| I love London, it is my kind of town. Now I know | | | | the Guards in recent years was held shortly after |
| that to most people this would sound as if I am | | | | the awful events of 911 when instead of playing |
| plagiarising some advertising copy for either New | | | | God Save the Queen the band of the Guards |
| York or Chicago but in this case I truly mean it. | | | | performed what turned out to be quite an |
| I have lived AND worked in London for well over | | | | emotional performance (certainly for those visiting |
| 30 years and I have seen everything come and | | | | American tourists in the audience) of the Star |
| go, good times and bad times. | | | | Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the |
| From the bad old days and the darkest hours of | | | | United States of America. |
| the terrorist bombing campaigns of the Provisional | | | | Perhaps the significance of this passed most of |
| IRA in the 70's and 80's to the good times when | | | | the on looking tourist by but it was a first in living |
| the announcement was made that London had | | | | memory that any other national anthem other |
| been awarded the 2012 Olympics and the Queens | | | | than the United Kingdoms own God Save the |
| Jubilee. London has seen it all and treats both with | | | | Queen had been performed at the Changing of |
| the same respect. | | | | the Guards ceremony. |
| I remember travelling through London to return | | | | Perhaps it is little incidences like these that sum up |
| home to Northern Ireland where I now live on the | | | | exactly what a rich cornucopia of the historic and |
| day the news broke that Princess Diana had | | | | modern, the city of London actually is. Unlike other |
| tragically been killed in a car accident in Paris and | | | | major international capital cities, London may lack |
| the sense of grief and shock were overwhelming | | | | perhaps the historic grandeur of the Parthenon in |
| as total strangers just blindly made their way to | | | | Athens or the Coliseum in Rome but through out |
| Kensington Palace to lay flowers at the peoples | | | | London you will find examples of perhaps a more |
| memorial. Then at the other end of the spectrum | | | | modern architecture (though no less splendid and |
| you have London the day of the "Live 8" Festival | | | | impressive) such as the mother of all parliaments, |
| in Hyde Park where the city centre was brought | | | | the Houses of Parliament in Westminster or the |
| to a standstill with blaring rock music belting out | | | | serenity of St Paul's Cathedral a survivor of many |
| across the entire City Centre. | | | | centuries and in many ways every bit as |
| There is so much history in London, real live, | | | | impressive now as in the days of its design under |
| vibrant living history in London that sometimes | | | | the architect Sir Christopher Wren. |
| when you live there it just passes you by and | | | | If nothing else the building of St Paul's Cathedral is |
| you take everything for granted. | | | | a testament to survival itself having both survived |
| Take the changing of the guard for instance. This | | | | the Great Fire of London in the 16th Century and |
| happens everyday at Betty and Phil's place at the | | | | then four hundred years later the Blitz in World |
| end of the mall. OK I should be slightly less | | | | War II. |
| flippant. I am of course referring to Buckingham | | | | Perhaps this encompasses the overall appeal of |
| Palace, home of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince | | | | London, the historic blend of the old and the new. |
| Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh found at the end of the | | | | Come and visit London, it won't disappoint. |
| Mall. Perhaps the most notable of the Changing of | | | | |