I often walk or cycle along the Victoria Embankment when I'm in London, and this time I stopped to admire the sphinxes that face Cleopatra's Needle. Unlike the obelisk itself these weren't imported from the ancient world. They were sculpted and cast in London after its installation in the late 19th Century. They were supposed to be guarding the needle, facing away, but were installed back to front. The needle itself had a circuitous journey to London, which is worth looking up.
