An now, here are some pictures of Trafalgar Square, the unofficial heart of London. According to Wikipedia, Trafalgar Square’s name comes from the Battle of Trafalgar, which was a naval battle in 1805 against Napoleon. 27 British ships of the line, led by Horatio Nelson, managed to defeat 33 French and Spanish ships of the line. It was a key victory that prevented the French from challenging the Royal Navy for the rest of the war.
Okay, enough European history. On with the show.
At the top of Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery (home of Van Gogh’s sunflowers). It’s the building on the left.
More photos after the jump.
Some of the photos look more ‘blue’ than others. That’s because I was fiddling with the settings on my camera. The more grayish photos were taken with the white balance set to ‘cloudy’ while the blue photos were taken with it set to ‘auto.’ Never let a machine do a man’s job.
Standing at the top of Trafalgar Square looking down. There’s a big Christmas tree in the center with single color fairy lights. I haven’t seen a tree with multi-colored lights anywhere in the city. You can see the Big Ben in the distance.
Another shot of the first picture.
From the bottom of Trafalgar Square looking up.
A statue. It reads: ‘Charles James Napier General Born MDCCLXXXII Died MDCCCLIII.
The fountain.
Nelson’s Column. The panel depicts one of Nelson’s great victories. They love this guy, apparently.
One of the lions guarding Nelson’s Column.
A far off view of Nelson’s Column. At this point, it started to rain again.
Here’s a view of Trafalgar Square from the distance.
Double decker buses. Contrary to depictions at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the side did not pop open to reveal David Beckham kicking a soccer ball.
Admiral Nelson and a lamp post. I thought it was a artsy shot.
We went to Caffe Nero, a British coffee chain. The name means ‘black coffee.’
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