Images of Sunny London

A weekend in London is such a disappointment -- but only because it is so short.

My top choices for musicals to see -- Billy Elliot and Mary Poppins -- were sold out (and are sold out, months in advance). I tried to see Hay Fever with Dame Judi Dench, but she was ill and the performance was canceled. So I saw Guys and Dolls, in a new production from the Donmar Warehouse at the Piccadilly Theatre. (Full review to follow.) This was the first time I have ever seen Guys and Dolls on stage, although I was in the show in high school and I have known the score backwards and forwards for almost 30 years.

The weather in London was lovely in that way that London has: drizzly Friday, sunny Saturday, rainy Sunday, and then sunny again on Monday morning, when I had to leave.

Here are some images of London, more or less random, reflecting the sunny Saturday of my whirlwind trip.

The view from my room in The Leonard Hotel, looking north into Old Quebec Street

Westminster Cathedral, whose Byzantine style seems to belong more to Venice than to England . . .

. . . especially this campanile

Up the street from the Catholic cathedral is the Anglican Westminster Abbey . . .

. . . with its statue of St. George, high upon a pedestal

Just beyond the Abbey is the Palace of Westminster, seat of the British Parliament . . .

. . . which makes it a natural magnet for anti-war protesters, just like Lafayette Park in Washington

In the center of the theatre district is Leicester Square; in the center of Leicester Square is a statue of William Shakespeare; makes sense.