The Monument to the Great Fire of London, or the Monument for short, is in London, of course, at the northern end of the London Bridge (not the one that was moved to Arizona).

The Monument is impressive from the outside, but this spiral stairway from inside the structure is rather impressive in its own right. The staircase has 311 steps. The monument serves as a scientific instrument and a mount for a panoramic camera system overseeing the city, both of which make it one of the more practical monuments out there.

This post is part of Uptake’s Monday Museums, Monuments and Memorials Series.

Photo: David Barrie via Flickr

These holiday lights over London’s Regent Street in the famous West End are a simple blanket over the busy town. Many of London’s popular tourist attractions are located along Regent Street and the yearly Christmas light display is a London tradition dating back to the end of World War II when it was safe to be bright again (the decorating began during the war, but consisted mainly of trees and not lighting).

If you find yourself on Regent Street, anytime of year, check out Piccadilly Circus (not an actual circus) and All Souls Church. If you find yourself there during the holidays just look up. That should suffice nicely.

This post is part of UpTake’s Family Friday Series. This month the emphasis is on holiday lighting. If you see a display worth mentioning send us a photo via the contact link in the sidebar.

Photo: fotologic via Flickr

It looks like Christmas windows in London, England aren’t that different than what we have here in the United States. There’s glee and jolly, and a ton of Disney/Pixar characters. Nothing says “happy holidays” like Santa Woody.

I’m only kind of joking. I do love me some Toy Story.

This month we are featuring Holiday Window Decorations! Normally on Tuesdays we run the UpTake Tuesday Roadside Attractions Series. If you have a photo of an odd, funny or interesting roadside attraction that you would like to see featured here please submit it via the link in the sidebar with subject line: Roadside.

These are not ugly ducks. I repeat, not ugly ducks. They are swans, and frankly, they’re pretty darn cute.

These little guys live in England. You should hear their accent, it’s charming.

This post is part of UpTake’s Friday Family Series. If you would like to see your family vacation photo here please submit it via the contact link in the sidebar, subject line: Family Photo.

Photo: antaean via Flickr