David Kotz

St. Paul’s sunset

Last sunset of 2025!

I wanted to capture the last sunset of 2025 with an expansive view of London. So I climbed to the top of the famous dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, squeezing my way up the ever-narrower spiral staircases and internal alleyways until I reached the Golden Gallery that circles the spire on top of the dome. It was 3:30, so I had a half hour to wait for sunset. Today the sky was clear, but the cityscape was filled with a light haze. As the sun sank lower, and the other tourists snapped their selfies to my left and right, I realized the sunset would be perfectly aligned! Below is the view just before the sun disappeared into the southwestern clouds, seen right through the London Eye, past Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower), Westminster Abbey, and our flat in Pimlico. Neat!

New Year’s Eve sunset from St. Paul’s Cathedral in central London –
right through the London Eye and over Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) and Westminster Abbey.

Here’s a close-up view.

Below you can see the front of St. Paul’s Cathedral as approached from The Strand; the Golden Gallery is the fenced area at the top of the dome at the base of the spire.

St. Paul’s Cathedral seen from the Strand. My photos are from the golden gallery
at the top of the dome and the base of the spire.

See more photos, full-scale, in the photo gallery. Below is a map, from The Photographer’s Emphemeris app, showing the alignment. St. Paul’s is at the top center, and the orange line shows the direction of the sunset to the southwest. The blue dot on the orange line shows the location of our flat. I only discovered this amazing alignment after returning home!

Tower of London

The iconic castle, prison, royal residence, and home to the Crown Jewels.

No visit to London would be complete without a visit to the iconic Tower of London. Originally built in the 1070s by William the Conquerer, it was the first stone castle in England, and has been expanded and revised numerous times over nine hundred years. Today, it serves largely as a tourist attraction, and as secure storage for the Crown Jewels. We arrived early for our ticketed entrance time of 11am, and wound our way slowly inward following a queue of hundreds of other visitors. The Tower (really, several towers surrounded by concentric defensive walls and a moat, now dry) was decorated for Christmas and thronged with holiday visitors.

Panoramic view of the Tower of London, from the edge of its moat,
with The Shard visible in the distance at right.

Guildford Downs

A sunny (but chilly) day for a hike through the countryside.

Today was a beautiful, sunny day, albeit a bit breezy and quite chilly. Nonetheless I was eager to get out for another long walk – my fourteenth consecutive weekend hike. I selected a route in the North Downs, outside the town of Guildford to the southwest of London. This week, the whole family came along. Despite extensive delays on the rail system, which has reduced service this week while crews leverage the holiday week for some maintenance work, we made a fine day of it.

Walking past Guildford Cemetery. Lewis Carroll is buried here.

Christmas in London

London is beautifully decorated for the holiday.

London goes all-out for Christmas, with homes, stores, streets, and squares boasting elaborate decorations. The long nights encourage beautiful light displays, often including massive designs that are draped along major shopping streets. Throughout December I’ve snapped photos of some of my favorites – and even my full gallery of photos doesn’t begin to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the decorations across the city. Perhaps the most elaborate was produced by Anabel’s, an exclusive club on Berkeley Square, London. Its entire façade has been overlaid with an fantastical scene inspired by the Narnia stories.

An elaborate holiday display superimposed on the entrance to Anabel’s,
an exclusive club on Berkeley Square, London.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas preparations

Preparing for the holiday in London.

Part of the joy of spending Christmas in London is the opportunity to explore the city as we prepare for the holiday. We began by attending a production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was a real treat to see one of my favorite stories, on stage, in the city where the story is set!

The stage is set for “A Christmas Carol”, in London.

We spent two afternoons shopping at the exquisite (and crowded!) Camden Market and Borough Market, and acquiring a small Christmas Tree for our flat. In typical multi-cultural London fashion, we here in England acquired a Christmas Tree grown in Scotland and sold by an Iranian man wearing a kilt.

Cornucopia of food at Borough Market, London.

See more in the gallery.

Stonehenge

Beautiful weather, and light crowds, the day after winter solstice.

The ancient site of Stonehenge is one of those world-heritage sites that really must be on anyone’s life list. It’s only two hours from London, so I’ve been eager to visit. And, because it was designed with exquisite solar alignment to the winter and summer solstices, with winter solstice being (likely) the more significant date, I sought to arrange our visit for yesterday, the winter solstice.

My research quickly dispelled that notion. Stonehenge was anticipating thousands of people to show up for sunrise, many of whom would need to walk miles alongside the road (in the pre-dawn dark) from remote parking locations. All the tour operators were sold out, and would require departing London before 4am. I decided, instead, to book a private tour for the day after solstice. Wow, was that ever a good move!

Stonehenge, with moody clouds and sunshine on the stones and grass — Stonehenge, the morning after the winter solstice.

London solstice

Winter solstice in London

Today is the winter solstice. (Technically, it is the December solstice, which in the northern hemisphere is the winter solstice.) I thought surely there would be many photographic opportunities for the solstice, in and around London. (Solstice is a big deal at Stonehenge, of course, but I envisioned massive crowds today and decided to wait.) So I asked ChatGPT for advice. It provided a remarkable response, listing a half-dozen locations suitable for sunrise, another half-dozen for sunset, and more; it listed specific times, provided information about transport to and from each site; it suggested camera settings; and it even built a busy day-long itinerary for a sequence of sites to visit. Although impressive, I decided to keep it simple and went to Primrose Hill for sunrise.

Sunrise over the London skyline. — Sunrise over London, from Primrose Hill – the day before solstice.

Regent Canal

An extended walk along Regent Canal and through Kensington Gardens.

It isn’t always necessary to leave London to enjoy a lengthy hike that offers plenty of interesting things to see, along with some natural spaces. Today, for my thirteenth consecutive weekend hike, I walked over Primrose Hill, along the towpath of Regent Canal, and across the west end of Hyde Park known as Kensington Gardens. Along the way I enjoyed broad views of the London skyline, intimate views of a narrow canal, backside views of London Zoo, and a distant view of the London Eye. I capped it all off with chai and a croissant at Guillam in Gloucester.

Scene along the Regent Canal, including a Chinese-style double-decker boat (now a restaurant) and three houseboats.

London – random scenes

Three random sights in London.

I often take long walks, here in London. Sometimes I have a destination – going to work at Imperial, or visiting a museum, or shopping for an obscure item. Othertimes I just wander. Either way, I sometimes ignore the temptation of Apple Maps, point my nose in the general direction, and zigzag through streets and parks until I get close to where I want to be. Along the way, I enjoy the sense of discovery, often about the smallest things.

Fifteen children’s scooters lined up outside a daycare center – Westminster, London.

Wicked!

After dark, London provides many photo opportunities.

Nearly every day, I walk past the London theater (um, sorry, theatre) housing a production of the blockbuster Broadway show, Wicked. It’s after dark, when the show is running, that it truly shines. Literally. The bright-green neon lights of the Apollo Victoria theatre’s marquee illuminates the street and, what I love most, the queue of taxis waiting out front.

Lights from the marquee for "Wicked" shine on Victoria Square, London. — Lights from the marquee for “Wicked” shine on Victoria Square, London.