England – Gwen Hernandez

Ready to see the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.

On our recent 12-day trip to England, Scotland, and Wales my husband and I took almost 2000 pictures. (That's what happens when your cell phone is easier to whip out than your camera.) Most of those pictures are of the incredible scenery, ancient architecture, and, uh, food I ate.

But one of the things I love to capture when I travel is quirky items, things that make me smile, and those that make me say, “huh?”

You can find better pictures of the UK than I have to offer, but here are a few of the photos I snapped that you probably won't see in a guidebook or on National Geographic. Likely for good reason…

(Click any photo for larger images.)

For more travel fun, check out my Hodgepodge post from our 2010 trip to Europe. What are some odd-to-you or interesting things you've seen while traveling?

In London town

August 26, 2010Gwen HernandezWriting Life

Wow, we had such great dialog on Tuesday's post. I love it when all my blog friends come together to discuss a topic. That's a tough act to follow, so today I'm giving you the last installment of photos from my European tour this summer.

We ended our vacation in lovely London. As usual, we only had about a day and a half to explore, so we just hit the highlights. Our hotel was across the street from the London Eye (the ferris wheel) which is right on the Thames. We were basically right across the river from Westminster Palace (aka the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben).

London was a nice change from the rest of Europe. As much as I enjoyed all of the cultural exploration, I have to admit it was nice to be able to speak the language again. Mostly. 😉

We have hundreds of photos, but here are a few I thought I'd share. (Not sure why the thumbnails are a bit blurry. They're crisp if you click on them for the larger version. Sorry.)

Westminster Palace (Houses of Parliament) w/Big Ben on left, London Eye on right, over the Thames River

The London Eye. Like a ginormous bicycle wheel.

The ubiquitous London taxi cab.

One of my favorite books. Not surprised it's considered a classic, but was surprised to find it in Westminster Abbey gift shop. Not exactly a pro-church tome...