Windows Live Maps - Leicester Square, Westminster, London

[Steve]

This is where all the Harry Potter premiers take place. Using Google Earth or Google Street View, you can't get a good view into the Square, but Windows Live Maps using "Bird's Eye' view, lets you see in pretty good. 

On the left are symbols to rotate the view, and if you rotate it just right, you can see the front of the Odeon theater.

It is easy to see why they use this for the Premiers. Doubtful that any other theater in crowded cramped London has so much space, as the Sqaure itself is a large park space. 

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?rtp=adr.#JnE9eXAuTGVpY2VzdGVyK1NxdWFyZSUyYytXZXN0bWluc3RlciUyYysrTG9uZG9uJTJjKytXQzJIKzdKWSU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGcuMSZiYj01MS41MTIxOTI3NTI2NTclN2UtMC4xMzQxMzYyODM4MjAyMDklN2U1MS41MDk3ODk3MjUzNzM3JTdlLTAuMTM4MTY4OTAyNzkxNjE5

This link might not take you right to it, but if you enter the following in the location search bar, it will take you right to the Square, then select "Bird's Eye" view.

Leicester Square, Westminster,  London,  WC2H 7JY

Again, nothing special, just interesting.

Google Street View is very nice, but there are some streets it doesn't go down, partly because those streets are limited to pedestrian traffic, so the Google Car can't drive down them. But Windows Live Maps seems to have found a reasonable compromise in the Bird's Eye view. You can't walk though some of these closed areas, but you can see into them. 

Steve/bboyminn