Posts (page 6)

Well, because I'm so far behind, I'll need to catch up on this one post, for both Days 6 and 7. You may also notice an uncharacteristic brevity. My apologies.

Day 6

We started our walk on Day 6 at the entrance to Hyde Park. This park is incredible size and has so much to offer. We walked through almost 3 miles of paths there. We walked up to the Serpentine and here's the picture of that.
 

Here's some more pictures from Hyde Park.

We then walked through the middle of the Kensington Gardens, toward the Palace. Nestled next to the palace is the Kensington Palace Gardens. These are a small but well-groomed collection of flowers inside hedges, presumably for the royal family, but open to all

We found we were on the back side of the Palace and decided to walk around the block, so see the front of the Palace. Before we did, we stopped at the Orangery, a posh cafe/tea place just on the grounds of the Palace Park. We had a tea and scones together there, and they were VERY good, but perhaps a little expensive. Yes,... they were. But, it was nice.

We then started our walk around to the Kensington Palace Gardens Road past all the various embassy palaces and buildings. Very nice indeed - the tree-lined walk was quite cool and lovely We finally came upon the front of the Palace. It is protected quite avidly as you would expect, but there is a view through the fence. Along the side of the Palace grounds was a creepy Princess Diana memorial thing with flowers and posters and such, but it wasn't reverential -- more like weird. Maybe I don't get it.

We then wandered onward through the Park and out onto streets, down Cromwell and up to Brompton Road. Here are all the super-posh shops, including Harrod's.

We didn't go in; we just wanted to see it in person. We saw so many shops of names we have seen before and in various locations all over the world, but this location in London is almost certainly the most prestigious for each.

We popped over to the Knightsbridge tube stop for the ride back to the flat. The ride was quick, but man was it hot in the tube! Here's what Lindi looked like sweating with me in the tube.

We rested a bit at the flat, and realized we had walked 6 or 7 miles on the hot concrete of London, but it was really great. Feet still hurt a lot, though.

For dinner, we decided to try a local place: Depa Tandoori Indian Food. Holy Moly this was some good stuff. We had various chicken and pork dishes as well as traditional starters. Add a few strong Indian beers (Cobra) and it is amazing. Awesome. We strongly recommend it.

While we were there, we met a fantastic Australian family, who told us all about Oz and asked us all about USA. We had a great time talking to them for at least 45 minutes before finally bidding them farewell. They told us how they love America and believe most of Oz does too... we told them how we had the impression we'd lost our lustre with the rest of the world and they told us we are still tops in Australia. Was nice to hear.

We stumbled home and hit the sack!

Day 7

Day 7 started in some unknown way, in that I just can't remember now. Sorry.

We made for Westminster Pier to take a River Thames cruise up to Greenwich (pronounced Gren-ich). A maritime town, which houses the Maritime Museum and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. The cruise was nice and a good change from walking everywhere. The 'host' of the cruise described things along the Thames, taking some care and going slow along the downtown area. I got a nice panoramic shot of the tower bridge at this time, and here it is, below.

The cruise continued past the various sights, and we noticed so many buildings and areas of the river (such as old dockyards, canneries, and other industrial facilities) have been renovated to shopping and especially to flats (apartments). There are a huge number of what look like very nice places to live along the river, with enormous prices, we assume.

Once we got past the downtown, we sped up to get down the river to Greenwich. This part was blissfully quiet and it was also nice that the cruise was lightly attended. We pulled up to Greenwich and exited, looking for the Maritime Museum.

I know that my Dad would probably have liked the museum, but truthfully I really did not. Lindi didn't get into it much either, so about a quarter way through we gave up and left.

We walked through this part of Greenwich and made our way to the Observatory grounds. The observatory was constructed on a hill well outrside what would have been the outskirts of London in 1675. We had to huff and puff up the walkway up to the top of the hill to get to the observatory. It was

quite interesting, and includes a Observatory museum, both about the Observatory but also about Astronomy in general and space exploration.

There is a spot where the Prime Meridian crosses the middle of the plaza floor, where you can stand in the Eastern and Western Hemisphere at the same time. 0 degrees longitude baby! A few of my friends would have liked that - like Andy. Here I am telling Lindi about it, ad nauseum. For those of you thinking that I look like a dork -- don't worry, I know.

We had an interesting experience traveling back to the flat. One of the benefits of the Oyster card is that you can travel throughout the London area in specific zones, including Underground (tube), Buses, and Light Rail. The light rail system extends out quite far, and out to Greenwich so we decided to take it back to a station that allows us to transfer back to the tube system, and ultimately home to the flat.

We did so, but as we entered the light rail station we saw no turnstiles, no places to check-in with your Oyster card, or anything like that. We just went in and we boarded. It was strange indeed. In fact, once we reached King's Cross station, we left the light rail car and entered the attached tube station, we still didn't have a turnstile, as we were already apparently 'inside'. So we boarded our tube car and popped out at our stop. We finally saw a turnstile (on the tube you scan your ticket or card both outgoing and incoming) and used the Oyster to get out. The computers in their system must have gotten a confusing record of us coming out but never going in! Also, our train trip from Greenwich is completely invisible to them, and that can't be good.

We were pooped, so we stayed in and packed our bags for leaving - this was our last night in London! We prepared the remaining Waitrose food, and ordered some more Depa Tandoori take-out, then just ate at the flat. We didn't drink because we knew we'd be up an at 'em tomorrow.

The next day was crazy, as you will soon see

I'm falling behind writing these tomes! Dios Mio! Blimey!

Day 4 began with another coffee from Apostrophe; I think Lindi is starting to like the iced version! We dressed for cooler weather but now we know that you just can't plan - the weather changes to blue sky and warm in an instant, and also blows a cool breeze with cloudy skies in the same amount of time.

We took the tube over to Leicester Square, with intentions of getting 'same-day' tickets for a play. We chose "Boeing, Boeing - and because of all of Lindi's great planning and all the recommendations from the sites she reads (Rick Steves, SlowTravel, Fodor's, etc) that we knew to go to the TKTS booth in the very center of Leicester Square! There was no line and no BS... we got approximately 50% of the normal ticket price, and the tickets were for Row 4 of the Stalls, right in front of the stage... awesome. This was the right way to go, compared to what happens to most tourists - they get hit up at 'discount ticket' sites that rip them off. We snagged the tix, a few pix, and then we made haste!

We started off but then realized we needed a coffee,.. so we stopped in to a small expensive place for a white coffee and a cappuccino. Guess who got which.

From there we went past the National Gallery. We skipped this major attraction, and I wonder now if we should have.

The next stop was Trafalgar Square. This was so much important architecture and so many great British figures have memorials there, that we were really impressed and amazed. Here's a view of it.

We continued walking down Whitehall, which turns into Parliament street. We walked past a VERY well guarded Downing Street entrance so no view of Number 10. I think every last other tourist in London had the same thought, as it was packed. Machine guns and police - you couldn't really see anything.

A block further was King Charles Street, and we detoured to the end (toward St. James Park) to visit the Cabinet War Rooms Memorial and the Winston Churchill Memorial Museum. If you come to London, don't miss this sobering look at a time when real war affected everyone the real leader who stepped up as Prime Minister.

After the War Rooms, we headed to Parliament Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament Houses. Lots of pictures of the amazing architecture here, and I hope to get more of them carefully processed at home. Here's one to the right. We strolled onward to the Milbank, for a nice view of the Thames, then started heading back the way we came. We made our way all the way back to Great George St, and onto the Birdcage Walk inside St. James Park. All the parks in London are so cool and quiet and relaxing. We hit so many during our time here, and loved them all. We stopped many times just to relax and reflect.

In the middle of St. James Park is the Queen Victoria memorial, in front of Buckingham Palace. Again, lots of pictures, but no time to process and import them all, so look to me later in the year to have these available for review by those of you who have access (lucky you).

We ended the walk at the edge of St. James Park, at the Wellington Arch. We entered the Hyde Park Corner station and took the tube back home.We took the time to relax and clean up before heading back out at 6:00pm or so (18:00 hours) for our play.

We tubed back to toward Leicester Square (this time using Piccadilly Circus station and walking to the Comedy Theatre. It was a lighthearted comedy that I frankly didn't care for very much. The various plot points seemed to random rather than adding something to the overall direction of the play. Rhea Perlman was starring, and again... I didn't like her. I guess I personally struck out -- Lindi liked it better than I did. We both agree that it was a nice way to spend a few hours and that many of the cast were outstanding and fun to watch. I would recommend it to most comedy aficionados, but I would give it only a 6 of 10. I know you didn't ask, but there you go.

We ended the evening with a quick stop at the local pub, hoping for an open kitchen... but no such luck. Instead we had a few IPAs and headed to the flat. There we heated up some of the great Waitrose meals we bought for just such an occasion, and finished our last beer. That was quite enough for us for one day!

Here is the collection of pics from today - I'll be sure and add more later - perhaps when I return?

More pics coming soon, but here are the ones I have time to post now, of Number 6, Flat C. Remember - when you want to see more detail in these pics, just click on them, then click a second time to see the full-resolution size. To return to the block, just click 'back', then 'back' again.

Does everyone realize how to read this sort of diary (called a 'blog') ?

1. Start at the bottom and work your way up! Older stories move down as newer ones are created and posted (by us!).
2. Add comments! It's easy - just first go to the specific 'article' by clicking on the title, then go down to the 'post a comment'  area, at the bottom. Everyone can see the comments, so be warned!
3. Read others comments if you care to - theres a little 'comic-book balloon' shape above every article and you simply click this to read them.
4. Finally, I may come back and update an older story with newer data,... some articles I may create as a running piece, and you'll have to check back, or else perhaps I'll create later copies to update you... I'm still thinking this one out.
   

It's been suggested that I share the drinking habits of our trip for boundless  ridicule by those who know better, and mysterious entertainment for those who don't. Bloody good.

I think I'll update this entry "in-place" repeatedly so check back here, but I may make a copy and move it to the 'latest' area (the top) every so often. We'll see. So, here goes our recollection, so far:

Where                       What                  Details                                   
On the plane in            Champagne        Didn't note the brand
Balfours                      Beer (Italian)       Peroni Nastro Azzurro
flat (various)                Beer (English)     Marston's Fourpak including Pedigree, Smooth and Old Empire
Hare & Tortoise           Beer (Japan)        Kirin
North Sea Fish            Beer (English)     Spitfire Ale
Comedy Theatre          Beer (English)     Bass
Indian Depa Tandoori    Beer (Indian)       Cobra
Flat                             Cava                  Waitrose brand Cava (Spanish champagne)

September 4th (yesterday, as I write this) was a tube (underground) strike day; the only tube lines open were Northern (north and south through middle-west London), and Jubilee (east-west through central-north London). It was thought it would last all week, but a hue and cry went out and the strike was over today (the 5th), although the lines took a while to get back going again.

We started the day leaving the flat for the only close station with a train, King's Cross. We got off at Bank, and went under the tunnels to Monument station. We saw the monument, but we couldn't tell what it was for, or to. Pretty sad, huh. Turns out it was built to commemorate the Great Fire which devastated the City of London in 1666; it offers panoramic views over London. Standing 202 feet high, it's the tallest isolated stone column in the world.

Our walk toward the Tower of London took us past the Bank of England and many other commercial banks and offices. We finally arrived at the Tower and found it to be quite devoid of tourists -- undoubtedly all of them were surprised and put off by the strike; instead, we persevered and determined the available tube lines and used them. I'd have to say that the availability of our computer and the internet access has come in mighty handy, and we used it extensively to find out about and track the strike. Of course we use it to report our adventures to you, dear reader...

The Tower of London tour was really quite nice, partly due to the small tourist crowd that day (tickets were easy and the tour size itself was small) and partly just due to the interesting history involved. I admit that my knowledge of British history is non-existent, but this only helped in the level of interest we had in the contents of the tour. Even the weather was fantastic - it's been between 55 and 80 degrees F most days, with a regular variation between 60 and 75. We have had a few really chilly mornings.

The tour took us through the tower grounds and included stories of battles, protection, torture, kings, queens, bastard sons and treason. Bloody stories indeed! The areas of the outer walls, the inner courtyard, the tower itself, and the chapel were interesting and well told. The 'beefeater' guide was one of the Yeoman Warders, a special class of ceremonial guards at the Tower of London. His presentation was good, and he was funny as well as engaging. The only disappointment was that he accepted tips (offerings of some sort) during the exit of the tour group from the chapel - it appears intended to slow the crowd and carry it past him (instead of having several exits) and also to make it clear that he will accept the tip by stating his thanks quite loudly as he gets each one. Perhaps I'm wrong to be concerned about this, but I didn't tip. After that we visited the Crown Jewels, and they were quite stunning.

After the tour we walked to the Tower Bridge. It's kept in amazingly good shape. We crossed to the south side of the Thames River and walked along the Thames River Walk (which we found was intermittent on the South side between the Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge. We stopped for lunch at the Hay's Galleria, right on the water and it's a very nice place for a snack or a lunch. We passed in front of the H.M.S. Belfast, a warship berthed on the river.

From there we went on to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. Amazing re-creation of the original theater within 200 meters of the location of the original. Pictures were taken. We moved on.

As we moved to the Millennium Bridge we were quite near the Tate Modern Museum but decided not to visit this time

The Millennium Bridge is a modern footbridge going from the Tate Modern to St. Paul's Cathedral. It is amazing to walk across, and I took a large number of pictures from the center... I hope they look OK when I stitch them together into a panorama!

Finally we came to St. Paul's Cathedral. I give you only a pictorial description. Enjoy. 

Once we left St. Paul's, we made haste back to the Bank tube stop, and returned to our flat. After that we went looking for another phone card... it seems the carefully purchased phone card from FreeGlobalSIM doesn't work. I can't tell if it's the phone or the card, but I've tried the SIM card in another unlocked phone with no luck. Once I purchased a Vodaphone card, everything worked great. Hmmmm.

Finally, we went out for some 'real' English Fish-and-chips. This was a local place in the area, and the fish was amazing and HUGE, The chips were seriously some of the best 'french fries' I've ever had. I ate too much, and I paid for it later.

Looks like the underground is running again this morning with most of the delays ending today , rather than Friday.

Apparently they got what they wanted or enough folks got mad... not sure which or if it's both.

Hooray.