After waking up at a late London morning hour but not too late, to adjust to the jetlag. We headed out for breakfast and a date with one of those open top tour buses (BTW I didn't take photos from the bus with the fancy camera, just sat back and enjoyed the ride and hopping off/on) 

The cafe was lovely and reasonably close to the hotel, the photo of the sign is less about amazing photography and just about including a nice place in the travelogue. 

Getting off the bus at Kings Cross, we wanted to see Platform 9 3/4, being only middling potterheads we still thought it would be cool to see, I found the actual thing rather touristy and tacky. Of course they are not going to have people wander onto an actual train platform so there is a little half embedded cart in a brick wall with a store to buy expensive trinkets next to it. All in all... meh. BUT! The station itself was a meditation on light and form, old juxtaposed with new. I LOVED the shadows and the light. 

Not sure if I can choose between this one and the next one, but both just please me so much. This first one has the shadows brought up more to details the people walking. 

This one I left the shadows darker to show more the light on the floor and the patterns it makes. Neither of these are what I wanted straight out of camera, and were tweaked in post processing to achieve the look I wanted. I will admit that sorting, choosing and massaging the RAW files in the computer was a long and drawn out task, took me several months and some hair pulling, but I got through them. The important part to remember is I don't do AI or add elements, I take what is there and emphasize elements to create the image I want to present. In this age of AI generate images, I think that means something.

The exterior of St. Pancras International Rail Station right next to Kings Cross is a cool old building that I felt deserved monochrome treatment.

The steps leading up to it from Kings Cross also had a cryptic but fun message too.

As always, thanks for reading and comments are always welcome!