My Travel Style is... Looking at Buildings!

Don't forget to go to the theater, one of my sons tells me, when I leave for London. I know he makes a point of attending concerts, plays and sporting events wherever he goes. And although I notice plays in the vicinity of my hotel, they don't attract me...














I can attend the theater at home... Here I just want to enjoy this city - something I can't do anywhere else. (And watching British television in my hotel room at night is a cultural experience as well!)














So I walk around the city streets, noticing the mix of old and new...


















What am I looking for?


















I don't know - The personality of the city perhaps... whatever that means.














I spend most of the daylight hours, every day, absorbing the sights and sounds...


















For some reason, old architecture fascinates me...














So as I walk down random street, taking pictures of... random buildings...


















They look so interesting!














Now that I'm back home, I have no idea what most of them are (I'm not organized enough to write down all the names!)














But they create an image of London in my mind...


















When I set out on my walk, I have a general destination, but then I get distracted by interesting places along the way. I often come across surprises, like this gorgeous sign at the British Library...


















I had planned to visit the Russel Hotel (at Russel Square in Bloomsbury), built in 1900...


















I discovered it in my hotel research before leaving home. (So I'm glad I actually found it!) It was a masterpiece a hundred years ago... (About the time that Boldt Castle was being built on the Thousand Islands closer to home.) It must have been an era of luxurious hotels...


















I had seen pictures of the grand staircase - so I just had to slip in and take a picture... My camera doesn't do it justice!














Not far away, I wander into a shopping mall (I don't see many of them in downtown London.) I am intrigued by this apartment building overlooking the mall. Are they attached? Would it be interesting watching shoppers from my balcony window? These are thoughts that come to mind.














I happen upon this lovely old building. My tour book tells me it was once the Midland Grand Hotel - above St. Pancras Train Station. It is being converted into condominiums and a Marriott Hotel.

Travel is a voyage in self-discovery! I realize my travel style is... LOOKING AT SCENERY, LOOKING AT BUILDINGS!

As I think of our family's different travel interests - attending plays and sporting events, gambling, shopping.... (My parents loved to visit long-lost relatives and catch up on family stories!)

We're all so different! Yet we travel together. It's a wonder we have managed to do that for so many years!