London: Around Londontown Part 2

June 12, 2013: Since we had problems yesterday, and missed some of the things we had planned on, we spent the day trying to cram in a bunch of random things, and of course, I took pictures along the way.

  



We aren't exactly sure what a "Proper" hamburger is. Especially as opposed to an "Improper" one. It there an inappropriate hamburger???

I just liked the shop signs hanging out into the street. Just like in centuries past.

We kind of accidentally stumbled into Trafalgar Square! ...

....Where we found, wouldn't you guess? Yep George Washington! We had a great laugh when we read that it was a gift from Philadelphia! ...Sure! Here you go, have a statue of our General who defeated you in a big ugly war, and then became our first President while we separated ourselves from your King! What??! Who was in charge of gift giving that year? ...Probably should have been fired.

Our first glimpse of Big Ben! (can you see the hair frizz starting? ugh!)

Part of the fountain at Trafalgar Square.

Isn't he so handsome? The Lion is pretty cool too.

At the base of Napoleon.

Bad breath?

I am so interested in the architecture here in Europe. All the different centuries mixed together and on top of each other. For instance, in this one picture, it looks as if there is a Georgian building, then maybe late 18th century, one that looks even older, and then a 20th century, all connected on the same plane.


It is interesting to me too, how close everyone lives together. I know it is similar in New York and even LA, in areas, but we are so used to our sprawling suburbs and the sound of lawnmowers, that this crammed-together life is so foreign to us over here.

 Look what we found on a Red Double Decker bus! Our people! :-)

 

We came upon a bunch of military people. They were getting ready for a parade and concert for the Queen. It is the 60th anniversary of her coronation. All kinds of preparations and celebrations are being made. We will miss most of the big stuff by a week or so.

 So many thoughts.......! :-)

 The British Cabinet!

There are monuments every where you look in London. It is crazy! But I absolutely loved this one. It was just in the middle of the street (they have literally run out of space here).

Notice the wreaths left at the base. It just kind of gave me chills when I looked up and saw it. 

 Just a word of preparation: there are a million pictures of Big Ben. I have no idea why I was suddenly so enamored with it once we got here. No idea.

Ok, so this is sort of another Big Ben picture, but it really is here because I loved the little Taxi sign...even the taxi signs are classy in England!

  


And there are little crowns on their light posts! :-)

(Princess Club, this one's for you!!)

I kept expecting Peter Pan to come flying around. But then I realized it was the middle of the day and he probably wouldn't do that.

Close up detail.

 The Parliament Building (and street lamp) ...of which Big Ben is a part. (The Parliament Building I mean, not the lamp. :-) )

Detail high up on the Parliament Building.

 The stonework in Europe is overwhelming. It is everywhere, and I can't get over the effort that was put into these buildings, when just survival itself was so difficult! Long live the Masons!

Coolest thing ever! We were walking by, literally right underneath Big Ben, when it started chiming noon! We stood under and Merinda recorded it. It was SO cool! (As soon as I get her recording I will add it here.)

We walked past, and then took a picture (12:05). Because we were underneath right then, you couldn't see the clock strike noon.

After our Big Ben encounter, we got on a boat for a cruise up the Thames.  (Joseph and Merinda)

 TRAVEL TIP: We bought the London Pass. Watch for discount codes because there are 10% ones off all the time. We got the pass with travel, and it was the smartest thing we could have done! Just the Tube, bus and cruise paid for it! And no hassle to buy tickets all the time. But on top of that, we got entrance into more than we had time for, including all the main things that you would want to see. On top of that, many attractions have a fast pass lane, so you don't have to stand in line. If you ever go to London, I highly recommend it!

I even got the Red Double Decker Bus crossing the bridge!

Chateau-turned-exclusive-apartments or something. But spectacular, non the less!

The London Eye, just before we go under Waterloo Bridge.

A "beach." It was funny, there were 2 men building sand castles. It is so tiny too!

Another view, so you can see how small the "beach" is! :-)

 The "Wibbly, Wobbly Bridge."  Ok, actually the proper name is the "Millennium Bridge" because it was built for.....surprise! The Millennium! Here's the thing though, the Queen came down and officially opened it and everyone celebratorily started walking and biking across, when it started swaying terribly and leaning. People panicked and freaked out, and a cop came down and closed it just within a few hours, I think. When they asked the architect what was wrong, apparently he said something like:  "Nothing! It is the way the people are walking. They are walking wrong." Ha!

The irony, there is a little truth to that. According to Wiki:
        The wobble was attributed to an under-researched phenomenon whereby pedestrians crossing a bridge that has a lateral sway have an unconscious tendency to match their footsteps to the sway, thereby exacerbating the sway. The tendency of a suspension bridge to sway when troops march over it in step was well known, which is why troops are required to break step when crossing such a bridge.

TRAVEL TIP: When crossing any suspension bridge, make sure you are not walking in cadence with anyone else around you. Safety precaution. :-)

 

  


The Globe Theater! I had so wanted to go and tour this, and it just never happened! :-(  My Shakespeare Freak got dissed. :-(

 This restaurant is one of the oldest buildings in London, and just next to The Globe Theater. According to their website, "Samuel Pepys witnessed the awesome destruction of the Great Fire of London in 1666. He describes the dreadful heat and "fire drops" falling on him whilst in a boat on the river. He sought refuge in "a little alehouse on bankside …..and there watched the fire grow". Until of course he was probably evacuated, because it kind of burned down too. But they rebuilt it in 1676 (around the same time as The Globe), and that is the part standing today. Fun tidbit: Tom Cruise has a pint outside the Anchor in 'Mission Impossible'

Oh, just a pirate ship. That's all.

Yep!

  





Lest you get tired of all the Olden-days architecture, there are some pretty funky "new" buildings around too. 

I am sure Space Aliens would be very confused.

Aaaaannnd, back to the old stuff.....

Tower Bridge. Beautiful! And so amazing that the towers are as old as they are!

London Tower, from the Thames

 London Tower was originally like a Palace. It was a residence of Royalty. The main access was from the river, which made it easy to defend. Because the roads were uneven and unsafe (to be honest, not much has changed in 600 years!) they would come by boat, which was a much more smooth and comfortable way to travel. Tower Bridge was the only access from the land, if you had to travel that way. (More on London Tower in the next post :-) )

 Yeah, this is probably NOT the entrance you want to take. And so unfortunate if you do....

 Back on land.... Pizza Delivery anyone? And Dominoes at that!

 I was taking a picture when the delivery guy came out and asked "You like my bike?" I smiled and said "yes!" "Here!" he said, and posed for me!  :-)

Quintessential British window. On our street. :-)

We seem to be living in the district of the Embassies, or at least a lot of them, which is pretty cool. I have taken a bunch of pictures of several different flags and plaques, but some won't let you if they see you. (so be careful). I was surprised no one yelled at me for this one of Iraq. 

 I am SO grateful that I am not the only one that needs reminding that the Brits drive on the opposite side of the street as the rest of the entire world! Thankfully they put reminders all around our neighborhood anyway. Not sure about the rest of London, but I am pretty sure these kept us alive on several occasions! :-)

Everything seems to close around 5 or 6:00, so we decided to walk up to Hyde Park. I wanted to find the Princess Diana memorial and the Peter Pan statue. We ran into Henry, who had arrived, (another member going to work in Brussels) and he came with us.




 A beautiful monument to Prince Albert in Hyde Park

Royal Albert Hall is just across the street from his Monument. There was a ballet performance going on...yes, I was dying.... 

They have these neat little compass-guidance-type things that commemorate Princess Diana. There is a whole walk you can take through the whole park (and beyond I think) by just following them.

Her memorial is a circular fountain, very simple (per her son's) and very nice. The water was turned off (probably too late in the evening) but apparently it is a super happy place during the day, with children playing in the shallow "stream" and people actually on the grass. (You can't step on the grass anywhere in Europe...kinda funny).

After we found the memorial, we strolled through the park. And I mean strolled. It was beautiful, it was late, and no one was there! So we talked and looked, and walked. Just how a park should be. I sure wish we had parks like this back in the States!

We found Peter Pan (I HAD to get a picture of Joseph with Peter Pan (explanation later). But just across from Peter, was this little lake. It was so stunning it took our attention first! My favorite part was the swan with her babies. She was guiding them around and hoping we had some food. Joseph had a granola bar, so we picked out the chocolate and fed them the little oat parts. They loved it!

They are SO cute!!!!!

This guy wanted in on the action too. I have NO idea what kind of bird he is, but he is beautiful! Look at the water droplets on his breast.

More of the little guys.

 This is kind of hilarious, but not really...but kind of. Joseph was feeding them when the Mama Swan got a little excited and nearly bit 3 of his fingers off! Then she yelled at him for a minute. Apparently his piece wasn't big enough for her liking. :-) He was fine, but we all jumped and freaked out for a minute before laughing!

Just a little Mama to Mama moment.

  

Joseph has been Peter Pan for the Hale Center Theater in Orem, for all their summer parades, for I don't know how many years. This is the first summer in a LONG time that he has missed one. They have the GREATEST Captain Hook (who is 6'5", which has allowed Joseph to keep doing it as he has grown taller and taller), and the perfect Smee and Tinkerbell. They have the greatest sword fights and interplay up and down the streets, and the kids love it. Joseph does such a fantastic job! So when I realized this was here, it was a must to get his picture taken with it! It was almost dark, and there were little bugs flying around, but now that I see them in the picture, I am pretty sure they are just fairies!

 Look closely! It is that bird I saw at the pond in Hampton...the one who swims! They were here too! I must find out what they are.

 Walking through Hyde Park in the evening.

 My feet were so sore, I took my shoes off and walked on the grass. It was wet and super cold, and felt amazing! This is a different pond, but with lots of swans. The lights in the distance are Kensington Palace!

 Queen Victoria's monument just outside Kensington. It started to "mist" (which is what we call it) a super fine rain, that happened quite often while we were there. I think it looks kind of magical around her.

  


Look how tall Joseph is getting! That's crazy!

 On our way home, we went to our place "Da LIsa's" for dinner again, it was almost 10:00. We showed Henry our way of eating-by-splitting!

 
TRAVEL TIP: When traveling with a group, try this method of eating. Divide the food and cost evenly, and get a chance to try so many different foods in different countries, that you would never otherwise get to try!

 Our Split Plates! Dinner and Dessert!

England is divided into "Boroughs." This is our neighborhood!

Grocery Carts

It was SO late, and we were SO tired, but we decided to go to a grocery store that we had heard about. Luckily they were open late. We wanted to get a few things for breakfasts and lunch, to help cut down on the cost of our expenses (and maybe just indulge in a dinner out together). 

 Our Tube stop was Gloucester (pronounced Gloss-ter) and as we were looking for cheese for eggs and sandwiches, we found it had its own cheese! (well, not our Tube stop, but Gloucester) :-)

We had to buy some! It was a good cheese. Like a hard cheddar, but super creamy and silky. It has a little "earthy" for lack of a better word, aftertaste in the back of your pallet. We loved it!

Look closely at the third egg from the top. No one can tell me that THESE eggs aren't fresh!

 I feel that this needs no explanation.

Don't forget the Nappies! :-)











Now this next picture isn't a very good one, but it is the only one we took of what I not-so-affectionately call my Hale-fro (combined Halo and Afro!)

What is happening here??? I thought about cutting my hair short before coming, but was a little concerned about how a new cut might react in a different climate. CAN YOU IMAGINE???? I would have looked like a Q-tip! As it is, any hair not connected to a long strand-clump by artificial or any other means has gone crazy! Truth be told, all of it has gone crazy, which is why it is pulled back so often. There is just a constant, continuous halo of about an inch, surrounding my whole head in curls and sometimes fuzz. Darling on a 2 year old, not so much on a grown woman. I feel that I need to talk to my parents again, and check the genealogy to make sure that there isn't some obscure African gene running around my English/Irish/Scandinavian genetics.