England 2012: December 31st

 

New's Eve day was spent near the Thames River, perhaps not the best choice.  The crowds were so thick we had difficulty walking on the sidewalks.  It seems the entire country is in London for the fireworks at Big Ben. We made our way through Westminster Abbey with our wonderful London Pass.  It is prepaid and we do not usually have to wait in line. The church is stunning, more so than I remember, I saw the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scotland, Henry the VIII, The Richards, The Williams, James V1, I and Queen Mary (William's queen) were all there.  It was pretty spectacular. Melissa seemed to prefer poet's corner, where I took an illegal photo of George Eliot's plaque. :-) "It is never to late to be what you might have been" (Eliot). This is my motto.   We then made our way across the Thames and back down to Buckingham Palace. We stopped by 10 Downing, but they must not have got the message to let us in. :-) We saw Scotland Yard and some brave, wet guardsmen on their horses keeping everybody safe.   The barriers started going up for the night's festivities so we headed out of Westminster and back to Nottinghill and Bayswater. We planned to head into London Central for the fireworks, but a local told us we could wait up to two hours for a cab or the tube after midnight.  Plan "B" is the local pub down the street with what I imagine will be lots of drunk Brits. Yay!  Tomorrow is the London Tower, The Globe, and St. Paul's Cathedral.  It was soooooo cold and rainy today, but our jackets, hats, and gloves did their jobs.   Well time now to "pretty-up" for the New Year's festivities. 

 

 

England 2012: December 30th

Day 3 Found us in Hyde Park for most of the day.   We walked Kensington and Hyde Park visiting the Peter Pan Statue, The Italian Gardens, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and Harrods.

Kensington gardens was full of londoners and their dogs.  There was every breed possible chasing sticks and balls.  They were all covered in mud and having a great time.   They made me miss my dogs. :-) Melissa finally visited with Peter Pan, and we strolled the Italian Gardens created by Prince Albert for his bride Victoria after their wedding.   Kensington Palace was amazing.   The inside holds an exhibit of Albert and Victoria. Photos of Victoria before and after Albert's death.  There were pictures of the family, clothes worn by them, and intimate family items.  There was an exhibit of William III, also known as William of Orange.   He was the bad man resonsible for violent  oppression of the Irish in Northern Ireland.   :-(   Hense the Orange Party.  We moved on to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park where every Sunday free speech is celebrated loudly.  It was great!   We headed next to Buckingham Palace where we were surprised to see that the Queen was home.  (The flag only flies when she is home).   We waited, but received no invitation for tea, so we moved on to Harrods where we were trapped amonst the cheese and caviar by the hoards of Londoners shopping for New Year's Eve. We plan to go back when there is less humanity there. We got back to the flat seven hours after we left with cheese and bread for dinner.   I will probably not be able to get out of bed in the morning from walking ALL day.   Tomorrow we head out to Westminster Abbey (it was closed today for Sunday services), The Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, and  The Old Globe.   Whew, tired just thinking about it. :)  Oh we also visited the Princess Diana Memorial Water Fountain where water gently flows over stones in a circle near the boat pond of Hyde park. Lovely.

 

 

 

 

England 2012: December 28th and 29Th

12-28-12     Melissa and I arrived in London yesterday afternoon.  We took the Express Train to Paddington Station where the atm promptly ate my debit card.  Seems the bank did not notify their fraud department that I was traveling to England.  Using the back-up credit card, we found a cab that accepted plastic, and we arrived in one piece at our flat.   Well the flat, the photo showed a smallish room with a bath and toilet down the hall.   HAHA  small does not even begin to describe the room, but it does have a small kitchen that will save us money by not eating out. The roommdoes, however, have a lovely window looking out on a quiet street near Hyde Park.  I spent several hours working with my bank and they are sending a replacement card Monday.  :-) Once the card issue was resolved we went to a great meal in a local "brown bar" near the flat.   We toasted our adventure with sangria ( I know, not very English) :-) One last stop at the local market and we called it a night.

12-19-12     We woke from our tylonal pm induced sleep to tea and taste toast in the flat. Amazing tea!  Our plan for the day was to pick up our London Passes (unlimited tube/bus/train/museum pass) and hit Trafalgar Square, the National Protrait Gallery, and Picadilly Circus.   The museum was amazing!   We saw everybody from Prince Henry Stuart to Eliot to the Brontes.   Disraeli and Gladstone shared a wall (HAHA)  Oliver Cromwell, Dickens, and even King James were represented. It was a pretty spectacular day. http://www.npg.org.uk/ We spent a few hours on Charing Cross Road and all the bookstores. Melissa found a children's bookstore with a first edition Peter Pan, and it was on sale for only 400 pounds,  (insert laughing here), which I had to drag away from her. We managed the tube with ease and moved about London with little effort. Boy America could sure use public transit.  We are now eating dinner in the flat and planning our next day.     Tomorrow we will hit The Tower of London, The Old Globe and take the one mile "Bank Walk" along the Thames River.