio. So many London-reknown attractions are "right there" (if not "just there") within walking distance. On one side, there's Ben Big and Parliament with Westminter Abbey and Buckingham Palace not too far -- and on the other, the London Eye, the aquarium and the unique feel that you only get in the old, old part of the city's London Bridge area.
Steve's arrival from Geneva was delayed an hour, so I had an opportunity to do bit more exploring, but we'll leave that for the next post. For now, here are my best shots of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Above: My favorite shot of Big Ben; below: Ben Ben as it anchors the Houses of Parliament
Below: Parliament courtyard shot through a link in the fence.
Pretty happy with the composition of this one.
Below: Parliament courtyard, another view. Notice the bicyles.
I wonder if they belong to the members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons.
Below: Parliament and Big Ben from the south side of the Thames. The skies are starting to clear.
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