I'm impressed by how dark and soot-covered the buildings under the signage are. If it weren't for the huge signs, the place would be kind of depressing.

Some bits of London are still that sooty, Thorzdad, but most of it has been cleaned up. It has made a huge difference.

Guinness is good for you.

Clean or not, though, I still find Piccadilly Circus a bit scary - so many aimless tourists, so many buses, so many taxis.

A Times Square where you can still see the sky, in other words.

London is on my list of must-see cities. Right now, a round-trip ticket is ~$1200 from Seattle, so it won't be this year.

Those are great, but I could weep when I think what they've done to Piccadilly Circus. For a start, it's no longer a circus - the statue of Anteros in the centre has been moved off to the side, outside the Criterion. And the Trocadero is a fucking monstrosity. I feel much the same way about Piccadilly Circus as most New York residents I know feel about Times Square - it's somewhere you can't avoid if you're going to the theatre, but you wouldn't go there for any other reason at all.

Amazing!

Love. You find the bestest stuff BP.