Sunday was a hot, humid day in London, and I had to catch-up of arrangements for future courses, which meant a trip into Central London.

Whatever is said about the Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, he has made great differences in the scene and transportation systems of the UK capital. More people are using areas of London which only a few years ago were devoid of people, especially the South Bank. New eating places, places to relax, walk, run or have fun none exist.

Walking across the New Hungerford Bridge, linking Waterloo Railway Station, The Royal Festival Hall and the London Eye, to Charing Cross Railway Station and the Embankment, across the River Thames, the vista of London is there for all to see. 

                                 

Downstream Waterloo Bridge, with the nude men (click to see) standing guard either end, St Paul's Cathedral behind and the new Gerkin building, and cranes indicating more construction underway.

Upstream, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, and i the distance, the MI5 building made famous by the James Bond film.

                        

  In Covent Garden, a popular eating and meeting place, that once used to be the wholesale market for London's fruit and vegetables. Here was a special celebration for the formation of Malaysia fifty years ago, and there were a variety of displays and dancers for the public to see.

                                                      


Then down into Trafalgar Square, another great meeting place of the British, the Taxim Square for the Turkish.