Four days in (outer) London June 25, 2016 A whirlwind trip to London, centered in Syon Park. Oh yeah, and did I mention Brexit? View fullsize Our plane for the 12-hour, 5-minute flight. Luckily, it's a new one! View fullsize View from my seat - that old guy is what flies me to Sydney. View fullsize Just south of Suvarnabhumi - you see the blue bike track that circles the airport perimeter. View fullsize Highway mayhem! View fullsize A good view of the BTS Sukhumvit Line extension. View fullsize Spotty clouds over Kanchanaburi. View fullsize And suddenly the ground below has turned into London countryside. View fullsize Approaching Heathrow from the east; here's Canary Wharf. View fullsize And the rail lines toward London Bridge station and the Shard. View fullsize The Shard, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and all the other fun spots. View fullsize The London Eye, St. James Park, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and the rest. View fullsize Kensington Gardens... View fullsize ... Royal Albert Hall, and the Chelsea neighbourhood. View fullsize Remember this view - especially that large Art Deco building. View fullsize Heathrow cars! View fullsize Made it to Syon Park. The lovely view from my window. View fullsize The grand (former) entrance to Syon Park, home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. View fullsize Remember that Art Deco building? It's the Gillette Building - former European HQ of the Gillette Company, from the early 1930s until 2003. View fullsize The grounds of Syon Park. View fullsize More Syon Park. View fullsize The Great Conservatory, designed by Charles Fowler and completed in 1827 (Wikipedia). View fullsize Massive leaves! View fullsize Inside the Great Conservatory for our "Welcome" Dinner. View fullsize Wednesday night on the town! Here's our sweet ride. View fullsize Looking south down the River Thames, from the Lambeth Bridge. View fullsize The veritable Palace of Westminster. View fullsize Looks great in this late-evening sunlight. View fullsize All the news stations were poised in position for the next day's Brexit vote. View fullsize Eurovision booth. View fullsize AP booth, right next to Westminster Abbey. View fullsize How grand! View fullsize Big Ben is fearing for his future! View fullsize A group of "Remain" activists sings a lovely chorus of unity. View fullsize The Old War Office Building, used by Churchill has HQ during WWII. View fullsize The Westminster entrance. View fullsize Horse Guards Parade. View fullsize And also, the site of the Beach Volleyball events in the London 2012 Olympics. View fullsize Looking up The Mall toward Admiralty Arch. View fullsize The sun has finally set over London, and New Bond Street. View fullsize Friday morning, we were in for a surprise. But The Times went to print before the news broke. See the subhead: "Farage concedes it looks like Remain will edge it". View fullsize And a few minutes later. View fullsize Letting the news sink in under the sun. View fullsize And some clouds. And planes. View fullsize A short walk into the town of Brentford nearby. View fullsize The River Brent meets the Thames in this town in the London Borough of Hounslow. View fullsize Finding my way back to Syon Park, through this labyrinth of brick walls and trees. View fullsize Follow the blue sky! View fullsize The British countryside is indeed lovely! View fullsize Finally the papers have caught up with the day's news! View fullsize Hmm. Not the same sentiment I witnessed. View fullsize Bye-bye, London! Til we meet again. View fullsize Back in Bangkok, we took a strange approach into the airport, ultimately backing in. View fullsize And then we overshot the gate. Well, who said the airport can't be a drive-in?
