If you do, you’ll love it even more when you see it from above, in the photographs taken by architect, photographer, and pilot Jeffrey Milstein for his newest book, “London from the Air,” published by Rizzoli.
How does Milstein get these incredible images? He shoots straight down, with the best and newest high-resolution cameras while leaning out of helicopters. And with special permission to bypass the strict laws that usually forbid aerial photography of the capital city,
In the book’s foreword, Sir Norman Foster writes, “For the visual reader, this book can delight at a purely aesthetic level and need go no further. But discerning viewers can also read much more into the photographs as they reveal the infrastructure of public spaces, parks, avenues of trees, streets, arteries of road and railways, and airport terminals where the highways in the sky finally come down to earth.”
Here are some more images from the book.
Above: Hyde’s Park Winter Wonderland, which takes place each year from November to January.
All photos courtesy Jeffrey Milstein from the book, “London From the Air,” Rizzoli
Stuck at The Airport is spending a couple of days in London as a guest of Gatwick Airport,, the airport’s mascot, Gary Gatwick, and a growing list of new local friends, some of whom got us out of a sticky situation. (More on that soon…)
After landing at Gatwick Airport and making the 30-minute journey to London’s Victoria Station on the Gatwick Express we were able to take in some sights before jet lag set in.
The View from Above
With Gary Gatwick in tow, we did what a lot of locals and tourists were doing on a warm, sunny day: we rode the elevators to the top of the Shard building. It’s the tallest building in the United Kingdom and the view from the observation floors at the top is just unbeatable.
Bonus: visitors can purchase drinks and snacks up top, get selfies galore, engage in some people-watching, and enjoy the gelato and air conditioning.
The View from the Water
Once we saw the views of the river from above, we wanted to see it from the water level.
The View from the River 50-minute circular cruise on the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers made that easy.
With a smart and witty tour guide on the microphone, we cruised by many of London’s iconic landmarks, including The Shard, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe theater, St Paul’s Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, The London Eye, and the Tower of London.
We also sailed under the Tower Bridge, which just happened to be opening to make way for a larger boat as we approached.
At one point our tour guide asked for a show of hands from all the Americans on board. No one but me raised their hand. A quick “Do you call it ‘football’ or ‘soccer’?’ survey from our guide confirmed that this tour has become quite popular with locals.
The Superbloom at the Tower of London
Day 2 of our whirlwind London tour included a visit to the Tower of London, the urban castle that served as a secure fortress, royal palace, and infamous prison, and is now also home to the very closely guarded Crown Jewels.
Courtesy Historic Royal Places
Again, we found ourselves mingling with more locals than tourists when we headed to the Tower of London to see how the historic moat around the tower has been transformed by a flower display dubbed the ‘Superbloom,’ and planted to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
The flowers may die and fade and die back in the fall, a Superbloom volunteer told us. But he also assured us that the flowers should return each spring for at least the next four or five years.
Our tour in London also took us to the historic floating museum known as the HMS Belfast and on an unusual adventure on the underground. We’ll share details on both uniquely London experiences, and more, tomorrow.
Like these guys, no one is traveling anywhere right now.
But there are still fun things to do.
Neon Museum Las Vegas – photo Harriet Baskas
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas has a colorful app on its website that will take you on a tour of its Neon Boneyard. (Password: Neon)
And while Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London is closed due to the Covid-19 crisis, the theater is rolling out a long list of free online performances.
We have some exciting news to bring you this Monday as we’ve been exploring even more ways to share digital joy and wonder with you, our extended Globe family ⭕ pic.twitter.com/Kcx6ZPXJBH
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (2013), from May 4-17;
‘The Winter’s Tale’ (2018), from May 18-31;
‘The Two Noble Kinsmen’ (2018), June 1-14 and;
‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ (2019), June 15-28
The free streamed performances will also include productions from the 2021 ‘Globe to Globe‘ series that included Shakespeare plays performed in a variety of languages.
What’s more, our 2012 #GlobetoGlobe Festival productions, which saw artists from all over the world explore Shakespeare’s works in their own language in our wooden O, will also be freely available on #GlobePlayer. pic.twitter.com/ruIoJLy7VV
If you’ve been to London more than once, you’ll want to start exploring the neighborhoods and attractions beyond the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the like.
Upstairs is a cocktail bar with an emphasis on absinthe.
Downstairs, entered via a narrow winding staircase, is a highly entertaining cabinet of curiosities filled with natural history specimens, assorted taxidermy, skulls, marine creatures and a collection of books with titles ranging from ‘A Guide to Faking Exhibition Poultry’ to ‘A Sex Guide for Irish Farmers,’ and “Shopping Center Sex.”
Here are some snaps a two-headed lamb and other snaps from a recent visit:
I’m in London this week for a few days to be part of the judging panel for the second annual Travel Retail Awards program for TRBusiness.
My assignment: evaluate spirits, cosmetics, chocolates, small electronics and other products sold in airport shops.
Tought job, right? But I’m taking the testing and evaluating very seriously.
While in town, I did take the change to stop by the Bankside, a new very fun and “design-forward” hotel in a cool neighborhood on the the south bank of the River Thames. (Sea Containers London, another swank London hotel I’ve had the pleasure of staying in before, is just a few doors down the street.)
I wasn’t able to spend the night at 161-room Banskside (part of Marriott’s Autograph collection of properties), but I did get a tour around the art-filled lobby, a look at a room and a lovely (hosted, thank-you!) dinner in the Art Yard Bar & Kitchen.
While I couldn’t try everything on the menu, I can heartily recommend the dishes I tried, especially the Monkfish Catapanla, (a hearty fish stew for two with several types of seafood), as well as the Pear Parfait and Dark Chocolate Fondant desserts.
The Bankside has several ‘bonus’ amenities that seem unique and/or quite amusing.
Guests find marshmallows on their pillows at turndown. Bars with taps to dispense several types of water (sorry, not beer) are in each hall. And just outside the elevator on each floor is a vending machine where guests may purchase small bottles of pre-made cocktails, wine, liquor and other ‘necessities,’ such as an emergency engagement ring, and handmade sparkly pants.
