Sunday in Glasgow

Photos: Workers building a scaffolding---handing the pipes hand over hand to the top, Wellington with his hat (cone)...apparently a tradition for many of the statues in Glasgow, Chase girl in one of her favorite spots in the flat, Glasgow on Saturday evening at 11:15 PM....notice the light.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Everyone slept in a bit today….it was Sunday after all. We did some laundry and some cleaning, much to Chase’s dismay, the carpet that she hides her food in was put away. Then we just kind of looked at our July trip and tried to figure out where and what we were doing.

Jess went to work for a few hours in the afternoon, and Neil and I opted to follow Pete around and leave the museums to tourists staying in hotels. We went to the GOMA (Glasgow Museum of Modern Art) where there is a branch of the public library in the downstairs. We found lots of wonderful books, and Pete even checked out a few for us. Great place and close to their flat.

We then went on the errand express….. The first stop was Argos. This store operates like the old Spiegel stores. You go in, look at the catalog, and order what you want from the catalog through a computer system, pay for it and then wait until you are called to the pickup station. Pete bought some fans since Glasgow is being untypically warm. Neil and I bought a wicked 3D Sudoku book.

Then we went off in search of ice cube trays to replace the ones that currently reside in the freezer. Marks and Spenser’s and TK Max (they’re not allowed to use TJ in the UK) didn’t have a single one. Off we went in search of a hardware store….found the one Pete was looking for…Crockett’s. What a great store….just like the hardware stores from long ago….a little bit of that and a bit of that…..kitchen supplies, gardening, plumbing…etc. everything an urban dweller might need.

We also went to a great bookstore called Waterstones…..four floors of books. We spent quite a lot of time there. Neil and I had a great time looking for books not published in the US. I checked out dollhouse books…they don’t seem to be big into quilting…and mystery stories, called crime in this country. Boy would it be fun to buy books…I only found about 25 that I wanted. However, expense, weight, and getting them home prevailed.

Then we headed to the Buchanan Street Mall---there are like 4 malls within the Buchanan shopping district---so Pete could look for jeans and to wait for Jess to get finished with work. Neil and I went to the food court in search of something to drink….again those stupid floating escalators that everyone thinks are so cool… We found a Burger King. Pete ordered some treats….little pancakes the size of a half dollar and little breaded cheese bites. They may be two of the best things I have ever tasted from BK….come on BK, get them in the US.

When Jess got there, we headed out for a very late lunch, very early dinner at the Chippy Doon the Lane (translation: Down the Lane). We had the absolute best fish and chips that we have had since landing in the UK. They also grow big pieces of haddock…..wow. We actually had a pint of Diet Coke with more than one tiny ice cube….an awesome place in my book. There doesn’t seem to be a hurry to bring your check in this country. You are rather expected to sit and visit after the main course. They also keep giving me clean silverware…. Not complaining one bit….actually, very nice.

After dinner we walked back to the flat and watched some tv on the computer and worked on the Highlands and Paris/Amsterdam trips.

Steps: 8,928

Saturday in Glasgow

Photos: A rhinoceros at the wood recycling shop, the Empire Fountain in Glasgow Green, the old carpet factory recycled into a German pub and business offices, view of Glasgow from the lighthouse observatory, the steps leading to the very top of the lighthouse, Pete and Jess
in the observation area of the lighthouse, a tower of the old lighthouse

Saturday June 26, 2010

A lazy start as this is one of the first weekends when Pete and Jess have no set plans. Pete went down to the market for rolls and bagels. He came back with raspberries also. Great breakfast.

We walked down to Buchanan Street to see what was happening, to hopefully catch the drummers and pipers (no luck), and to catch the tube west to a farmer’s market. On the way to the market we stopped at a wood recycling business. There really wasn’t a store….a lot with a fence and a small building to act as the office. They had all of these used woods, half barrels, plants, recycling information and materials. They had benches, tables, and various other goods built from the used woods. What a great idea---a central area for recycled lumber and small projects built from the lumber. We also got a couple of ideas for projects.

The market was cool, lots of local outfits with meat and vegetables, as well as breads, jams, sauces, and other things. There were lots of unusual meats, such as lamb, ostrich, bison, seafood, rabbit, and venison. There was very little pork and almost no beef. Pete bought a wonderful hamburger which we all had a bite of and vegetables for use this week.

Nancy and Jess went to a bead store a block from the market, while Pete and I walked a few blocks to the cricket field and back. Passed a betting parlour offering to pay 120 pounds for a ten pound bet on Uruguay. We passed but should not have since Uruguay won later in the day. We got back, bought a treat at the corner grocery and waited. Actually, Jess and Nancy found Pete and Neil coming out of the grocery with food. Nancy and Jess found some really awesome beads.

We caught the tube, which is a smaller cuter version of the London tube, back to Buchanan Street. We were headed for the East End of Glasgow and the Glasgow Green. On the way we looked for the pipers on Buchanan, but we had just missed their show again…they are street players—there are a number of street musicians, accordions, string instruments, etc. Some are quite talented.

We stopped at the Old Lighthouse, which is down an alley off Buchanan Street. The views from the lighthouse were great.... the escalators were scary, structurally sound...just out there floating in midair. There were several exhibits in the museum. We stopped at the Charles McIntosh exhibit and the architecture prize awards for Scotland.

We then headed for the Glasgow Green where we headed for a German Pub/Restaurant. To get there Pete and Jess took us through a short cut mall. It is the Argyle Arcade, and it is filled with more jewelry stores than I have ever seen in one spot. It is at least a block long with stores on both sides.....no costume or fake stones for this arcade...lots and lots of sparkly. There were watches ranging up to 7000 pounds and lots and lots of diamonds---really, really expensive diamonds. There were really pretty ones and some really big diamonds. Nancy and Jess window shopped but neither asked to enter any of the stores. I must go back and take a picture.

Then we did some more walking through another part of the city to the Glasgow Green. The “green” has lots of grass, but some brown as Glasgow is a little short of rain at this time. We headed to the Empire fountain which represents Canada, Australia, South Africa, and India and beyond to a German restaurant in part of an old brewery building. This was our destination for lunch. We all had different items and shared as we downed a pint and talked. After lunch/dinner we headed back to the flat to watch an important world cup game and relax.

The game was not too much fun because despite many chances the USA lost to Ghana. A great day for Africa, North America not so much. However, during the match we had snacks—cheese, vegetables, bread, crisps (potato chips), and two types of dip prepared by our hosts. We enjoyed the game. Then we spent some time working on plans for the highland trip and a hotel in Amsterdam. As the sun finally set at 11:00 PM and an episode of CSI came to a close we got to bed—still not quite dark, but still warm as it had been sunny all day.

14,845 steps today.

Friday in Glasgow

Photos: the display of heads in Kelvingrove Museum, the big pipe organ in Kelvingrove, the Kelvingrove Museum, a delivery van covered with artificial turf, purple orchid, a holly bush that mine will never look like, a cute street in Glasgow

Friday, June 25, 2010

Sunrise is quite early in Glasgow…..it was light when I woke up at 4:00 because of the people who were yelling at each other on the street six stories below. They were unhappy with each other….obviously. Went back to sleep. We had a nice breakfast of muffins, egg, fruit. The plan today was to see some places in town and try public transport. We walked down to the bus station to check out the bus system in Glasgow.

Off we set with our trusty map and advice from Pete about where we should and should not go. Our first stop was the Central Bus Station where our intention was to buy a pass as we had done in England. Well, that didn’t work out because we didn’t have extra passport photos…oops. So we got a map, advice from the information desk and headed to the bus to buy day passes. We got to the bus, talked to the young bus driver, who said we needed exact change, so off we went again….mission accomplished and back to the bus. He asked where we wanted to go…his Scottish dialect was quite thick and our flat Midwest dialect made communicating an interesting activity, but we got it accomplished. He understood where we wanted to go, and we understood where to go…we thought. With the bus map, we tried to follow along with where we were…didn’t do to badly. However, we thought we had another stop to go when the driver opened the door to his little cubicle and motioned that it was time for us to get off. We thanked him, got off, and turned left. He opened his door again, stopped us, and gave us specific directions to the Botanic Center…..a nice young man.

The twenty minute walk led us down Byers Road along all kinds of shops. Fortunately, the city of Glasgow has deemed it important to post sign maps showing where you are and where things are…..very helpful.

We reached our destination…The Botanic Center. We found the visitor’s center to get a map. We found the weeping ash tree planted in 1841. It’s not as big as you might think. We found a wonderful green house built in the Victorian manner….beautiful. Inside we found more varieties of begonias than I have ever seen. There was a tropical plant area, palm trees of all varieties, Impatiens from New Guinea, with the biggest blooms that I have ever seen. The cactus and succulent room was filled with all types of wonderful plants, including several small pencil cactus. One of my favorite rooms was the orchid room…..so many varieties of orchids….gorgeous. I was even reminded that vanilla comes from a member of the orchid family. We then made our way to the Wild Rose garden. The garden was filled with the traditional original forms of the roses….those that had not been hybridized…..the smells were unbelievable. The canes on the roses in the UK are huge compared to the roses at the old house….I think the difference is in the winters.

Off to lunch…..to make me happy….Neil agreed to eat at a Crepe café. We ordered a Hawaiian Ham crepe, an apple with cream crepe, and a pot of tea. We sat at a table in front of the café and had lunch. Because we did not use the “take away” option we paid more. It was great….I enjoyed It a great deal. It was a good lunch the main dish crepe was very good, but the dessert was nothing special---more apple, more cinnamon, in proportion to crepe was needed. We then decided on a route to the Kelvingrove Park/Museum and Art gallery. We chose to go part way down Byers Road and then cut through Glasgow University to the park. It was a lovely walk except for the elevation, steeply uphill and then steeply downhill. We should have chosen a route that followed the River Kelvin---fewer hills. The museum was eclectic. We saw art and architecture from Glasgow artists including the revered Charles MacIntosh. MacIntosh’s work has certain similarities to Wright. We saw exhibits about religious bigotry in Glascow-- the green (Catholic) vs. the orange (Protestant), moving to Glasgow as an immigrant from the Indian subcontinent, and violence against women in Glasgow. They had a wonderful natural history exhibit with the fastest, slowest, most poisonous, and so one with each category they had a stuffed specimen of the critter. They also had Egypt, some Dutch and Italian paintings, and a Spitfire hanging in one wing. A wild and crazy collection. When we got tired enough we found a bus stop and rode back downtown. From there we called Pete and arranged to meet at George Square. Jess arrived and all four of us headed to a pub for a wee drink. Pete and I had an Italian Lager and the ladies had a German beer.

Once Back at the flat we had dinner—chicken and potatoes and salad—then watched some soccer and looked for lodgings and train tickets for future journeys outside of Glasgow. Then in to bed time preparations and sleep—it was almost 11:00 and it’s still twilight.

22,071 steps, a new record today.

Glasgow on Thursday

Photos: A pedestrian bridge across the River Clyde, a piece of amazing graffiti down by the River Clyde, a full size elephant at Hamley's Toy store (sorry boys, it won't fit in the suitcase), the Buchanan Street shopping area.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Glasgow……Let’s investigate Glasgow on foot—the plan for the day. After a leisurely start to the morning, we started out with a map (provided by Pete) and walked to the Tourist Information Center in George Square. We found a number of pamphlets telling us about things to do in Glasgow. Their big thing was selling tours. We aren’t really into tour busses, so we decided to investigate the Buchanan and Sauchiehall Street pedestrian mall which is filled with high end stores. We found a half price bookstore and spent some time checking out the books. They had some Napoleonic naval novels that don’t show up in the states but didn’t get them since we learned a lesson about buying books first. Then we found a jewelry store that was selling diamond chip stuff and at least Nancy had a good time checking out the merchandise. We also found in the window of a store called the Gadget store which had the greatest kitchen knife holder that I have ever, ever seen…..It was a statue of a person running. The knife blades were, of course, stuck through the person. A local woman and I had a discussion about whether it would act like a voodoo doll if you put a picture on it. Ok, so you probably had to be there and actually see it to see the humor.

We went to a store selling teas, one that made kilts for the gentleman, checked out the cashmere scarves and capes……lovely, lovely things. We also looked at so many store windows that I lost track.

The area is filled all kinds of stores from the Apple store where there was a line to get the new I-4 phone to stores selling tea to all kinds of clothing stores. It even has a multistory shopping mall with the big Hamley's Toy Store….the same as the five story one in London. We walked all the way down to the River Clyde.

We found a pedestrian bridge across the river and walked across it to say we did. We came back across and saw the most amazing tag on a wall that we have ever seen. The tiger on the wall was one of the best pieces of graffiti that I have ever seen.

We continued our walk back up Buchanan Street to the Sainsbury where we stopped and picked up some groceries. Shopping in a central city grocery store is most interesting. It is really quite different from the US…even putting aside the brand differences. We have been in markets that have a fish market with the fish lying on ice, but not behind counters. The fruits and vegetables are in plastic crates or baskets that are not necessarily refrigerated. Milk is sold in pints and quarts….I haven’t seen gallon or even liters. The prices posted include the 17.5% VAT (value added tax) which is really rather nice because you know what the actual cost is. The VAT, by the way, is set to go up to 20%....rather makes the 7% tax in Iowa seem unreasonably reasonable. The checkers all have a tall soft chair and sit to check your groceries.

Nancy is doing pretty well with the different dialects of the UK. However, she did meet a young man (the checker) in the grocery whose sister had been to Utah, and he wanted to know how close that was to Iowa. His Scottish accent was so strong that we had a wee bit of difficulty understanding each other. There is never a question that we are from the states.

Back to Pete and Jess’s for the evening.

It was a great deal of fun comparing the goods in Scotland to the goods in the US.

The sunset about 10:45.

Steps: 17,432

London to Glasgow

Photos: Our #24 bus, Room 208 of the Sidney, the thousands of people in line at King's Cross, Our train in Glasgow station

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Okay, I tell you it’s getting harder and harder to remember what day it is….I miss my Macintosh where the date is readily available.

Today, we leave the Sidney Hotel and our little room. Our room had twin beds each against the wall with a tiny little night stand between them. Not enough space for two people to pass each other. We had a clothes cupboard, a desk and bench under the desk, the fastest electric tea kettle ever….a very popular item in the UK….and a tiny, very cute and modern bathroom which is not called a bathroom, but a toilet. There was no air conditioning; however, except for the last night it really didn’t matter. Breakfast, a full English breakfast minus the tomatoes, and a lift were also included with the price. There was even a bar on the premises that provided me with ice for my water if we asked, and we were only given one glass of ice each...no tubs. With the #24 bus stop outside the door and Victoria Station and the Pimlico tube stop in close proximity, it was a great hotel.

Being a bit tight, we found the 28 pounds (I can’t find the pound key on this PC) for a taxi to take us to the train station a bit much. Pete and Jess volunteered to tote two of our big suitcases back to Glasgow with them; thus, it became feasible to take the tube. So Wednesday morning toward the end of morning rush hour, we boarded the tube at the Pimlico Station---standing room only…and for the first couple of stops it got even more crowded. By the time we reached the third stop the crowd started thinning. We reached King’s Cross in no time flat, found an escalator ….very steep escalators…to take us part way up, and then a lift to take us to the surface. Since we had gotten our tickets yesterday, the only thing we had to do for an hour was cool off…quite warm in the tube.

It was very crowded in the station with very limited seating, but Neil and I were lucky and snagged a couple of bench seats. Then a lady with a cane and her husband starting looking for a seat. Since none of the younger people were getting up, I went over and offered her my seat. I was going to go off and find Gate 9 and ¾ anyway. She and her husband were so appreciative. When I got back, the gentleman had gotten a seat and insisted that I sit. We had a delightful conversation, talking about England and US, soccer and football, snow, and so on. They told us about going to the Queen’s Garden Party on Tuesday at Buckingham Palace. They gave us a card and invited us to their home in northern English. He is a council committee chairperson….apparently this is why they were invited to the Palace.

The sign for the train didn't give a platform, only QB which was the que for the train shown in letters on the station floor. QB as opposed to QA for the train wound clear around the interior of the station….of course, this meant a very crowded station. We had reserved seats, but not reserved spots for luggage. We were able to put our carry on bags up above, but our big suitcase ended up in the space where our feet should have been. Neil had a spot for his feet. I sat cross legged; however, it beat holding the suitcase or sitting in the space where you get off and on the train where it is not air conditioned with other people who were doing the same. By the time we got to Edinburgh we were able to move seats and leave the suitcase. East Coast Railroad should have made money on that trip because that train was full.

It was a great train trip north from London to Glasgow. The East Coast train eventually runs alongside the coast giving great scenic views of the North Sea. Along the way we saw vistas that look just the pictures you see of Scotland in the books.

When we got to Glasgow Central train station, Pete was waiting for us. Nice person…..he helped us carry and pull the luggage. We walked to his and Jess’s flat in The Herald Building which is about 5 ½ to 6 blocks from the train station. They live on the 5^th floor in the UK…in the US that would be the 6^th floor…..ground floor is zero.

They have a totally great flat. It is quite modern with big windows and laminate floors. In some ways it reminds me of Ian and Sara’s first apartment in Davenport…the big windows, modern and sleek. They have a great little kitchen with a combination washer and dryer, the tallest, skinniest refrigerator/freezer that I have ever seen, a great room, a bedroom, bathroom and an entry way. It was a furnished flat, complete with the thinnest pots and pans I have ever seen. I think you could burn water in them. However, it was furnished so they didn't have to buy the major pieces of furniture.

While we waited for Jess to get off work, the rest of us went shopping for dinner at the local Sainsbury. Most people seem to shop daily or for only a few days which is understandable in a city centre.

We had dinner and sat around and visited until bedtime. The sun didn’t set until about 10:40.

Steps: 8239

Last Full Day in London

Photos: Sidney Hotel, Sherlock Holmes --221B, Baker Street, 221B Baker St., Fountain in Hyde Park, Rose bed in Regents Park, the Marble Arch

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Our last full day in London. We did the breakfast thing again and came back to our room to wait for Pete and Jess to get here from their hotel. They are storing their luggage here until their train leaves this evening. They got here, and we shared our lists of what we were going to do. They took off to do their thing, and we got ready to do our thing.

We decided that it was important to figure out if we could use the tube to get to our train tomorrow with our luggage, so we took the tube from Pimilco to King’s Cross (yes, Harry Potter’s) station. Again the big escalators …this time going up and up and up, then a couple of elevators, and then a set of stairs. We found the East Coast ticket office and changed our confirmation sheet into real tickets. After completing that task, we decided that we would take the tube tomorrow and save the 28 pounds for a taxi.

Next came the #30 bus to Baker Street. We were off to find 221B Baker Street, home of Sherlock Holmes. Had some young ladies on the bus ask if we were from America. They had lived with their grandmother in San Diego for four years. They asked how we got to England…..most impressed with the Queen Mary. Got off at our stop and searched out the famous address. We went into the little shop and checked out the souvenirs, but we decided not to spend the twelve pounds for the tiny museum of a fictional character.

We thought we might check out Madame Tossauds Wax Museum….the lines went on forever and the entry fee was 56 pounds for the two of us…..close to 85 US dollars. Once again we declined.

The weather in London today is quite warm and unpleasant. And walking anywhere in the bright sunshine was very warm. We bought a cold Coke from a vendor who assured us that the day wasn’t really busy but there were people everywhere.

We walked north to Regent’s Park and went through the rose garden. This was most impressive thing -- huge beds of hundreds of roses of the same variety all growing and blooming together—absolutely beautiful. Thousands of blooms in dozens of colors--the view and the smell were stupendous, but we had other places to visit.

Back to Baker street and a bus south to Hyde Park corner. Through a busy part of the city and where the crane took up three of four lanes just to hoist construction materials to the sky the jam was severe. We got off at Hyde Park and bought some lunch and ate in the shadow of the Marble Arch—not really the arch but some trees near by. We then walked through a small part of Hyde Park—very shady and very pretty. There weren’t any speakers at the speaker’s corner…I think they were all protesting at Parliament. We boarded a bus, transferred at Victoria and made our way, admittedly a roundabout way to White Hall and walked toward the palace to the Guards Museum. The young lady outside said admission was six pounds each, but the guardsman inside said for retired folks such as ourselves it was only two pounds each. He then gave us a brief history of the Regiments of Guards—he was a Coldstream Guard retired. We then walked through the small museum rich with uniforms, honors, traditions, very very interesting. It also had a display of Guardsmen’s cartoons which were absolutely hilarious. We stopped in the museum shop which was really a toy soldier shop. Those lead soldiers that Doug, Peter and I had as kids go for 20 pounds and up each.

We found as we prepared to head back to the room to meet Pete and Jess that the Gurads Museum isn’t close to any busses. We walked to Buckingham Palace and then almost to Victoria Station before we found a bus that would get us to the hotel. We arrived just on time as we had planned. Met them, they agreed to take some of our luggage with them and walked to the Tube station where we said good by until tomorrow. We caught a bus to dinner, caught a bus to the grocery, walked back to the Hotel—two glasses with ice from the bar, collapsed in our warm room in front of the fan.

20,073 steps plus the museum shuffle at the Guards.

Monday & Still in London

Photos: The Millenium Bridge, View from the Tate Museum, Bookstore in Churchill & War Rooms, St. Paul's Cathedral, Churchill's Bedroom in the War Rooms, The entrance to the Churchill & War Rooms Museum,

Monday June 21, 2010

Up early to clean-up, eat breakfast and redistribute some of our stuff. Checked with Pete and Jess, but they still had some tasks with Jess’s family so we set off on our own. The first stop was the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. We met a rich rich lady from Dallas who was at the museum herself as her granddaughters searched for a Prada purse or something like that to go with the shoes and clothes they had bought in Rome and Paris. Ah...the perils of having granddaughter's who are more into spending grandma's money than learning about history and culture.

The museum is great--admission comes with audio descriptions of rooms and exhibits. The underground headquarters was fascinating—even realizing that the whole place was not completely bomb proof. The rooms were small and furniture was as it was. Many of the maps in the map room were originals. The Churchill Museum was also very interesting, lots of quotations as much of Churchill’s leadership revolved around using the language. Interesting interactive exhibits on early life, early politics, WWI, the interwar period, the wilderness, and, of course, WWII, but a good deal about his later time as Prime Minister kept us busy for several hours. It is clear in the museum how difficult it was for a man who had grown up when Britannia ruled the world to deal with the very different post war world. Finally, we exited the museum and got a message from Pete and Jess—reception was apparently not good underground.

We took a bus toward Covent Gardens where we were to meet Pete and Jess. Using our trusty maps, we made it, and Pete and Jess found us. We went to a Marks and Spenser –the grocery part---and collected boxed sandwiches, salad, fruit for lunch. We found a spot on the curb behind a nice little green car and had lunch…..seating and parking are both hard to find. After that we toured Covent Gardens….a huge flea market….found knives like the one we have at home that came from Neil’s family. Apparently, they are antiques, not just old. It was fun looking at all of the strange things…jewelry to old fashioned wood working tools to silver.

Then we did the tube to St. Paul’s Cathedral. The tube was fun, but boy are those escalators steep….don’t much care for them. We got to St. Paul’s, did the obligatory outdoor photos of this famous cathedral, went up the stairs, to find out that we had missed the opportunity to go into the cathedral by 30 seconds….it seems they wanted to have a church service. Boy were there some rude people who were really giving the guards a bad time.

We just took some more outdoor pictures just in case we didn’t get back there. Then we went to the Millennium Bridge…..the one that twists and dumps the people off when the Death Eaters attack the bridge in one of the Harry Potter movies. It is a pedestrian bridge across the Thames. The Thames is a long way across and at the end is a converted power station that now houses the Tate Modern Art Museum. It is a huge building in which we saw some famous works by Picasso, Leger, Dali, and others. However, we also saw some uninspiring stuff. I’m not convinced that a messy workshop table is art. If it is then I need to preserve the one in our messy basement. They also have one of those paintings where the whole canvas is painted red with a black stripe down the side...which I had saved the ones the boys did when they were little. Okay, I admit it...I just don't quite get the modern art thing. The museum has lots and lots of space because of its former use--it is really quite massive.

As closing time approached, and our limit of energy approached somewhat simultaneously, we boarded a bus back towards Victoria and the place we had dinner the night before. Garfunkels was busier than the previous night, but it was just what we were looking for with a bit bigger menu than a pub and larger liquid offerings. We had a great meal and then came back to the hotel. Pete and Jess checked the internet, and we talked and made plans for tomorrow. Finally time to part, and we walked with them the few blocks to the Pimlico Tube Stop and said good night. Nancy and I were out of energy and quickly relaxed and went to bed.

Some 17,806 steps.

Sunday in London

Photos: Furniture from the Victoria and Albert Museum that we liked. A bookcase with a staircase it in from the Architecture exhibition.

Sunday June 20^th, 2010

Good Morning came late this morning since we didn't awake until about 8:00. Since we collapsed at 10:00 the previous evening, it was a 10 hour nap. We had tea and these funny chocolate chip baguettes for breakfast in our room as we decided to give the hotel breakfast a rest. Breakfast which is included so no complaints (however, English bacon, sausages, coddled eggs, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, pork and beans and toast...every morning gets a wee bit tiring). After a bite and a shower we set off on some necessary business—Laundry. The hotel does not have one so the desk clerk directed us right to the stop light the left to a sleazy dive of a Laundrette. We filled on large washer and put the money in—everything seemed ok except that the washer didn’t spin quite long enough and our clothes were still very wet when the cycle ended--dripping. We wrang out the water by hand as best we could and started the drying process. A long long process, but in the end our clothes were cleaner and dry. Back to the hotel for a readjustment of stuff and then the bus to Victoria Station for some cash and some lunch. Both were accomplished quickly and easily.

Next task is to find the bus to the Victoria and Albert Museum. We thought we had the right number and the right platform, but the driver informed us no he didn’t go there. We went to the information booth where they had a new guy who was trying to read the same map we had and finally said “I don’t Know.” Then this older fellow opened the door and asked what we needed, Nancy explained to him that the map said this bus went to Knightssbridge and was this correct—he said Americans can’t read maps and abruptly gave us a number and vague directions as to where to get it. At which point Nancy was plenty unhappy. We got there and were ready to get on when some of our fellow travelers pushed Nancy out of the way and boarded ahead of us. This was a very difficult part of our day.

We rode the bus through a ritzy shopping district: Prada, Armani, Gucci and many other exclusive shops with door minders. A very busy and congested area of London. Rode past Harrods and got off across the street from the museum we were seeking.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is a museum about living and decoration—it has tons of weird stuff. We went through the jewelry exhibit that showed styles from pre-roman Britain through the twentieth century. We definitely don’t like the very modern designers very much, and much of the older stuff from Victoria on is very ostentatious. We saw a gallery of miniature portraits including the wife of Sir Thomas Crapper, wife of a Victorian hydraulic engineer. The miniature portraits were painted on very thin slices of ivory. We walked through the British exhibits of furniture, clothing and decoration from the 17^th to the 20^th century very interesting—boy, did the British upper class have it made.

After the museum we took the bus back to Victoria to a nice quiet restaurant with big glasses of Coca Cola, a reasonable menu, and had a very relaxing dinner. Then home to the room to collapse once more, watch some football, blog and so to bed. Much excitement as tomorrow we see Pete and Jess.

12,440 steps today remember the time sitting in the Launderette waiting for clothes to dry,

London Day 3, I think

Pictures; Russell Square Tube Station, Part of the Parthenon, Nancy's favorite clock

Photos: The Portland Vase, the Rosetta Stone, the British Museum

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Anniversary to Us -- Neil didn’t remember, but in this defense he doesn’t put the dates on the blogs, so he hadn’t a clue as to what day it was. It’s hard to keep days straight when all you do is have fun.

Today we hopped on the two decker bus #24 that stops right in front of our hotel, touched our little Oyster cards to the machine, and rode away. We rode down this morning. The #24 is a main line bus which took us to Victoria Station, Trafalger Square and up to Tottenham Court where we got off. We then whipped out our trusty map and found our way to the British Museum.

The streets in this city show the development of the city. They seldom go in a square grid, or I think if they do, it is purely accidental. The street names change frequently as well, so map reading is prized skill.

The British Museum is this wonderfully magnificent old structure that houses objects representing the history of the world. This place is so big we bought a guide to find our way…..eventually we found a free map. We started our tour looking for a particular vase, called the Portland Vase….the first glass carved vase; however, on the way we checked out the early Egyptian artifacts, mainly large statues that were from BC. I found a statue of a bronze cat that was gorgeous…later found it in the gift shop, full size, for more money than I have. Ah, the Rosetta Stone, that little piece of carved rock that helped unlock the languages of the ancient civilizations. There is a lot of look, but don’t touch in the museum, so I, of course, took pictures. We continued our walk through the Egyptians until we got to the staircase to get to the second floor…six long flights of steps to get to the second floor….not only do they have unusual money, but they count floors of buildings strangely as well. Ground level floor is zero, one floor above is 1, etc.

We went through the Greek and Roman Life exhibits and found the Portland Vase---very beautiful. There were so many beautiful vases, water urns, jewelry that it was mind boggling. Actually it is amazing that the civilizations had so many things that were so refined. From the Greeks and Romans we went through the European exhibits….again seeing dishes, pottery, jewelry that are a beauty to behold. We went through the clocks and watches and loved seeing the development of the clock. I loved the clock that worked on a marble rolling back and forth like a maze. The alarm clock came into being much earlier than I ever knew. From there we went back to Europe. Then we went downstairs to see things from China and a special exhibit on Jade. Finally, we went to the Parthenon exhibit….wow, parts of the real Parthenon.

We did wonder if some of the countries whose antiquities are displayed didn’t want them back. We spend most of the day in this museum and could have spent more time.

We then wandered the few blocks to Russell Square. We took a few pictures in the Russell Square Garden and went off to find the tube stop. It was wonderful….a group of Asian visitors asked if we could point them to the tube station. We did. We went to the tube station, but the sign we wanted was down in the tube. I convinced one of the station guards to let us down into the tube to take pictures and come back out…..down, down, down we went in the elevator and then down some steps to reach the train platform, take our picture and get back out. No charge. Then we went in search of the Russell Square Tube key chains that we wanted. Unfortunately, the franchise privileges lapsed several years ago, and they are no longer made…..Sad

Consulting our map off we went in search of Foley’s, a very big bookstore….. Found it. Fun store, but we bought no books because we didn’t want to carry them.

We ended our day at the Prince Albert Pub and The Carvery Restaurant for a somewhat special anniversary dinner--even had some wine with the meal. The Restaurant was decorated in the finest Victorian décor. One of the great things was the bell that would call the members of Parliament back when they needed to vote. They had a great fish and chips dinner.

Stopped at Sainbury’s (a grocery store) for water and biscuits for breakfast.

Steps: 13,814

Londan, Day 2

Pictures: The Tower of London, House of Parliament from the River, The Wellington Barracks with the Crown Jewels, what visitors see of the Cutty Sark, N & N at the Prime Meridian

Photos: National Maritime Museum, view from the Observatory, the Tower Bridge

Friday, June 18, 2010

So much to see, so little time….. However, today we are sticking to the plan we made ….a boating we will go.

Breakfast….then we caught the number 24 bus from the stop right in front of our hotel. Our intentions were to ride to Victoria, but we missed the stop. The perils of traveling at peak times…just like city commuters in any city….stay out of my way. We rode on to the Westminster Cathedral stop, got off, found a money machine, and got back on another #24. We took the bus a bit further on, got off, walked by Westminster Abby, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben again, and reached our destination—the hop on, hop off boats of the Thames. Unfortunately, we were a half hour early.

Found out the the public toilets in Westminster Tube cost 50 p, which meant that I had to convince a nice ticket agent to give me change.

The boat tour….we were on the first trip of the day. We took the boat straight to Greenwich. One of our crew members gave an informal tour guide presentation. One of the most interesting things was that Wharf stands for “warehouse at the river front.” I had no idea that the word wharf was an acronym. We got our first sightings of Waterloo Bridge—the bridge built by women during WW II, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge. On the way to Greenwich I noticed the water marks and moss along the river walls. We also saw a boat that was sitting on dry land. I asked one of the crew members if it had to do with the tides. It did indeed—it was almost at low tide—which explained the rapid movement of the water. One of the boat’s mates told me that there is about a 7 meter difference between low and high tide. That’s a whole lot of water.

We got off the boat, and the first thing we saw was the lovely plastic building over the Cutty Sark. Yes, Doug was correct, they are indeed refurbishing it. We could see through gaps, they weren’t kidding when they said refurbishing…..the masts were down. It appeared the outer hull sheathing was gone; we could see the ribs. Don’t plan on seeing the ship until 2011 or 2012…..two dates given for completion.

There are actually a number of buildings…historic and regular buildings…that seem to be under refurbishment in the London area. One thing that I found interesting was that they wrap the whole construction sight up in plastic or mesh…..a frame work around the scaffolding.

We were then off in search of the National Maritime Museum….not too tough to find….follow the signs. The Museum Building was itself impressive….large and old looking…befitting the country. Inside, we found a totally awesome exhibits on toy boats…..the toys of the wealthy. We saw clock wind up toys, wheeled boats, and tiny sail boats. The ones I found absolutely amazing were the copper boiler boats. They would actually produce steam to move the toy boat. They wouldn’t let us take pictures inside the museum, unfortunately. We saw a lot of exhibits, but my second favorite were the scale models of old sailing ships produced for the Bureau of Naval Architects or something like that….it was the group that gave the permission for the building and commission of the ships. Those models were amazing in detail and beauty.

A note to our teacher friends who have ever taken children on a field trip: It doesn't seem to matter what country you are in....the students on a field trip seem to behave the same. We watched teachers from private English schools chase and reprimand their students for not staying with the group or for not paying attention. We watched French school groups behave the same.

Off we went to see the National Observatory and the Prime Meridian. Okay, who wasn’t thinking…Duh…observatories are on hills. However, we didn’t think about the torture of getting from point A—sea level---to point B---the observatory. We went through Greenwich Park , which was filled with happy school children on holiday, to reach the actual path up the hill. Getting to the observatory was like climbing a ladder without the rungs….a very nice path, but boy was it a tendon stretcher. My favorite were the women doing it in heels and very cute sandals….crazy. The Meridian was great—just a line. We joined the other tourists in standing in both the east and west hemispheres. The view was spectacular. We bought our first souvenir…a small desk clock—very nice. Down the hill we went because if you go up, you must come down. The most interesting thing on the way down were the people with strollers.

A side point: Using Office 7 in England keeps showing up a number of mistakes in my spelling….it wants me to spell like the English…..favorite is wrong; favourite is correct.

We got to the boat very close to time, got in, sat down, and cast off. We went up river with the tidal current to St. Kahterine’s Wharf where we disembarked for the Tower of London. Stopped for a hot dog, coke, and some candied peanuts. We then walked around to the other side of the Tower to find the entrance, It’s crazy to be in a building started by William the Conqueror in the 11^th century. We realize that much has been rebuilt over the years but it is still old, old, old. We visited the crown jewels, saw a changing of the guard, the bloody tower where we went into Sir Walter Raleigh’s apartment—before his execution. We stood on the site of Anne Boleyn’s execution at the hand of her husband. Went through the Fusiler’s Museum, and walked along the top of the wall. We generally marveled at the place for over two hours. Then out onto the Tower Bridge for a look and some pictures. Reboarded the boat and came back to Westminster.

When we got off, it was raining—the first since a few sprinkles in Portsmouth. Walked in the rain to the bus stop and headed in the general direction of Victoria Station. We stopped at a supermarket for some scones and hot chocolate and then took a bus to the Westminster Marquis (a pub) for dinner. Dinner was good, strange with vegetables (peas) in the spaghetti and loud. Finally a stop for some cool bottled water and a short four block walk to the Sdyney. Collapsed in the room, watched England play a poor game against Algeria, and worked on blogs. By 10:00 we could hardly think straight and so went to bed.

17,028 steps—really more because uphill steps are worth more right? According to our figures it is around 6.5 miles.