London

Recently I was in London, and this picture was taken on my first day there. Although it's not the best photo I have of the Houses of Parliament (the sky was much bluer on other days), it captures a lot of the excitement I felt when I first saw that view.

Coming out of Westminster tube station, you get a stunning eyeful of Big Ben. It is bigger and more ornate than I had imagined. The parliament buildings are, of course, covered with delicate spires and gargoyles and other neo-Gothic fancies. I started on Westminster Bridge over the Thames and admired the Houses of Parliament from there. Two Spanish girls took my photograph on the bridge. Then I walked round the side of the buildings, looking at the statues of Oliver Cromwell and a horsed King Richard the Lionheart. Across the street, on Westminster Square, were more statues, most prominently one of a scowling Winston Churchill, striding forward in a greatcoat, his guise during the years of the Blitz. He looked grand and fierce.

It was drizzling very slightly, enough to make London look just exactly they way I'd always thought it would from my childhood picture books. Gray skies, damp pavement, and a blur of umbrellas and mackinaws as people hurried to the red double-decker buses.