Windsor & London - 6/23/2013

Slept really good last night; best night of sleep I've had in a while. Fruit, cereal, and coffee for breakfast and out the door by 9:30AM for another day of sightseeing and playing the tourist. Today we are headed to Windsor Castle. The group met up with Manuel and Jane's son Mark, his two kids, Julia and Daniel, and fiancee Cindy at the train station. They were staying at a separate location closer to Harrods. We bought our tickets and headed out on a 45 minute ride to Windsor.
Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world and has been occupied longer than any palace in Europe. Currently, more than five hundred people live and work in the castle. It is officially owned by something called the Occupied Royal Palaces Estate, but the day-to-day management is by the Royal Household. "The Queen has increasingly used the castle as a royal palace as well as her weekend home and it is now as often used for state banquets and official entertaining as Buckingham Palace." The Queen has done much to restore the building and transform it into a major tourist attraction. It currently contains a significant portion of the Royal Collection of art.
A short walk from the train station on a windy and partly cloudy day, someone mentions that the Queen's flag is flying. All right!! The Queen is in the house. I have saved a few hilarious, off-color jokes for her, but we have plenty of time to catch up later. Having bought our Windsor Castle tickets at the train station, we were able to bypass the ticket lines. The group again decided to split up and meet before a late lunch. Anne, Marilyn, and I started together, but I was lagging behind taking photos and holding up their progress. After telling them to go on without me, I was on my own in the middle of Windsor Castle. This place is stunning, there are photos everywhere. I had no interest in seeing the Queen's Doll house. I was more interested in the history of the castle and the physical beauty of its grounds and architecture.
Windsor Castle was originally built by William the Conqueror in the decade after the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest in 1066. "William established a defensive ring of 'motte and bailey' castles around London; each was a day's march - about 20 miles (32 km) - from the city and from the next castle, allowing for easy reinforcements in a crisis. Windsor Castle, one of the ring of fortifications, was strategically important because of its proximity to both the River Thames, a key medieval route into London, and Windsor Forest, a royal hunting preserve previously used by the Saxon kings." It was the last time that England was conquered by an invading army. Many kings and queens have occupied this castle in the last 10 centuries. There have been battles, sieges; royal births, marriages, and deaths; periods of neglect and periods of renovation. But in all that time it has remained in royal hands except for a short period during the English Civil War. Following the battle of Edgehill in 1642, the castle was frequently used by Oliver Cromwell as his headquarters and a prison for captured royalist soldiers. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II was determined to improve and reinstate Windsor as his home away from home. The castle has been in royal hands ever since. I could write a book on the history of this place, but I need to get back to the present and my wanderings on this day.
I was totally engrossed in just walking around taking pictures. Alone with my thoughts, I wondered what would happen if I turned the corner and ran into the Queen. All of a sudden, "Tark (the queen's sweet nickname for me - short for Tartuga), I didn't know you were here in England. What a surprise." "Liz "(my sweet nickname for Elizabeth II), I responded, "You are looking ravishing as always. Meow!" "Tark, I love you for your flattery and sarcasm, but you must not call me Liz in public. You must observe protocol and address me as Queen Mother." "OK, Queen Mother, you hear the joke about the princess and the donkey." We had a few gut-busting laughs and she told her bodyguards to back off. "Hey Liz, where's Philip. He off riding his pony and killing foxes." "No Tark, he's attending to royal duties." "Do those royal duties include paying more attention to you? You know, Liz, I admire Philip. He's 92 and still vital. Tell me the truth. I bet you two go up to the battlements on Saturday nights, have some wine, and play Fifty Shades of Philip." "Stop it, Tark, I'm 81 and my spleen is beginning to hurt. By the way, we are having a state function tonight. Would you like to come." "I will if you take off that hat. Just kidding. No, Liz, I'm here with friends. You look good, but that babe your grandson married is super hot and she won't be there. We're going back to the flat, have a glass of wine, and it's my turn to stay up all night on royal baby watch. I'll take a rain check for the next time I come to London."
No one wants to read about me walking around by myself and taking photos; meeting the Queen is a better story. Maybe I made some slight exaggerations. OK, it's a complete fabrication. I've taken enough pictures and it's time to meet up with the group. I am early and end up walking out of the castle first. I try to go back in the exit, but the Queen's bodyguards had called forward and told the guards not to let me back in. We walk through the town of Windsor looking for a good place for lunch and a pint. We happen upon a small Italian restaurant and have a lite meal before heading back to London. The food was good, but the company was better. It was back to London for a short afternoon rest for some, time roaming the streets near our flat to soak up as much of London as possible for others. It was Ken and Wanda's turn to provide dinner tonight. Ken, Wanda, Manuel, Jane, Julie, Anne, and I walked to a quaint French restaurant named LaBouchee on Old Brompton Road near the South Kensington tube station. The girls had a general idea where it was because it was close to the gelato shop. Most had fish with a few good bottles of wine. It had been another terrific day in England. The only thing missing so far was sunshine. Back at the flat on the Mews, Petersham Place that is, we had one after dinner drink and it was time to turn in. Another big day tomorrow, we are heading to Westminster Abbey.

London - Millennium Bridge/Tate Modern Museum - 6/22/2013

We've seen ancient art. Now it's time to contrast that with some modern art before the day is done. The Tate Modern is located across the River Thames and the group must cross the Millennium bridge to get there.
 Millennium Bridge
It is officially called the London Millennium Footbridge, a steel suspension pedestrian bridge that crosses the Thames and links Bankside to the city. A new structure that opened in June, 2000, the bridge seems like a fitting entrance to the Tate Modern. In fact, the bridge had a bizarre opening that could have served as inspiration for some of the 'interesting' art we were to see later at the museum. The bridge was designed to support a load of 5,000 people, with eight suspension cables tensioned to pull with a force of 2,000 tons against piers set into each bank. "Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "Wobbly Bridge" after participants in a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children to open the bridge felt an unexpected and, for some, uncomfortable swaying motion on the first two days the bridge opened." I bet the excited pedestrians didn't expect to get seasick on a bridge. Cheerio! This wasn't brilliant. The company who had won a contest to design the bridge were, I'm sure, very embarrassed. The bridge was closed for two years of modifications to eliminate the sway. It reopened in 2002. They found that the 'wobble' had something to do with "lateral frequency modes." In retrospect, I'm sure I saw that phrase on the BS written next to some of the modern art in the Tate. It's a good thing the bridge didn't wobble. Sometimes older people can suffer from incontinence, particularly on a swaying bridge. Thankfully, we crossed without incident. Hopefully, there are bathrooms at the Tate.
Tate Modern Museum
Again we decided to split the group up at the Tate and get back together in an hour or so. Anne and I decide to go see the free stuff. Our lack of interest in the special exhibits dictated that we not pay for something that could potentially (no, probably) be under appreciated. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate some modern artists (Picasso, Lichtenstein, Calder, etc.), but when it comes to most modern art, I am either an idiot and uncultured or this is a massive joke on humanity allowing some odd, off-balance people to be passionately unproductive. We headed to the gift shop first. Maybe there is some interesting stuff in there. Usually, particularly in modern art galleries, you can view most of the art there by looking at the postcards. It's quicker, without having to read the BS posted next to the art in the gallery and trying to make sense of what you are looking at. After spending enough time in the gift shop, we still have too much time on the clock before the group meets up again. We walk upstairs and run into Manuel. He looks excitable and says, "There must be something wrong with me. I don't get this stuff. It's a bunch of crap. I've got to get out of here." Thank you Manuel! I have just received outside vindication for my opinion on the subject. But Anne and I press on. We pass an exhibit by a "sound artist" who created these "artistic" contraptions that make weird sounds. What? Then we see this sewing machine, wrapped in a blanket, with a rope tied around it. OK, I've had enough. We decided to go out to the balcony overlooking the Thames until it's time to meet up again with he group.
 Back to Petersham Place
We are back at the flat at the end of a long, eventful day of site seeing. Anne and I are responsible for dinner. We decide to walk to a small restaurant two blocks away and get pizza to go. We need to feed seven people, so we order three large pizzas. That should be enough. They hand us these small boxes and they appear to contain something not much larger than a personal pan pizza. It turns out they only had one size, large. Large is only 10 inches. London is expensive. They must have imported those ingredients from Italy. It's too late to order more, so we head back to the flat. The pizza with Manuel's always good selection of wine hit the spot. Surprisingly, this was enough to feed the group. Or was it. After a few drinks, Anne mentions gelato (surprise) and she, Wanda, and Marilyn were out the door in search of a few quarts. Successful, we ended the day on a gelato note. I'm sure Anne will fall asleep with a smile on her face as she counts different flavors of gelato jumping over a fence. Exhausted, we have another big day tomorrow. We will sleep good tonight.

London - The British Museum/The Blackfriar - 6/22/2013

We hopped on the tube, but due to the closing of part of the line, we ended up walking a good bit of the way to the British Museum.
The British Museum
The original museum was largely based on the collection of the physician and scientist, Sir Hans Sloane (1660 - 1753). A prominent physician of the time, Sloane had a number of wealthy and aristocratic patients, including Queen Anne and Kings George I and II. He was very innovative, promoting inoculation against smallpox, the use of quinine for treating malaria, and my favorite, the health giving properties of drinking chocolate mixed with milk. "He became President of the College of Physicians in 1719 and in 1729 succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as President of the Royal Society." During his lifetime he amassed an enormous collection coins, books, and natural history objects: 23,000 coins and medals; 50,000 books, prints, and manuscripts; a collection of dried plants; and many objects relating to ancient times. Upon his death at the age of 93 (the chocolate milk worked wonders), Sloane not wanting to see the collection broken up, bequeathed the entire collection to King George II in return for payment of £20,000 to his heirs. King George in turn gave his formal assent to an Act of Parliament to establish the British Museum on June 7, 1753. The museum first opened to the public on January 15, 1759 on the site of the current museum building.
Over the following two and a half centuries, the museum collection was enlarged as a direct result of the expanding British colonial empire. Caesar, upon conquering Britain in 54 BC, uttered the Latin words "veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). The British took it one step farther, "I came, I saw, I conquered, and I took everything of value I could put my hands on." These things now comprise the most incredible collection of objects of antiquity that I have ever seen. I guess they felt guilty, so admission is free.

Again we decided to break up the group with an agreement to meet again at the main entrance in two hours. Anne, Marilyn, and I decided to head to the Egyptian exhibit hall. "The British Museum houses the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities, over 100,000 pieces, outside of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. A collection of immense importance for its range and quality, it includes objects from virtually every site of importance in Egypt and the Sudan." Together they illustrate every aspect of the cultures of the Nile Valley from around 10,000 BC up to the 12th century AD, a time span of over 11,000 years. The first thing we happened upon was the Rosetta Stone, dated to 196 BC. This is considered the key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. But this was only the beginning. On display was everything from huge ancient sculptures to numerous incredibly preserved mummies and everything in between. We walked into the Middle East exhibit and viewed artifacts of Assyrian art including the Balawat Gates. "The gates measured 20 feet in height and belonged to the temple of Mamu, the god of dreams. These were made up of 13 bronze bands attached through nails to two wooden gates of the palace. The bronze bands depict a sacrifice and war scenes from the campaigns of the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC)." Beautiful craftsmanship in the bronze bands. It better be or you get sacrificed.
So much to see and not enough time. All this art, war, and pillaging makes one hungry for food and a pint. The group met at the main entrance and it was off to the Blackfriar Pub on Queen Victoria Street.

Blackfriar 
It was a short walk to the Blackfriar pub for fish and chips. As with everything else in London and Europe for that matter, this place has a long history. The location got its name from the Priory of Dominicans whose monastery occupied this site from 1276 to 1539. Because the monks wore black habits, they were known as 'BlackFriars'. However, its real claim to fame, or infamy, was that this was the location in 1529 for the divorce hearing of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. He attempted to persuade a delegation from Rome that his marriage was against the laws of the church. The church disagreed. Well, in Henry's mind, it was good to be the king. He dissolved the marriage, closed the monastery, told the Catholics to get lost, and started his own religion. As head of the Church of England he created a new set of rules. One was, if he didn't like his wife, he could send her to the Tower of London and have her head chopped off. It became a very bad idea to marry the king. You better give the king a son. It wasn't good enough to give him the daughter who became Elizabeth I. Ask Anne Boleyn.

Manuel, Julie, and Jane

Wanda and Ken

Back to June 23, 2013. We walked into this beautiful pub that was all natural wood and marble. The back room was a little claustrophobic, but the front room with the bar was bright and open. Fish, chips and a pint, thank you. One thing about the beer in Europe. It tastes great, but comes to you at room temperature. It's a little disconcerting at first, but halfway through ... I think I'll have another. You get used to it real quick. The front room had one of the most exquisite bars I have ever seen. I'm not much of an entertainer, but I think I would entertain if I had one of those in my basement. The current building was built in 1875. But the Blackfriar did not acquire its spectacular facade and interior until 1905. OK, we now have fuel to keep going. We are not done yet today. We can pass out later. Heading across the River Thames to the Tate Modern Museum.

London - Covent Garden - 6/22/2013

It's going to be a busy day today. Couldn't sleep much. Guess I'm still recovering from the jet lag. Plans are to leave the flat at 9:30AM and head out to Covent Garden, a famous London landmark.We had coffee, a quick bite for breakfast, and hopped on the Tube at Gloucester Road.
Covent Garden
After a short walk, we entered a square, surrounded by high-end shops, St. Paul's church, and the Apple Market that contained many street vendors, street performers,

pubs, and restaurants. "The land, now called 'Covent Garden', was seized by Henry VIII, and granted to the Earls of Bedford in 1552." The 4th Earl commissioned a guy named Inigo Jones to build some up-scale houses to attract wealthy investors. Inigo Jones - sounds more like a center fielder and lead-off hitter than a 16th century Brit. Jones designed the Italiante arcaded square and the church of St. Paul's." The design of the square was new to London, and had a tremendous influence on modern town planning, acting as a prototype for new estates as London grew. However by the later part of the  17th century and well into the 18th century things began to change. Gradually, both the market that had sprung up on the south side of the square in 1654 and the surrounding area fell into disrepute as "taverns, theatres, coffee-houses, and brothels opened up; the gentry moved away, and rakes, wits, and playwrights moved in." By the 18th century, Covent Garden had become a red-light district, attracting many notable prostitutes of that era. In fact, an enterprising publisher who went by the pseudonym of 'H. Ranger' released the first edition of Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies just in time for Christmas, 1756. "Merry Christmas, Elizabeth, I hope you like this new, brilliant, high-society book on style I got you for Christmas. Love, Reginal." Oops! Published as an annual directory from 1757 to 1795, this stylish booklet was a directory that described "the physical appearance and sexual specialties of about 120 - 190 prostitutes who worked in and around Covent Garden." From contemporary reports, it was estimated that 8000 copies of the booklet were sold annually.
Interestingly, this was not the first directory of prostitutes to be circulated in London. The Wandering Whore ran for five issues between 1660 and 1661. As opposed to Harris's List, it was meant to be an expose of the sex trade. Note the difference in the titles; I wonder what the publishers' opinions were on the subject? The Wandering Whore uses dialogue between such characters as "Magdalena, a Crafty Whore, Julietta, an Exquisite Whore, Francion, a Lascivious Gallant, and Gusman, a Pimping Hector." I love that. I can see myself trying to settle an argument by pointing to each combatant in turn and respectfully saying, "You, my good man, are an honorable man. But you, sir, are a Pimping Hector." Or the more contemporary "Get your Pimping Hector ass out of my office."

OK, I have gotten off track again. It took an Act of Parliament to clean up Covent Garden. In 1830, the famous neo-classical building was built to cover and help organize the market. The red-light district declined as the market grew and new buildings were added: the Floral Hall, Charter Market, and in 1904 the Jubilee Market. The tourist location seen today contains cafes, pubs, small shops, a craft market called the Apple Market, and another market held a Jubilee Hall.
We split up as a group and made plans to meet at a central location on the square at a specified time. Anne and I walked by the gardens behind St. Paul's and visited a number of shops on either side of the Apple Market. There were plenty of street performers providing music, comedy, juggling, etc. We were fascinated by an open air restaurant with a guy preparing vegetables to throw into giant woks to make a lunchtime Paella. But, alas, it was too early for lunch. On our first full day in London, it didn't take much to fascinate us. It was time to connect back up with the group and head to the British Museum, purported to be the most amazing museum of the many museums in London.

London - 6/21/2013

Petersham Place

Upon arrival Heathrow, Manuel had kindly scheduled a limo to deliver us to the residence he had rented for the week. It's a good thing because, if we had taken the Tube (subway), Anne and I would still be roaming the streets of London looking for the place. As it turns out, the house was perfectly located in the Kensington and Chelsea area within a short walking distance of Harrods and Hyde Park. Situated on a cobblestone back street, 36 Petersham Place is a quaint five bedroom row house in a series of dwellings that originally included living quarters and stables for horse and carriage.

We learned a lesson from our trip to Italy in 2009 on how to deal with jet lag. When we arrived in Rome, we attempted to forgo a nap and stay up until dinner - not a good idea. This time, Anne and I immediately took a two hour nap upon being shown our bedroom. Ken and Wanda had arrived an hour before us at noon and were already asleep. The weather was cool, the balcony window open, and we immediately fell asleep. Anxious to start seeing the sites, there is always time for a short beauty rest - OK, I'm talking about Anne again. I took a handsome rest; not withstanding the nasty rumor circulated by an unnamed person (Manuel) that I was voted by my classmates the ugliest person in the class of 1970. However, this was before extensive plastic surgery.
When we woke up, we were on the move. "Let's go get you guys an Oyster pass." What? I didn't come to London to eat oysters. I can get all the oysters I want in the states. Let's go get something English like Shepard's Pie, Yorkshire pudding, and a pint. It turns out that's what they call a multi-day pass to ride on the London Tube. When we are not walking, this is going to be our mode of travel around the city.

We bought our Oyster passes at the Gloucester Road Tube station and the group headed off on a leisurely walk to the famous Harrods department store. This place is truly amazing. Founded in 1834 by Charles Henry Harrod, it is currently owned by the Qatar Investment Authority. The store occupies a 5-acre site and has over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments making it the biggest department store in Europe. It has been reported that the company generated 125 million pounds of net income in 2012. The store has everything you could imagine including an entire department devoted solely to chocolate. Although this is probably one of the handful of departments I could afford to buy something in, this smorgasbord of chocolate has the potential of replacing or equaling Anne's desire for gelato. I can tell when her eyes get big and she utters, "Oh my God!" I, all of a sudden, started to feel like Willie Wonka escorting Charlie into the chocolate factory. I think I would rather be Marcello Mastroianni leading Sophia Loren into the gelato emporium. Yeah, that's it. But I digress.

It was getting late in the day and we were getting hungry. Believe it or not, a high-end grocery store was one of the departments in Harrods. Everything looks good, but we settle on beef bourguignon stew and several small pastry pies, one of which was called Moo Pie, a beef and vegetable concoction. On the way out we pass through the cosmetics department. Why is a Muslim woman in a full burka (only the eyes are visible) buying makeup? Go figure. Irony on our first day. We hit the grocery store on the way back to Petersham Place, mainly to stock up on some salad, fruit, and a lot of wine and liquor. The Moo Pie was a hit with a nice Cabernet. After food, drink, catching up, and some laughs, it was time to get some sleep in preparation for the start of our London odyssey tomorrow.

Georgia - 6/20/2013

The adventure begins. We are getting on the airplane for a nine hour flight to London tonight. Neither Anne or I have been to the U.K. and are really looking forward to it. As usual with our international trips, part of the allure is not knowing what to expect. However, we do have some general knowledge about how things are going to go.

• We are going to spend a week with great college friends (Manuel, Jane, their daughter Julie, Ken, Wanda, and Marilyn) in London, do lots catching up, and have plenty of laughs.
• Manuel, our host, will have planned a great week. Another words, we will be on the move every day, all day, walk a lot, and leave London having seen almost all that it is possible to see in a week.
• Manuel will purchase plenty of good wine.
• We will consume more alcohol in the next ten days then we do the rest of the year. OK, maybe not Anne, but I have no doubt that I will.
• Rules (oldest restaurant in London) next Tuesday night and a Bonnie Raitt concert at Royal Albert Hall on Thursday night - more on these events later.
• Anne and I will rent a car at the tail end of the trip and spend a couple of days in the Cotswolds, about a two hour drive northwest of London. Neither of us are too sure about this move; renting a car that is. Maybe we'll start drinking on the plane. The Cotswolds (small towns, countryside) should be a nice counter point to London (big international city).

Off to the Atlanta airport. Manuel has arranged for a limo service to pick us up at Heathrow on the other end.