London Flashback

While we were in London, it had me wondering about the pictures I took half a life-time ago.  I went into our storage and dug them out of the bottom of a plastic container.

So here I present: England Trip 2000, along with some observations and comparison

We flew from Boston to London, and then hit the ground running by going to Stonehenge.  I laugh whenever I see this picture, because it definitely looks like we just rolled off an airplane.  Also, I decided this will probably be the one and only time I see Stonehenge, because there's no way I'd drive on the wrong side of the road (or let Hyrum drive on the wrong side of the road.)  Fortunately for us, my dad was a pro and safely drove us around England.  

When my dad took us, we spent a full week in England, so we saw all the main attractions in London.  Many of them we re-visited on our recent trip so Hyrum could check them out.  What a difference... returning with a husband and baby!

[Same spot at Tower of London]

 Looking through my pictures, I noticed several differences in the way we take picture today vs 2000.  First, no digital cameras.  So I literally had one or two rolls of film for the whole trip (vs the hundreds of pictures we take on most of our weekend trips now.)  Our camera today takes much better pictures to start with, and then photo editing makes a huge difference.

[Westminster Abbey... not much change]

I also noticed a big difference in the subjects of my pictures.  Most were just buildings, several were of my sister, and I was just in a few.  I feel like today we take pictures of ourselves doing just about everything, and then publish them on the internet.  They're no longer just personal reminders of a trip, but also public travelogues for strangers.  Slightly more narcissistic, but also more interesting.

[Jenna at Buckingham Palace]

[St Paul's Cathedral... much less crowded on our recent trip, and it looks like the pillars were cleaned]

 Cell phones existed in 2000 (even much earlier, as Saved by the Bell proves), but it was a few more years before they really gained traction.  (Four years later, by the end of high school, many students had them, but not all.)  Anyway, on our first trip I think these phone booths were still used for phone calls.  Today, they mostly collect trash.  They're dirty, and there's no way I'd step inside.  

I was surprised when I found this old Tube ticket and saw that our fare was only 80 cents!  On our recent trip, it would have been four pounds for a single ticket.  Using Oyster cards, we still paid 2.20!

 Lastly, London is the first place I saw Les Miserables!  And loved it, of course.  With a baby in tow we weren't able to see any shows this time, but when we saw posters for Lion Kind and Wicked I really wished we could!  Maybe an excuse for a 3rd trip?