Friday, May 8, 2015
One last post.......
DAY 7: OUR LAST DAY: Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, & Harrods, a Nap in King James's Park & dinner with friends!
We started our day a little later - we had to be at Buckingham Palace by 10:30 in order to get a good viewing spot for the Changing of the Guard. When we arrived there was a crowd, but we were able to get a good spot along the fence. Quite a bit of pomp and circumstance, and a good 2 hours of standing (an hour of it squished), but it was worth it! I kept imagining little Prince George peeking out one of the windows - but I learned later that he and his family escaped London the day before to go to the country so Charlotte could have some quiet :) Here are a few pics
Starving, we found a great pub (everyday it suddenly hits us that if we don't eat immediately, we will collapse) and continued on. I have really wanted to just sit in one of the beautiful parks, Hyde, Green, any park, so we went to St. James's park - near Trafalgar Square. It was a beautiful, sunny day - people were all over the park. We picked a spot, and fell asleep!! With all our stuff linked through our arms!!
As we made our way back to the Underground, we went through Trafalgar Square -- absolutely mobbed with tourists, Londoners, cars, trucks, motorcycles, HOHO buses and Tour buses -- crazy!
Our day/week was not done! and we saved the best for last! A final meet up for dinner with the Rodgers family, who we had seen earlier in the week. We met at Alison's favorite pub, Highbury Barn
sat outside so the girls could run (well, Veronica toddles!) and we all could relax and chat.
Off to Harrods, another "must do". Here is a little collage of what we saw!
sat outside so the girls could run (well, Veronica toddles!) and we all could relax and chat.
Hard to see, but Vivian is pushing the stroller!
It's been an amazing week, one that we will always remember. Keeping this blog let's us look back and enjoy all that we saw. I hope you have enjoyed getting a glimpse of our time in London and Bath! There are so many more pictures - hundreds of them! Just ask and we'd be happy to share!!
DAY 6 PM: Mayfair and an encore appearance.....
But heading back, we went through Soho - a funkier, more familiar area of shopping. Lots of shops that are in the U.S. - H&M, Gap, JCrew, etc. etc. But the architecture is nothing like in America! This made the walk so much easier, because even though we never stopped, we really were amazed by the buildings! .....for instance here are JCrew & Anthropologie.
We walked through Piccadilly Circus (again) - just like Times Square!
Look closely - Geof is in the crowd!
and then ran into the National Gallery of Art for a 2nd visit. Geof wanted to check out one more piece of art he missed the other day. We actually were there for closing - they told us we had 20 minutes before having to leave!
Such a fun day, but exhausting -- here's the proof - :)
Thursday, May 7, 2015
DAY 6 AM: The Tate Modern
I agreed, reluctantly, to go to the Tate Modern, an art gallery of modern & contemporary art. We ended up almost staying the entire day!!!! It was so interesting.
A group of students with their sketchings all about. (BTW everywhere we went there were field trips. Students all seem to wear uniforms). At the Tate, there are many tours to choose from, but this one caught our eye.
This is a Salvador Dali that I have actually seen before and dismissed as ugly. After spending a good 10 minutes with Georgia, I fell in love with this painting!! Read here to learn a bit of what it's about
Georgia further explained the theme of narcissism in the painting and about the narcissistic tendencies in us all. This is something that has interested me (I've actually read books on it!) so her explanation was intriguing. She completely changed my original thoughts about this piece of art.
On our way to to the London Bridge, we decided to walk along the Thames so that I could grab a rock for the Arthur Rubinstein Memorial Garden -- here I am along the Thames
Dubbed as the ugliest building in London, the inside far exceeded my expectations.
NOTE: This is a photo from the Internet. Our day was drizzly and windy!!
This is one of the first things we saw when we entered the Tate
Georgia, our guide, opened our eyes to many in the collection that we normally would have looked at at a glance and moved on.
In our tour group there were people from Poland, Singapore, Israel, and Australia. Remarkable!!
In our tour group there were people from Poland, Singapore, Israel, and Australia. Remarkable!!
Georgia further explained the theme of narcissism in the painting and about the narcissistic tendencies in us all. This is something that has interested me (I've actually read books on it!) so her explanation was intriguing. She completely changed my original thoughts about this piece of art.
This is Georgia explaining this piece of art called, The Uncertainty of the Poet. She drew our attention to the shadows, and the light, to the train in the background, and the sailboat. I never would have noticed these things, or considered why the artist included them in his work of art!
Totally engaged!
We decided to grab lunch at a familiar place, Doggett's, and had a great sandwich and a needed rest (and free wifi!)
OBSERVATIONS
- Very very friendly and helpful people
- amazingly easy subway system
* well marked
* voice activated information so clear and easy to understand
* frequent trains. We never wait! Seriously, non-rush hour, rush hour - no more than a minute's wait. While I sat reading on the subway I read an article about the mayor of NYC waiting for 20 minutes for his train and finally gave up!
- so so so much to do! SO MUCH.
- lots and lots of opportunities to get lots and lots of steps. So far our highest in one day18,579. No wonder we are exhausted.
- expensive! Pounds go as if they are dollars! Example: a pub beer 4.50 pounds = $6.75. But that didn't stop Geof!!
- chilly, but fine. Rain, but only at night so far!! (Note: read day 6 ☔️)
- no leash law! No worries cuz the dogs know.
To be continued......
- a lot a lot of people smoke. Young people. It's actually alarming. Like home, there's no smoking inside anywhere, but outside it's a free for all. Surprising.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
DAY 5 PM: Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery of London
We walked down Whitehall, which is equivalent to our Constitution Avenue. We saw all the government offices, and #10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives (and trust me - nobody would get over HIS fence!)
Trafalgar Square commemorates Admiral Nelson's victory over the French & Spanish armadas in about 1805. Now it's a place for people to hang and meet up and is right out front of The National Gallery of Art.
We really thought we'd run through the Gallery, but ended up staying for hours. We began with the 13th Century artwork and worked our way through to 18th-20th century area of the museum We once again listened to the audiotapes and learned so much!!
Trafalgar Square - an interesting fountain behind Geof
and that's me with the Trafalgar Square (185 foot high) monument
and some of our favorite paintings from the National Gallery
This woman was sketching a painting - we saw this all over the art gallery - groups on field trips, adults wandering and drawing! Quite a place! We decided we can probably find exactly the same thing in downtown D.C.
DAY 5, morning: Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, and the National Gallery of Lond
Another packed day. We scrambled to get in line for the Westminster Abbey tour and we made it without having to wait too long. Another dose of history (no pictures allowed!) We were fascinated by all the tombs, crypts, & monuments. The ceilings were sky-high and magnificent. The Lady Chapel at the east end was commissioned by Henry VII and it was a stand-out. Every hour on the hour there is a quick prayer, and on the day we were there it was for Princess Charlotte, for all children and all families. You could have heard a pin drop! The peaceful gardens were open and we took our time as we enjoyed the pretty weather. It's no wonder most of the monarchs are married there!
BATH, at last (always been high on my bucket list!) MONDAY, May 4 (May the Fourth be with you)
We left our flat bright and early - 7 a.m., to catch the train to Bath. Our modes of transportation: foot....Underground.....foot...foot....foot, train (for 90 minutes!) When we arrived in Bath, my first thought was, "Is this IT??" But as we walked (some more) we soon discovered the part of Bath I have read about and so wanted to see. It was a wonderful, wonderful day!
First, we took a tour of the Roman Baths. So much history, we were amazed. I had heard it was THE place to go to relax, flaunt your wealth, heal, etc. and it was very clear why! Here are a few of the many pics we took (sadly, we couldn't get into the baths!)
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Most buildings in Bath are made of limestone that was quarried from the surrounding hills! Some think it's drab :) |
As we walked through the baths, with our audio devices, we had a personal history lesson and learned about the medicinal value many felt these hot, mineral waters offered. They traveled for hundreds of miles to heal such things as gout from waters that bubbled up through the earth's crust!
The Gorgan - represents the water god and the sun god
- she (yes, she) has snakes inside her hair!
This is Sulis Minerva! She is a Goddess, and serves as both a nourishing, life giving goddess AND an agent of curses wished by her devotees. You simply have your curse etched in stone, deliver it to the priest, and the goddess would take care of it!!
I tried to bring her home!
This is the actual bath, where you are able to put your finger in the very, very warm water.
We were amazed at how crowded Bath is - and this is not the busy tourist time!
This is Ken, our tour guide! He led us straight UP through all the streets of Bath. He and his colleagues do this on a voluntary basis because of their love of this city. It is a bustling city with gorgeous Georgian architect - most of which is representative of ....something. Here's a link to an area we particularly liked, called "The Circus". http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circus,_Bath#
This is the Bath Abbey. Although we didn't take the actual tour, we did stroll around and look at the architecture. Very intricate. Ken explained the significance of all the sculptures; everything had meaning and a purpose. Many of you know my love of angels - they were sculpted into the Abbey walls.
We had planned on taking a Jane Austen tour, but opted for this tour instead (next time, Jane!) But, Ken showed us where Jane lived while in Bath, and this is the Assembly Hall where Jane would go and dance!
Here is a picture from the National Gallery that shows what the high society looked like who attended the dances! We both love this painting except we think the woman looks like a man! However, we did stroll the Gravel Walk, the setting from this painting. It was the lovers lane of the time and is the primary setting from Jane Austen's book, Persuassion.
As we were leaving Bath to catch our train back to London, we stopped at Fuller's for a beer and a glass of wine! They kindly let us take the glass with us!!
Twelve hours later we returned to our flat! It was such a wonderful day.
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