29 September 2014

We left the luggage with the hotel and set off for St. Paul’s. I had spent some time figuring out the best tube routes to get there we wanted to go. There was no sensible way to get from St Paul’s to Westminster so we started at St. Paul’s and went on to the Tower. The Circle line was back in service, which meant we might be able to get a quick look at Westminster Abbey on the way back to Paddington.

St. Paul’s is just amazing. So much more colorful than the Gothic cathedrals we have seen before. The ceiling mosaics over the Quire are so beautiful. I’m sorry they do not allow photography.

We don’t have a lot of time, but I listen to the first 20 min of the audio guide. We visit the crypt where both Nelson and Wellington are interred beside memorials to the generals of WWII that we learned about at the War Rooms yesterday.

Then off to the Tower. There is a longish hike between the Central and Circle lines at the Bank station, but we manage. There are a lot of people at the Tower. Not just the usual tourists, but people who have come to see the installation of 1 million ceramic poppies to commemorate the soldiers who died in WWI -  all of them, not just the British. http://poppies.hrp.org.uk/ 

Field of poppies in remembrance of WWI

Royal Armor

Tower on the Jewel House

Jewel house

White Palace

We get in line to see the crown jewels. Pretty cool, but again no photos allowed. The Koh-i-nor and Cullinen diamonds do not look real. As we leave the exhibit, it starts to rain. Silly me with no jacket or brolly. I’ve gotten spoiled over the past 3 weeks. We duck into the White Palace for a look at the armor. They’ve up dated the exhibit and made corrections to earlier attributions and ownership assessments. Nice display. There are also examples of jousting lances, canons, swords, and other weaponry, and a nice view of the Tower Bridge from a window on the top floor.

Tower Bridge from a window in the White Palace

Michael wants to see the torture room for some reason. I buy a very cheap plastic poncho to shed the rain and we head to that tower. Not a lot to see – a replica of a rack, manacles, and another nasty device that keeps you folded in thirds. Ugh.

We’ve only scratched the surface, but we need to grab lunch and get back to Paddington. We find a Subway on the plaza – hey, it’s fast and it’s only the second one we’ve eaten at in 3 weeks. We hike back up to the tube station and catch the Circle line to Paddington. This is a lot longer ride than the Bakerloo line we’ve been using. I chat with the gentleman sitting next to me who (it turns out) works at Blenheim Palace; for the Duke of Marlborough, not as a guide. I end up with 2 free passes to the Palace; so if anyone is going to the UK before the end of 2015 and would like the passes, let me know.

The car service is on time and 45 minutes later we are at the Crowne Plaza, Heathrow. The room is a bit bigger than the Stylotel, J and the bar has good hummus.

Hard to believe we are headed home tomorrow. It’s been a great trip and there is still a lot more to see. I would have spent another day at Bath, another day in the Cotswolds, another day in the Lakes, another day on Skye, and a day in Inverness. Probably another day in London to spend more time at the places we went to. Now to get everything in the suitcase.

28 September 2014

Home stretch. Michael has a list of what he wants to do over the next couple of days. St Paul’s and Westminster are not open on Sunday’s except for services so we opt for Churchill’s War Rooms and the British Museum. The Circle line is still down so we go back to Charring Cross and walk down to the War Room Exhibit, which is quite good. Hard to imagine living below ground for 4+ years, but they did. Hard to believe that they ran the war with typewriters and telephones, but they did.

Typicla office bedroom for senior staff

Conference room

Room for 11 typists

Map in the map room showing the lines

Tally of V1 rockets

Churchill's office/bedroom. There was also one for Clementine

There is a contiguous exhibit of the life of Churchill, with ephemera, videos, and interactive displays. It’s very well done, and if you are a student of WWII, you could spend most of a day down there. They have interviews with the people who worked with Churchill and spent the war in those rooms. Churchill worked 18-hour days and so did most of the support staff. It’s very moving.

Then we headed off to lunch. I had a route planned on the tube, but the station I wanted to change lines at is closed until December. Pfft. Try finding a cab at Westminster on a sunny Sunday at noon. We were only 7 minutes late and the cabby assured us traffic was light. LOL.

Great lunch with Scott and Crystal at the Grazing Goat near Marble Arch. They’ve been living in London since 2000. For some reason, Scott and Michael have not met before – probably because Michael spent more time visiting his cousins on his mother’s side.

After lunch we head off to the British Museum. I thought I had been here before, but once inside, I am not so sure. It’s a huge place so we pick out a few things to look at. Egyptian mummies, clocks and watches, the Sussex Hoo burial, some Iranian metalwork, the rest of the Lewes chess pieces, and a lot of other things enroute. Another place where you could spend a day - or until your brain gets full. 

Mummy wrappings

Netting made from tubular faience beads

Automaton with clock

Part of the Anglo-Saxon burial hoard at Sutton Hoo

At about 4 we hopped back on the tube for Paddington. We stopped at the Brasserie for drinks, but decided to stay for dinner.

Tomorrow is our last day and we’ll try to visit the Tower, St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey before taking a car to at hotel near Heathrow.

27 September 2014.

We head off to Paddington Station to get the tube to Westminster. Paddington serves 2 tube lines, plus some rail so it’s a bit confusing We know we want the Circle Line, but where is it? We ask a Bobby how to get to Westminster, which turns out to be brilliant as he tells us the line is closed for maintenance over the weekend. We need to take the Bakerloo line to Charring Cross and take a short walk to the Embankment. 

Charring Cross puts you out at Trafalgar and from there, I know where we are going. J  We set of down Whitehall, past 10 Downing and the Horse Guards, take few pics of Big Ben and the houses of Parliament, and head for Westminster Pier. It’s a nice day to take a ride on the Thames. Low tide so the guide is talking about the effects of the boat wash on the mud and sediment on the river bed. We cruise past new buildings and old. The tower, tower bridge, the globe theater, the “shard”, new apartments, etc, until we get to Greenwich.

Tower of London

London Eye

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Globe theater

We decide to buy the “big ticket” as we want to see Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, and the Longitude exhibit at the Maritime Museum. One of the few advantages of being over 60 is that there is almost always a senior “concession” on entry fees.

The Cutty Sark was launched in 1869 for the tea trade. She made several voyages to the east before the sailing ships were put out of business by the faster steamships on that run. She them began trips to Australia to pick up bales of wool. She was a fast ship. As part of the renovation, they have lifted her out of the water so you can see the metal sheathing – the café is below the waterline. They have floored the hold with replicas of boxes of tea, along with the ceiling. Given the number of masts and yards, it’s hard to believe she was crewed by 26 men – 19 when they converted her to the wool trade. I've been impressed with the number of interactive displays for children at many of the places we have visited.

Cutty Sark keel - sheathed in metal

Mid-deck

Cafe under the ship

Off to the Royal Observatory – up a steep hill. Nice views, but a hike. You get to read the story of the positioning of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich (in spite of the French). There is a nice display about the history of timekeeping – local, national, international. Moving from sundials to the atomic clock. Use it, share it, measure it. The six beeps provided by the BBC. They have many of the original instruments that the various Royal Astronomers (including Edmund Halley) used to make their observations.  

Telescope in the Octagon Room.

Royal Observatory

Prime Meridian

There is a special exhibit on Longitude at the Maritime Museum. Very well presented. It starts with the statement of the problem – including a copy of the Longitude Act of 1714 and letters from Isaac Newton commenting on the various proposed solutions. If you have read Longitude, this is the chance to see actual documents and the clocks and chronographs. Some of the timepieces are replicas, but they have the actual H4 on display. I assumed no photos - Michael got a few before he was caught. Maybe he'll post a couple. (They were banned in only one room.)

The Maritime Museum has some other permanent exhibits, but we need time to get back up river. So we walk back down the hill and queue for the boat. The tide is now high and we are clearing the bridges by 2-3 ft. – or so it appears. The river has a very different appearance at high tide.

Hike back up to Charring Cross and hop on the tube back to Paddington. We saw a Greek restaurant last night that looked good and turns out to be very nice.

Lunch tomorrow with Michael’s second cousin, whom we have not met before. Should be fun.

26 September 2014

We called Enterprise and they can take us to the train station. I want to get to Clifford’s Tower and maybe the Castle Museum or the Georgian House. Michael is headed back to the Railway Museum with his good camera.

Clifford’s Tower is all that remains of the castle that used to be at York. The mound that it sits on is not natural, but was built. There was also a bailey at one time, but no longer. The views from the top of the wall are wonderful. Like everything else that dates to that era, it has burned and been rebuilt, more than once. One of the burnings occurred in the 12^th century. A group of Jews from York were concerned for their lives and decided to take refuge at the tower. Unfortunately, a knight betrayed them. Rather than convert, they set the tower alight and perished in the fire.

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Plan of the York Castle

Plaque commemorating the death of 150 Jews in 1190

Inside of the tower from the upper wall

I took a really quick tour of the Castle Museum, which has nothing to do with the castle. The north building consists of a series of period rooms – 1600s through Victorian times,  an area with recent historic toys, and a wonderful recreation of a Victorian street. Sort of like what we saw in Ironbridge, but indoors and with sound effects. Very well done.

Rural cottage from the 1850s

They have a few samplers - under very low light, of course. 

Victorian street - it's darker than this. 

I decided I might have just enough time to tour the Georgian House before scooting back to the hotel. The house dates to the mid-18th century. It was build by a wealthy man in hopes of attracting a husband for his daughter (he did not approve of her choice). Sadly, he passed away and she sold the house and moved to the country. In the 20^th century the house was purchased and turned into a dance hall and cinema! It survived the insult and has been restored to its original appearance.

They were able to purchase period furniture from a chocolate magnate with a passion for Georgian antiques. Unfortunately, they do not allow pictures. You will have to use your Antiques Roadshow imagination. Secretaries, chests, and chairs with beautiful carving and inlay. Beds that need steps to get into. The York art gallery is closed for repairs so they also have some nice artwork on the walls.

I hurry back to the hotel. The 15-minute drive to Enterprise takes a little over a half hour. Traffic!!! We’ve been walking and did not realize how bad the traffic is. Andrea drives us to the station so we get another view of that walls from the outside. Nice to have someone else driving for a change. The train is on time and we get a chance to enjoy the views of the countryside.

Kings Cross Station in London has a corner, over by the loos, with track 9¾ for the Harry Potter crowd. There is a line to take photos. only the second place we have had to pay to pee. 

We’re staying in Bayswater, near Paddington Station. The hotel room is tiny, but we expected that. It’s London and less than L200 a night. Every building on the street is a small hotel. We’re on the lower level – as in below street level. We find an Italian place around the corner and have pizza for dinner. Nice break from pub food. Thinking about going out to Greenwich tomorrow by boat.