Inevitable

Well, I've had a very busy couple of weeks and I've been traveling extensively (yes, I promise to sort out and post more pictures very soon).  I suppose it was just a matter of time before I got sick.  When I woke up this morning, my eyes were kind of glued shut and my throat hurt.  As the day progressed, my throat kept getting worse until it felt like it was completely closed.  I changed hotels today as Steve is coming in tonight and this is where we'll be for the rest of the time.  It's a completely different area of London called South Bank or Southwark (pronounced Suth-ick), and has a totally different feel.  I was in an older, more upscale residential area before whereas this is closer to the heart of London and is a bit livelier.

Anyway, I went to Westminster Abbey today, which was totally beautiful (and doesn't allow picture taking, although I sneaked in a few) but then came back to the hotel to rest.  Since my room wasn't ready yet, I sat in the pub all afternoon updating my journals.  Now, I'm in my room with some nice hot (very hot because it makes my throat feel better) cup of tea.

My room faces a back courtyard shared by several buildings and should, theoretically, be quiet.  However, there has been noise all afternoon and, at first, I thought they were setting up for a party or doing some construction.,  However, now I'm hearing someone say "And,,,action" so I'm wondering if it's a filming set for some tv show or something.  It's off to the side so I can't really get a great view -- just a bunch of lights and it looks like people dancing.

Ok, so I just called down to the desk to see if anyone could tell me what's going on.  Turns out that they're filming a Guinness commercial that will air in the U.S. in December.  Since it's not Johnny Depp or Colin Firth or anybody like that, I probably won't go check it out.

Interesting Signs

These blue discs appear on the sides of buildings of note.  Generally, it's because someone famous lived there, but sometimes it's because a society was started in the building or something similar.

Pub where Charles Dickens used to hang out.

This was at Kensington Palace and the squirrel was just gnawing away at the metal leg of this sign.  You could hear his little teeth just grinding.

The entire city of London is monitored by closed circuit cameras.  They're at every intersection, on the corners of buildings, in hallways and the subways -- only the bathrooms are spared (I think).

The subway system is really old and most of the stations have no elevators or escalators, so you get used to going up and down a lot of stairs (a real pain with a lot of luggage, by the way).  In this case, though, the tracks were so far underground that there were warnings posted against trying to climb up to street level.  There is construction beginning for some of the stations to install "lifts" in anticipation of the 2012 Olympics.

Another of those blue discs -- this one commemorating the long-running play by Agatha Christie "'The Mousetrap".  It's now in it's 58th year.

Lots of public toilets over here, but it costs 30 pence (about 47 cents) to use them.  Pubs, restaurants, etc all have bathrooms available to customers, and I guess it's great that there are so many facilities available but 30p just to pee?!

My first thought, when I read this sign, was "what could have frightened the door?"  The English language cracks me up sometimes.  As Homer Simpson would say, "Why do I have to learn English?  I'm not going to England."

Another favorite pub of Charles Dickens (it's a wonder that he got any writing done at all!).  This one is tucked away down an alley in an area that, reportedly, he used as the inspiration for the counting house owned by Ebenezer Scrooge.

Some pictures with me in them (incl some repeats)

Relying on the kindness of strangers, as Tennessee Williams would say, doesn't always work well and it isn't necessarily easy to find a perch for the camera but I have managed to get a few shots with me in them.  These are from my first few days here (Wednesday the 8th thru Sunday the 12th).  I still need to sort out the ones taken last week and over this past weekend in York.



Having my first "high tea" at Kensington Palace.

 





A chilly day outside the Tower of London.

 


At The Grenardier pub









At Windsor Castle

 

Also at Windsor Castle



At Hampton Court Palace





Some Interesting Photos

This is the office building for the Mayor of London.  It's situated on the southern bank of the Thames in the area known as Southwark and is adjacent to the Tower Bridge.  This photo was taken from the Tower of London, so it's quite jarring to be in a structure dating back 1000 years looking across the river at a structure that has been dubbed "Darth Vader's helmet" by the locals.





This is the British Airways London Eye, or "eyesore" as our tour guide called it.  It was openned in 2000 for the celebration of the Millenium and has 32 pods, with each pod making a complete revolution in 30 minutes.  Right now, they're replacing the pods one by one -- you can see that one is missing at the 2 o'clock position.  I didn't go up in it, but I understand that you can see for up to 25 miles if the weather is clear.  It also sits on the southern side of the Thames near the new Globe Theatre (built to replicate the one from Shakespeare's day).

The subway system here is amazing.  There are a large number of trains running in every direction within London and the Greater London area.  I can't imagine anywhere that you'd want to go that you can't reach by train here.  The Underground also runs into the rail stations so you can connect with the trains that go elsewhere in the country and to France.   Sometimes there is a healthy space between the train and the platform, though, so you're constantly being reminded to "Mind the Gap".  There are even t-shirts printed with "Mind the Gap" on them.

There are a lot of parks scattered throughout London (like there are in New York), many of which were originally there for the king to use to hunt deer.  The really nice part is the fact that there are all kinds of chairs -- either stacked or already sitting out -- that are provided for people to use to enjoy the park.

I love these red phone booths -- it's one of the symbols of England, really.  This particular one reminds me of the secret entrance to the Ministry of Magic when Mr. Weasley takes Harry Potter for his hearing with the Wizengamot in "HP and the Order of the Phoenix."

In front of St. Paul's Cathedral is a statue of Queen Anne, who was a bit of a tippler.  A children's rhyme after this statue was erected:

Poor Queen Anne, left in the lurch;
Facing toward a pub with her back to the church.

Even now she gets no respect as the birds perch on her head!

Day Off

Today has been an unusually fun day so far.  It's mid-afternoon and I'm at the hotel having my afternoon tea and just relaxing.

I was totally worn out last night and dropped off early.  Then, the jackhammers out in the street woke me this morning.  It's probably just as well so I could have a light breakfast.  As expected after forcing myself to a rigourous schedule these past two weeks, I really didn't feel very well when I got up:  very tired, headache, listless -- all of the signs of just being worn out.  I've also been eating far too many calories in all of these meals, so the pants that I brought along to wear to the wedding on Sunday would not begin to fit.  So, what can I do to fix all of that?  Shopping, of course.

The shops at Victoria Station were the first I came to, and it took a while but I found several things that I liked so....I took all of them.  Then, I found a small Sainsbury shop (that's a local grocer) and grabbed a bottle of diet Coke.  Already I'm feeling better! 

There's a small "garden" area behind this b&b with tables and chairs and a lovely breeze, so I decided to hang out there with my computer and journals.  I had had a great conversation on the train from York yesterday with a couple of football fans (soccer), and got some good tips for finding a game that we can attend later this week when Steve is here.  It took me forever to find a place online where I could order tickets without the restriction of having them delivered to my home address (my credit card billing address).  In the interim, communicating back and forth with Steve, it turns out that his friend Troy (who will also be here for the wedding) will be here Saturday with his wife and his parents, and they're also interested in going to a game.  So, on Saturday the six of us will be watching Fulham take on Everton.  Of course we'll be cheering for Fulham since we'll be in their stadium.

On the corner near my b&b is an Italian deli called La Bottega.  When I was here my first week I had gotten take-out there and today decided to just drop over there for a late lunch since I don't want to wander too far.  My objective today is restorative as I have plans to go to Buckingham Palace tomorrow and also intend to take part in a Jack the Ripper tour tomorrow evening.  Anyway, they have the most interesting foods at this deli.  Today, I had a wonderful salad of mixed greens, balsamic tomatoes, steamed cauliflower and broccoli -- topped with what I believe was a square of mozzarella wrapped with prosciutto.  It had been grilled lightly (just enough to melt the cheese and crisp up the prosciutto) and placed in the middle of the salad.  It was so much lighter than the foods I've been eating and I loved it.

Now, I'm going to work on my journals and photographs as I have some really fun photos from a walk I took in the City of London on Sunday.  That is the financial area of London so it's fairly deserted on a Sunday afternoon, but it's also the oldest part of London -- right near the Tower of London and also where Dickens spent a lot of time.

Half Way Point

I realized that today is the 19th.  I arrived on the 8th and I'm leaving on the 28th so I've been here 11 of the 21 days so it's a bit more than half over.

It's Sunday evening at roughly 7:45 here, and I'm officially worn out.  I've been going until very late every night and getting up right away in the morning, walking all over the place (including stairs), and my body is telling me to take a rest.

So, that said, I'm tucking in early tonight as I have a lot of great pictures to go through and post tomorrow.

Sunday in England

I'm traveling by train from York to London (high speed, non-stop bullet-type train taking approximately 2 hours) and enjoying the weekend crowd of folks making the trip.  The train is not crowded and I'm near two gentlemen who are rabid football (soccer) fans.  It was great fun to hear them talk football just like people back home do.  I also got a tip about getting tickets to see Fulham next Saturday.  [Steve:  both guys highly recommend it as a good stadium and the game will be a good match.]

I was reading the Sunday Times Magazine this morning and found a regular column called "Ask Dr Ozzy", which would be similar to an Ann Landers or Dr. Ruth type of feature.  I can't put all of them in, but I'll put one here for Shilo -- Ozzy's biggest fan.

I'm a heterosexual man but I found myself becoming aroused in the most embarrassing way while getting a Swedish rub-down from a male masseur.  Even worse:  it was a couple's massage and my wife was lying next to me.  She noticed and hasn't talked to me since.

"Tell her it was the thought of a menage a trois that set you off.  Actually, don't do that.  All I can say is, in future, you might want to try avoiding other blokes when you're down the parlour.  Personally, I couldn't think of anything more uncomfortable than being oiled down by some ex-Chippendale while Kenny G plays in the background.  Don't get me wrong:  I ain't got nothing against the gay community, but when someone says the word "Swedish", I think of Ulrika Jonsson, not Bjorn Borg."

He cracks me up.

It was raining when I got up in York this morning, but the weather in London appears to be clearer so I'm hoping to get out this afternoon and evening to do a little more sightseeing.  My list of things to see is longer than the days available in which to see them.