London Bus Tour-Sightseeing

 On the bus tour, we got to see an overview of the top sightseeing locations in London.  Some of these include St Paul's Cathedral (pictured to the right), Big Ben, Tower Bridge (pictured below), the Shakespeare "Seven Ages of Man" statue (pictured below, and very cool), and more!
  Some of you may not know this, but the Tower Bridge is actually the bridge portrayed in most famous London images, not the London Bridge which is actually one of the more boring bridges. This tour had the element of identity of tradition because so many of the sites we saw were symbols of England, if not London in particular. 

 Artistic expression is another relevant theme because statues such as the man on the horse, and especially the stacked head statue commemorating Shakespeare and where the old theatre used to stand, are strong artistic statements.

      The stacked heads are so interesting to me because the base begins with words, then a baby face that brilliantly fades into a slightly older face, into a yet older one, all the way to an old man and finally a skeleton face at the very top.  You can see this in the images I have added below.  This sculpture also hints at cultural borrowing because of the totem pole fashion it is erected in.  The base of the sculpture quotes lines from Shakespeare's comedy "As You Like It" and I think it is one of the creepiest-coolest things I have seen in a bit...ONE of them. :)

<< I also included some pictures of the more recent building being erected in Central London.  Since the Olympics occurred in London a few years ago, it seems many efforts are being made around the city, as far as construction--both erecting new and maintaining the old.

I'm tired now, off to bed.

Cheers,
Abby XOXO