When in London, one of the top places to visit is Big Ben.
The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell. The tower is called the Elizabeth Tower, but if looking for directions in London, it would be best to ask for Big Ben!
Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament
When I first lived in London in 1987 I never visited Big Ben, and only saw it ‘live’ when we moved to a flat in Kennington, and we could see it from our window! Quite useful to be able to get the correct time by looking out the window (the talking clock would have cost 10p, and there were no home computers or completely reliable clocks then). My most reliable timepiece was my wristwatch, but that only worked if I remembered to wind it!
Exactly Midday at Big Ben
8am Big Ben
Big Ben & The Victoria Tower and The Houses of Parliament from the River Thames through Lambeth Bridge
8.01am at Big Ben from the River Thames
Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament through Lambeth Bridge
To find out more about this weeks Travel Theme, hop over to ‘Where’s My Backpack?‘
This week’s Travel Theme is Time
Day One 
Good post, Barbara. It gives me something to aspire to.
As for the pictures, they are also very good. And to think, they will be right twice a day forever!
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I felt so silly when I went home to Ireland after living in London for 6 months and someone asked me what did I think of Big Ben… I hadn’t seen it!! Since then I have been a great tourist and seen most of the sights, but when you live and work in a city it’s something that often gets forgotten. I was lucky having lots of foreign guests over the years (my first husband was Yugoslavian) as they always wanted to ‘see’ London, so I have become quite the tour guide with a good few low cost outings in my repertoire these days 🙂
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That’s pretty typical. We rarely take time to appreciate what’s right in front of us when it comes to landmarks.
I was fortunate to have someone like you give me a personalized tour of London. It was a lovely middle aged couple who came aboard our ship for a tour when we were in Gibraltar. As a junior officer, I was assigned as their guide. We struck up a friendship and when they learned we would be in Portsmouth later in our deployment, they insisted I come up London so they could show me the town. I kept in touch with them for a while but this was in 1966 and I was single free-wheeling dude all full of myself! I really regret it now.
Sometime (not tonight…go to sleep!) I would love to hear about your trip(s) to the states and where you went and what you saw.
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I’ve been twice, once in 1989 (one night in NY, a summer in Wildwood New Jersey, and a week with my Aunt & cousins in Boston) and once in 2007 for my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary, a few days in Boston. I have lots of photos from both visits, but the ones first time round are paper & fading! The photos from my visit in 2007 are on Facebook…. somewhere (I have 109 and counting albums!)
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Great pictures of London and Big Ben!
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Thank you 🙂
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These are all great barbara but WOW the first on is sensational…what a great shot
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Thanks 🙂 It really helps to be on the river early on the morning.
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I know what you are talking about…It’s not always those great attractions that we find time for immediately .But sooner or later. It’s kind of a must, as you say…
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Oh, I clicked too son! Great shots was supposed to be the last words!
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Lol 🙂 I’m always doing that!
Nowadays I’m much better at going to see important sights… I think teenagers live in a completely different universe where such things don’t matter! I was in New York in 1989 and didn’t take one photograph there!!
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Agree..about teenagers!
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I have 2 at home, they are exactly how I was, but maybe even worse as they have mobile phones to be absorbed in too
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Oh…that’s what I get in school…students immersed in their phones instead of what they really should be doing…
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Most schools ban them, makes life a lot easier!!
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Great photos of Big Ben – that first ne could be a post card! 😉
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Thank you :).
I didn’t intend the second one to be so big, but it was special as it is the only one at exactly midday.
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😉
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