Around London

While in London we did the usual touristy things involving historical sight seeing. We toured the Tower Of London and saw the amazing Crown Jewels , as well as a fascinating armor collection going back to the Norman conquest in 1066.The stories and traditions are fascinating as you watch young soldiers standing guard in bright red uniform coats and traditional bear skin head covers.They are now carrying automatic British armaments of SA-80 designation which are unloaded during the day, but live ammo clips are very close at hand during emergencies. There are no such guards as "Ceremonial Guards", as all are in the regular British army and have been exemplary soldiers to be honored as Queen's guards or Tower Guards. The Beefeaters on the other hand are chosen from British Army ranks with at least 22 years active NCO service. Needless to say none of the guards are to be taken lightly.At one time the Tower of London hosted the Royal Menagerie , where over 60 exotic animals were kept for Royal Entertainment. Started in the 1200's by King John of Magna Charta fame, the zoo lasted for over 600 years. Polar bears ,lions , and tigers were kept as well as baboons which couldn't be confined due to their climbing skills. The only animals left are 6 Ravens ceremoniously kept for traditional purposes. All six wander the grounds at will, confined to the earth with clipped wings.There are wonderful life size animals on the site sculpted by Kendra Haste of wire. They look so real as to startle visitors.The legend of the Ravens says that the British Empire and the Tower of London will fall if the Ravens ever leave.The revelry of the Tower of London's past and historical significance is given a dose of reality as one can see the modern 41 story skyscraper named 30 St Mary Axe towering above the walls. Finished in 2003, the cylindrical tower looks like a space rocket towering over old London. Often called the Gherkin by Londoners, the building looked to many like a Pickle. It was featured in the Sharon Stone Thriller Basic Instinct 2.We

took a boat ride down the Thames at low tide and saw much of modern London's financial District.Standing starkly against the sky is the Shard,which at over 1000 feet is the tallest building in The United Kingdom.It looks like a monsterous piece of blue glass piercing the sky, hence "The Shard".Also dominating the London skyline is the London Eye, once the word's tallest Ferris Wheel at 443 feet tall. It was erected on the South Bank of the Thames to celebrate AD 2000. We rode the contraption for one of the best views of London. Each of the Glass enclosed cars holds about 25 riders and the thing never stops. It is moving as you walk on board and it is moving as you step off. A complete revolution takes about 30 minutes , and allows you a beautiful view of old London on the North shores of the Thames , as well as The Houses of Parliament and The Bell Tower, which is not "Big Ben". Big Ben is the clock inside the Tower. Later that night we went to see 42nd Street at the largest theater in London at Theatre Royal on Drury Lane. We had great seats and it was a lavish production. The truly weird thing about the theater experience was that everyone went up and paid 4 Pounds for little paper cups of Haagen Daz ice cream between acts, something unheard of in American theaters.Some of our group saw Sir Paul McCartney at the Savoy down the street from the theater. Paul probably wouldn't have known me.He's come a long way from Liverpool. Next day it was Dover and the English Channel.

A Pile of Rocks

 One of our scheduled trips out of London was to visit Bath and Stonehenge which were a couple of hours out of the city. Bath, which our guide Daisy pronounced Baaath was a Roman outpost whose claim to fame was the mineral springs where they built an elaborate bathhouse with plumbing and pools. The whole location of Bath suited the Romans as it was built on seven hills like Rome. The Romans settled in Bath in AD 60 and utilized the native limestone which is quarried under the city. Today Bath has around 90,000 inhabitants and 2 universities. It is situated on the Avon River of Shakespearean fame. The town today is primarily Georgian in style with construction of 4 or 5 stories of limestone. Daisy told us that inhabitants used to be taxed by number of windows and therefore you can see false windows of stone where tightwads valued English Pounds more than sunlight.Jane Austen lived in Bath if you are inclined to read fussy old maid literature. Jane hated Bath and only lived 2 years there, probably to the benefit of Bath . It was raining while we visited Bath but I was very impressed with the city and the architecture. Another Jane, the actress Jane Seymour lives on the outskirts of Bath. We also travelled west to Oxford, the home of Oxford University. What can you say about Oxford that hasn't been said in millions of words? One of the foremost colleges in the history of mankind.. Teaching started there in 1096 and it is the oldest English speaking university in the world; the 2nd oldest college in existence. Oxford as a city has around 170,000 inhabitants and is about 70 miles from London. 29 Prime Ministers of England attended Oxford.It is a beautiful city which makes me realize how young our country is. We then went to Salisbury Plains to view Stonehenge. Built between 3000 BC and 2000 BC by Bronze age inhabitants, the purpose is still argued. The circle of stones are up to 24 feet tall including the portions underground ,and weigh around 25 tons each. They were transported from around 18 miles away and some came from Wales, all by primitive Bronze age people. Arguments abound as to their purpose. Were the stones a burial ground? Yes. Were they a center of worship ? Yes. Were they a site of astronomy study?Yes. Just how all of this relates to each other is argued and unknown , which is the real beauty of Stonehenge. It is truly a magic place and perhaps the mystery should never be unveiled.The only thing I can add in my limited knowledge is that it is an awesome pile of rocks. Maybe Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were British.

Across The Pond

This past month of May we had scheduled a trip across the Atlantic to visit England and France. I don't normally dread flying but anything over 4 hours fills me with dread of confinement . This particular flight to London Heathrow was scheduled for a little over 6 hours but was a red eye leaving Boston Logan at around 9 pm. Being that London is 5 hours ahead of the US we would fly all night and get there in the morning. The flight at 30000 feet and 500mph was smooth and uneventful, and the British customs people were very cheerful and nice, quite the opposite of the surly and rude TSA officials here in the USA. Our travel agency , Trafalgar, had a young gentleman waiting at the baggage area to take us to the Cumberland Hotel which is about 45 minutes from the airport.It was quite a change from Stanford ,Kentucky as we entered the London metropolitan area of 8 and one half million people. The first thing we noticed was how green the country side is.Kentucky is green, but not the vivid emerald green of England, and later France. I guess it's because of the moderate island climate and abundant rainfall, which it was doing upon arrival. It is also obvious that England is a virtual melting pot of nationalities and ethnic groups. Our guides told us London is the most expensive city in the world. It is in somewhat of a turmoil due to the exit from the European Union, and subsequent elections left a dilemma to Teresa May and her party, which leaves Great Britain in a divided  state much like the USA. Our hotel was only a block from the Marble Arch which used to be the entrance to Buckingham Palace but was moved by order of Queen Victoria to its present location in Hyde Park. Hyde Park is one of four major parks , and at 350 acres is the largest. It was established in 1536 by Henry VIII as a hunting area. Like our own Central Park, which is nearly 900 acres, Hyde Park has been used for many things ,including rock concerts. Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Queen have given concerts there. Also of note is a podium in Hyde Park where anyone can address issues to whoever will listen. Appropriately enough this area is Speaker's Corner. There were people speaking every time we went by.Speaker's Corner has been in constant use since 1872.The area of food was also a great education. We were prepared for "Bangers and Mash"every morning for breakfast but they never appeared at the hotel. Bangers are sausage which are called that because they popped and banged in the skillet as they were fried. Mash is mashed potatoes. Breakfast was usually a buffet with normal eggs and toast, but with the addition of cooked tomatoes and pork and beans. There is no such drink as iced tea to be found in the British Isles. They don't believe in ice either. I did grow to like scones which is like a crumbly sweet biscuit, usually with a jam spread on it. The Brits are heavily into marmalade.We were anticipating the infamous "Spotted Dick"which is supposedly a pastry with raisins or currants which gave it the Spotted description. Nobody could tell us the "Dick " origin. It never appeared on the menu , much to everyone's relief. Fish and Chips were good and one night we ate at a pub called "The Grazing Goat".Some of our group had beef which they said was good. I again had fish and chips which is rumored to be haddock. Chips are French fries. Our hotel had 1000 rooms and was very well situated in central London. It is a 20 minute walk to Buckingham Palace, which we saw but the Queen wasn't in. We were hoping for an audience but she was at Windsor. You know that because her flag is flying if she is in town. We were also within 5 minutes of Selfridge's Department store which we walked through because Sandy has watched a series about it on Public Television. We didn't buy anything because we had spent all our money getting there.We watched the Queen's Guard change at the Palace, and it was impressive. I actually liked Freddy Mercury playing the Queen at Wembley Stadium better than the actual Queen but I suppose I would warm up to her if we met.Freddy played for over 400,000 fans at the old Wembley Stadium in 1986 over a series of nights. That Wembley Stadium was torn down and replaced with a new one in 2007 , mainly for football, which is British for soccer. Soccer is a European game played and liked by females as well as men. Kind of a boring and sissy game by American standards. Like I said previously London is a Virtual Tower of Babel with many nationalities in evidence. Many Arabic and Moslem citizens, mostly driving Rolls Royce and Bentley automobiles. In five days of Great Britain I only saw 2 American cars. The rest were European or a very few Japanese.T

hat was a surprise. I was looking forward to Stonehenge and Bath, but that's a future story.