London, already a Summer feel in May

London, May 2026

So far this year I've been lucky with recurrent layovers in London, my favorite European capital. And I've been lucky with the weather too.

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Buckingham Palace

I took the Piccadilly Line from Heathrow Airport to Hyde Park Corner. I wanted to see the Buckingham Palace first and then cross the St James Park. I'm not using my Oyster card anymore. I got mine in 2010 so it was a previous generation card with many restricted functions today... But you can add a Revolut card on the TfL Go app and use it as a contactless payment on all underground stations. The daily cap still applies as long as you use the same payment card all day long. So, absolutely no need to get another Oyster.

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St James Park

Whenever the sun shines in London, you can see Londoners being Londoners...

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Household Cavalry

Next place of interest was this gravel square, the Household Cavalry...

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The London Eye

... and the London Eye with a clear blue sky!

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The Big Ben

This was the first time I was seeing the Big Ben after the recent major renovation works. It looks beautiful!

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Miscellaneous

It was by chance that I spotted this tile "EXIT BREXIT HERE" on a low wall at the Westminster Pier. I thought it was funny.

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Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is always an imponent sight to see in London.

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Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum's is an upmarket department store famous in London. It also has a tea shop like the Harrods. I took knowledge of Fortnum's while talking with a colleague the previous day.

The inside of the building in general and its two staircases, is really very impressive. 

I found this table very curious because it had on display several ceramic pieces of a very famous Portuguese ceramics factory: Bordalo Pinheiro.

When returning to the hotel I used the Elizabeth line for the first time. The fare is a little bit more expensive than the Underground's but it only took me 30 minutes from Tottenham Court Rd to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3. It was worth it even because my daily transport expenses in London were capped at £16.30, having exceeded it by £8.60.

Holidays in London, back in the day!

London, November 2012

Since 2010, London became my favorite European capital as a tourist. So much that I used to spend some of my holiday periods there. Even during cold weather seasons. This was one of those periods.

Boarding in Non-Schengen area means an opportunity to see all those widebodies. These days I was still dreaming to be promoted to the widebody fleet, which would take two years more... Pictured below is the Airbus A340 CS-TOB. The A340 would become one of my favorite aircraft, second only to the L-1011.

Already in London, one of the first stops the Science Museum in South Kensington, where an L-1011 Rolls-Royce RB211 engine is on display. On the gift shop a saw a "Etch A Sketch" which reminded me of my visit to Canada in 1991 where I saw and tried such a toy for the first time!

Strolling in London...

... Royal Albert Hall...

And of course, the Soho district and its Carnaby Street were already decorated for Christmas!

St. James's Park and its squirrels...

And finally the Millennium wheel (London Eye) and the iconic Big Ben...

I have more pictures of these holidays taken with my ultracompact camera which will be shown later. These were taken with my good old iPhone 4.

Strolling around London in decent weather

London, September 2013

As I am always saying, London is my favorite European capital. So let's start to give it a spotlight in this blog! Back in the day, I would take every opportunity I had to go from the Heathrow airport area (where we stay) to the city center.

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Tottenham Court Road

The Centre Point skyscraper and the Dominion Theatre...

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Regent Street

In Regent Street I stopped to check on the Apple Store. The new iPhones 5s and 5c were just released and the blue 5c was already in my mind to replace my old but yet the most beautiful iPhone ever built, the iPhone 4. I would buy it a couple of months later and that blue 5c would last four years from 2013 to 2017.

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Piccadilly Circus

The iconic, vibrant and colorful road junction in the center of London...

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Trafalgar Square

... and Nelson on the top of the column.

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London Eye & Big Ben

The Thames and the iconic London Eye...

... and always a good opportunity for a time check while admiring the Big Ben!

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Back in Lisbon

So much has changed since this time. The airline got its old name back (TAP Air Portugal) and CS-TNS which was parked side by side (still in the fleet) got a pair of sharklets and changed its name from "D. Afonso Henriques" to "Damião de Góis".