Tranquility Pike

A Mystery Solved

I've been trying to figure out the neighborhood where I've spent the past week. It's right next to the busy part of Westminster, but really quiet and fairly deserted at times. Look at this wall ... 

 

And this one ... 

The building next door is longer than several city blocks, unmarked, and very, very secure. I've only seen one person near the entrance, a Bobbie standing guard off and on during weekdays. There haven't even been any smokers hanging around outside the door. Come to think of it, there aren't many doors on this place at all. Below is a pic I took earlier today.

 

Well, I found out the scoop on this place. It's Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5). Read about it here. Its location is not a big secret, since I've seen a couple pics of the building elsewhere on the web since one of the locals clued me in ... 

Finally, I'm packing tonight. Here are a few pics from my last day in London. 

 

Visited the Tate Britain right next door and I didn't want to leave! What a fantastic collection of art. 

 

 

 

And St. Paul's over in the financial district ... 

 

Goodbye London!

 

Visiting the Royals - Buckingham Palace and St. James's Palace

Got up early this morning to join the day's first group entering Buckingham Palace for a tour of the official State Rooms. A welcome area under large, white tents displayed over-size photos of the Queen greeting various commoners, the most prominent being Sharon Osbourne.

Visitors enter through a side portico featuring airport-style security. Earlier in the day, I spotted this keyhole on one of the front gates of the palace.  

No photos allowed inside. Everything (ceilings, walls, furniture, picture frames) was trimmed in gold, much like many of the outdoor features. Prince Charles gave a half-hearted, stuffy sort of welcome on the audio guide. Somehow I don't think the royals are thrilled to have us tromping through 19 of their 770 or so rooms, but it's good PR and there is a substantial per-person fee attached. 

  

Someone mentioned that the palace has about 80 bathrooms. I used a fancy temporary structure out near the garden ... no, not an outhouse, but a nice-looking modular bathroom building with fresh paint and very little running water. 

I lost count of how many times the audio guide stressed that this is a "working palace." I'm thinking they want to embed the notion that the monarchy is toiling away on behalf of the common folk.

 

A few things I wish I could show you -- A video clip in the palace ballroom showing the Queen knighting Patrick Stewart (Capt. Jean-Luke Picard) in that very spot. The Throne Room, kind of amusing in its formality (but what do you expect?), with two large throne-like chairs centered against the far wall. A collection of the Queen's hats worn at the Ascot races over the years. 

It's no wonder that the royals prefer Buckingham Palace to the actual official residence of the Sovereign, St. James's Palace. Buckingham is much more grand, but St. James's is also full of history. 

 

I passed only two people (both joggers) over by St. James's this morning, plus one lone Bobbie positioned at the end of the street in front of Clarence House. Unfortunately, they don't have any tours of the building, built by King Henry VIII.

 

I don't want to know how many miles I walked today. It was a big, big circle around a big, big section of town. Along the mall, I found a cute sculpture of a hackie-sack-playing rabbit. 

 

Below is another place I passed (#10 Downing Street). 

 

 

 

Traveling by Bus in London

Yesterday's news report on the BBC announced that autumn has officially arrived in London. Well, I'll be darned, I thought it was still summer. Seeing the city by bus has been rainy, windy and sometimes chilly, but great fun nonetheless. 

Today ... a Walkabout

Mingling with the commoners was so much fun today at the lively Portobello Road market, frequented by more Londoners than tourists. To get there, I took the bus to Trafalgar Square, browsed some of the masterpieces of the National Gallery, then jumped onto the tube for the Notting Hill Station. There, I hiked over to Portobello Rd., where I looked up to see an interesting blue sign on a row of homes. 

And here's the scoop ...  

Next, I saw something that looked vaguely familiar.

 

I like thrift and vintage shops and there were plenty of those establishments on both sides of the road.

Rooting around was fun, but I discovered that their old stuff is no better than the old stuff I already have at home. 

Below is what the very, very long stretch of open market looked like ...

They don't close the road to traffic and the vendors' stands extend into the street, so you have to watch not to get mowed down when cars squeeze through the narrow passage.

I like the way old and new exist side-by-side all over London. These homes are also on Portobello Road, around the corner from Notting Gate.

 

 

 
 
 

   

   

It's Thursday and I still have no jet lag!

The hotel where I'm staying is a few blocks from Parliament in Westminster. Turns out it's a lot more quiet and normal than the crazy tourist areas I've experienced around town ... like a normal neighborhood.

There's a bike-rental place in the next block. Lots of people are bike riders. At intersections, the city is kind enough to alert you to the direction of the traffic, as seen in one of the pics here. This has saved my fanny several times so far. In fact, I have a new, simple tactic for staying alive -- crossing at intersections where locals are waiting and then just doing what they do. 

   
   

 

Here's a pic of the local pub, Mike, the building with the flowers along the top. The tour bus guide told me that a good, real pub is the one called Adam & Eve between Buckingham Palace and Westminster. We passed it today and that's where I'll head for my pint. The tour guide thought I was the cat's meow because I gave him one of my emergency ponchos when the rain started pouring this afternoon. Anyway, this pub was jam-packed with people at 5 pm. They were standing out the doors and all over the sidewalks. Thursday is "Pie Day" where you get a slice of pie with your beer.

Look at the street pic (with signs along the fence) and you will see tents where people slept last night. They are protesting the war in Afghanistan and want British soldiers to come home. This protest is taking place in front of Parliament and getting lots of attention. Big stories in London right now include the Prime Minister's new daughter, the old hag who tossed a cat into a garbage bin and "chugging," their term for professional, face-to-face charity firms that solicit donations for a fee.

And now for shots in and around the Tower of London ... 

      

Tower of London

Rode the tube to Tower Hill today to inspect the bleak and bloody remains of the Tower of London. Some nice French girls snapped my pic outside Salt Tower and I did the same for them. 

I discovered that tourists must sleep in, since I've beaten the crowds to all the attractions I've seen so far, making it nice and easy to get in and out of the main features. Saw the bling in the Jewel House, the spot where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, the Bloody Tower where the mystery of the little princes was hyped, the chapel where the victims are buried, and some fascinating goodbye messages scratched into the walls hundreds of years ago. There's so much to see at this castle compound that I stayed nearly all day. Fascinating place!

Traveling on The Tube

Roaming Around Westminster Abbey and Parliament

The British Museum

I've always known Ramesses II was a badass. He was kind of a hunk, too. I love the 2nd paragraph below where it's explained that he owed much of his reputation to his skills as a self-publicist, erecting more statues than any other Egyptian pharaoh and having the inscriptions changed on previous pharaohs' statues to glorify himself. 

 

Below, a tomb/monument with Greek and Persian influences, found in ruins in Turkey and reassembled by the museum. 

 

Here's something different ... a political/social/ecological statement hanging from the ground-floor ceiling.

 And a few more images from this amazing place ...

   

People were climbing all over each other to see this hunk of rock. It's the Rosetta Stone.

  

A Few More Views of Westminster Abbey

 

  

 

Today in London

After a pleasant journey across the Atlantic that DID NOT include sleep, I checked into my room and literally ran out the door to get myself to Westminster Abbey. I've only waited something like 40 years to get over here to see it. Turns out, it is only a 5-minute walk from my hotel!  

 

I've seen so many photos and read so much about Westminster Abbey that I could not believe I was finally there! There are really no words to describe it. I spent 4 hours there today and am thinking about going back toward the end of the week. Photography is not allowed inside the abbey, but people were snapping all sorts of pics in the cloisters, so I managed to get a few shots. 

Right in front of the Abbey is this view of Parliament (Big Ben) and the London Eye. 
  

 
Check out my cool room with an iMac (oh hey, guess I didn't get the iMac in the photo). Good thing this computer is in my room because, of course, I bought the wrong kind of adapter plug and now my MacBook has no battery life left. Ugh. Got to go search for an adapter. Hopefully I'll find one without too much trouble. Lots of nice restaurants, a deli, three coffee houses, and a very inviting looking pub within three blocks.