#017

Toronto doesn’t have a palace

From Wikipedia.org:

Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today’s palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761[2] as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as “The Queen’s House”. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the East front which contains the well-known balcony on which the Royal Family traditionally congregate to greet crowds outside. However, the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in World War II; the Queen’s Gallery was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection

Dear diary (ich habe extra Fabi gefragt, wie man das auf Englisch sagt, mein Englisch ist ja leider nicht so gut, aber das weißt du ja)!

Heute Morgen ging es dann Richtung Madame Tussoud’s. Waaaahnsinnige Schlangen! Ich war froh, dass Fabi und Danni bereits die Tickets hatten und so mogelten wir uns einfach irgendwo in die Schlange hinein und waren relativ schnell drin.
Na ja – und wem bin ich wohl begegnet?! Jaaa, der königlichen Familie!! Danni musste zum Beweis auch ein Foto machen, das glaubt mir sonst ja niemand!

Tja, und sonst…lief uns Viechie fast davon! Unglaublich! Da nimmt man einmal dieses kleine knuddelige Plüschi mit und dann macht sich das weiße Plüschvieh selbstständig! Wir haben das Personal vor Ort schon fast wahnsinnig gemacht! Und gucke da, es wartete ganz brav am Ausgang auf uns. Und wo wohl?! Na, neben der Softeismaschine, verfressenes Viechie!

Im Anschluss waren wir dann noch beim Buckingham Palace und haben uns das Gebäude von außen angeschaut – bombastisch groß! Da kam ich mir wieder mal ganz klein vor… Leider keine Queen in Sicht, ein wenig war ich ja doch dann doch enttäuscht, so als echter Royalfan!

Am Abend waren wir im Musical “Wicked” – es war einfach nur toll!! Mir hat die Show unglaublich gut gefallen. Allerdings bekam ich bei den düsteren Szenen doch ein wenig Angst, aber Danni nahm mich ganz lieb in den Arm und bot mir dann auch den Rucksack an, sodass ich mich immer wieder hinein kuscheln durfte, wenn es gruselig wurde.

Dein aufgekratzter

Keinohr

If you shuffle through the autumn leaves in St James’s Park and take a turn around the current exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, you will find much to feed the eye, and boggle the mind.
The Conversation Piece: Scenes from Fashionable Life is a journey through time. It opens windows on the various ways the rich found to waste their days, but is truly gripped by a more perplexing lifestyle question: how to be a monarch and resemble a human being.

The tour begins in 1632, with an embarrassing daub of Charles I and his queen. Their infant Charles II is about to tumble off a table, but his parents seem not to care. They have plonked their heir there, by crown, sceptre and an olive branch, to send a message. Namely, that the royal family is at peace with its subjects. Sadly, history proved otherwise.

35 paintings and two centuries later, the tour ends with another public family faking a private life. In one, doll-like Queen Victoria simpers at Albert, who has brought her corpses, fresh from a day’s shooting. Sir Edwin Landseer’s brush springs to life depicting their begging dogs, but the waxen couple see only each other. Meanwhile, their toddler daughter fondles a dead kingfisher. With such macabre propaganda, sold in prints, Victoria claimed her people’s hearts.

These two images seem consistent, but if this exhibition were a conversation, it would be a quarrel. (No raised voices, mind; this is Buckingham palace.) Two topics are in dispute. First, what is a ‘conversation piece’? Second, how can royalty, of all people, be trendy? And these questions are beside the real point of the show, a dazzling clutch of canvases by Johan Zoffany.

Where to start? With chipper Fleet Street optician, John Cuff, basking in golden light among the widgets of his trade? Or Queen Charlotte, wan wife of loopy George III, immobilised in her corset as two sons scamper in fancy dress. Tellingly, she touches neither, only her gigantic hound. I began wondering about our current monarch’s affections – corgis versus offspring.

The showstopper is 1777’s The Tribuna of the Uffizi, which celebrates of the Grand Tour. A hubbub of English aristocrats and homosexual collectors leer at naked Venus and Hercules in the octagonal room of the Uffizi gallery, jewel box of the Medicis’ art collection. Zoffany even smuggles in himself, flogging a Raphael to a duke. And the viewer knows not where to look. Each inch is pasted with perfect renderings, at postcard and stamp size, of Rubens, Titians, Holbeins.

This miraculous work has ironic shades. Sent to Italy by Queen Charlotte, Zoffany spent five years living it up in Italy, buying and selling art, while drawing a fat salary. If he hoped to compensate for the long absence with his virtuoso daring, he credited his patron with too much taste. Like most royals, Charlotte was concerned less with fashion than the image she projected. And she would not entertain such tourists, however grand – certainly not on the walls of her apartments. Thus Zoffany’s masterpiece ruined his career.

As a result, the royal collection has only seven works by Zoffany. Hence the broader scope of this exhibition, which tackles questions about the conversation piece, a style of painting that became fashionable in Britain in the 1730s, influenced by seventeenth-century Dutch family portraits (a mixed bunch are on display). Such works are concerned with conversation in its oldest sense, ’social interaction’. They show groups, at less than life-size, engaged in posh hobbies. So they are about wasting time elegantly – about being genteel, not regal.

Can you imagine a relaxing conversation with Queen Victoria? Exactly. But if this exhibition is not what it pretends, it is fun, and suggestive.

The history of the conversation piece echoes the history of conversation as an art, which was an idea born in conversazione, parties of wealthy Renaissance Italians. It evolved in seventeenth-century salons of aristocrats tired of Versailles. Then Dutch merchants aped French manners, then the conversation morphed again in England, with the boom in newspapers, coffee shops, and that mercurial beast, public opinion. If the art of conversation was a democratic force, the conversation piece celebrated the middle class, seizing power off those lumpen Hanoverian kings.

So instead of ‘conversation pieces’, this exhibition presents those Hanoverians, playing at gentlefolk, in vistas reminiscent of Hello! magazine. There are some fine Stubbs, merry-go-round horses, and panoramas of ladies tugging up stockings while high and low promenade along Pall Mall. But nothing more hilarious than puce George IV by his phaeton (the eighteenth-century Ferrari), of whom Thackeray sneered ‘he signalized his entrance into the world by a feat worthy of his future life. He invented a new shoebuckle.’

And say hello to the forgotten Prince of Wales, Frederick, at his cello. Had he survived, how cultured might the Windsors be? And on another wall, there is his secret society, ‘la table ronde’, of groupies in military garb, reading each other speeches. Do William and Harry declaim sonnets in Mahiki? I doubt it.

So go and look, and laugh.

As seen in The Lady magazine

Fellow Vassar and Cushing House gal pal Darice Murphy was in London this weekend!  She traveled from Madrid where she is studying abroad and it was lovely to be able to spend some quality time with her–she stayed over Saturday and Sunday nights.  Luckily, I was in prime London tour guide shape following madre/ma mère’s visit and showed Darice around the Londontown!  Her visit was also a great occasion to spend time with Annie and Jenna.

Besides seeing the sights documented below, we spent some time at the Tate Modern, danced Saturday night away at Zoo Bar in Leicester Square (to ridiculous 90s pop throwbacks while sipping on delicious cocktails), and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (clearly the best, and clearly tons of London references). All in all, a great weekend!  The downside: my bed will never be as warm as when I was spooning with my girl

イギリス議会の2009−10年度会期が始まった。初日である昨日11月18日には、「State Opening of Parliament（議会開会式）」と呼ばれる伝統に則った華麗なセレモニーが、議事堂であるウェストミンスター宮殿で行われた。

議会開会式は、通常11月が12月、または総選挙の年の新しい議会の初日に行われる。議会開会式ではまず、ヨーマン・オブ・ザ・ガードにより、現代版火薬陰謀事件を防ぐという名目で、ウェストミンスター宮殿の地下室をくまなく調べる。君主である女王が住居を出る前には、House of Commons（庶民院）の議員が、女王の安全を守るという名目のために、儀式上の人質としてバッキンガム宮殿に連れて行かれるが、女王が無事帰ってこられた折りには解放されることになっている。女王は、公式馬車で議会に到着。女王が儀式に出席しておられる間は、イギリスの国旗・ユニオンジャックに代わり、「Royal Standard」と呼ばれる王旗が掲げられる。そして、

ローブと王冠を身につけた女王が、エジンバラ公に付き添われ、House of Lords（貴族院）に入場されると、庶民院議員を召喚するために黒杖官（こくじょうかん、Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod）が議場に遣わされる。黒杖官が扉の前まで来ると、目の前でドアがばたんと閉められるが、これは庶民院の独立性の象徴だとのことだ。その後、黒杖官は持っている杖で3度ドアを叩いたあと、中に招き入れられる。

そして、守衛官（Serjeant-at-Arms）が英国下院議長の職杖（ceremonial mace）を手に、議長、黒杖官とともに、二人一組になった庶民院議員を率いて、貴族院に向かう。首相と野党党首が通常並んで歩き（今年はゴードン・ブラウンとデービッド・キャメロン）、その後２列になった議員たちが続く。庶民院議員はスピーチの間、女王の反対側に当たる横木の後ろに立って聞いている。女王は中立性を示す平坦な語りによって、「Speech from the Throne」または「Queen’s Speech（女王演説）」と呼ばれる、内閣によって用意された政府の来年度の施政方針を読みあげる。その後は、両議員とも議場に戻り、スピーチの議題を議論する、と言う段取りだ。

伝統を重んじるイギリスらしい、時代錯誤とも思える儀式だが、君主である女王、庶民院、貴族院による国の統治と、それぞれの独立性を国民に示すという意味で、重要なのだそうだ。恥ずかしながら、7年間イギリスに住んでいながら、この儀式をちゃんと見たことはおろか、その存在すらも意識していなかったのだが、少し前に議会見学ツアーに参加したので、今年の「State Opening of Parliament」は興味を持って見た。儀式の所作ひとつひとつに歴史的意味があり、その意味を知れば知る程面白いなあと思う。

ちなみに約75分のこの議会見学ツアー、見所満載の歴史あるウェストミンスター宮殿の中をゆっくり見て回ることができ、経験豊富なツアーガイドがユーモアたっぷりに歴史や蘊蓄を語ってくれる。出口には小さいお土産物のショップもあって、「Parliament」ロゴのお土産も買えるので、ご興味がある方はぜひ（Parliament Website）。しロンドンに来るのが無理なら、オンラインツアーもありますよ。Yesterday on November 18 was the day of the annual State Opening of Parliament to marks the commencement of a 2009-10 session of the Parliament. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber, usually in November or December, or in a General Election year when the new Parliament first assembles.

 

In this lavish ceremony, firstly the cellars of the Palace of Westminster are searched by the Yeomen of the Guard in order to prevent a modern-day Gunpowder Plot. Before the monarch departs her residence, the Crown takes a member of the House of Commons to Buckingham Palace as a ceremonial hostage, to guarantee the safety of the Queen. But don’t worry, the hostage is released upon the safe return of the Queen.

The Queen arrives at the Parliament in a horse-drawn coach. The Royal Standard is hoisted to replace the Union Jack on the Queen’s entrance and remains while she is in attendance. After she takes on the Robes of State and the Imperial State Crown, the Queen proceeds to the House of Lords, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh.

Then Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is called to summon the member of the Commons to hear her speach. When he approaches the doors to the chamber of the Commons, the doors are slammed in his face on his approach – symbolising the independence of the Commons. He strikes the door three times with his Black Rod, and is then admitted.

The Serjeant-at-Arms picks up the ceremonial mace and, with the Speaker and Black Rod, leads the Members of the House of Commons to walk in pairs towards the House of Lords. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition (Gordon Brown and David Cameron this year) usually walk side by side, followed by the two lines of MPs. Inside the chamber, the Commons stand behind the Bar of the House of Lords, and remain there during the speech.

The Queen reads a prepared speech written by the Cabinet, known as the Speech from the Throne or the Queen’s Speech, outlining the Government’s agenda for the coming year, in the presence of members of both Houses. The Queen reads the entire speech in the same tone, so as to indicate her neutrality. Following the State Opening, the Government’s programme presented in the Queen’s Speech is debated by both Houses.

This anachronistic State Opening of Parliament is not a mere historical ritual but also has symbolic significance to demonstrate the governance of UK; the Crown-in-Parliament (Her Majesty, together with the House of Commons and the House of Lords) and the separation of powers. Embarrassed say but I had never paid attention nor was I aware of the ceremony at all during my 7 years life in UK, but I happened to have a chance to join a tour of the Parliament the other day, and I enjoyed watching this year’s State Opening – each ceremonial process and action has its historical meaning and the more I know, the more intriguing.

The 75 minutes tour of Parliament offers you to see inside of the historical Westminster Palace with an experienced tour guide explaining its history and episodes with full of British (old man’s) humor.  If you are interested, check our their website for details. If you cannot come to London, online tour is available as well

As I set off to a full day of classes and meetings, I set Madre off with my camera and A to Z map on a royal adventure: first to St. James Park for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace followed by a tour of Kensington Palace featuring the Last Debutantes exhibit.  I was jealous as could be, especially because those were two things I would love to do but particularly with my Madre; the fact that I couldn’t due to class set the jealously over into the realm of anger   But I was glad to know she was having a great day on her own in London, something I’ve been experiencing and enjoying for the past 8 weeks.

We reunited over tea and Digestives at the London Visitor’s Hotel (again, so British) before heading to dinner at The Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman’s Sticky Fingers restaurant off of High Street Kensington!  We were in our element.  I obviously wore my Stones t-shirt.  The hostess was super nice, noticed, and made sure we had a great time…but really, how could we not?!  In typical “Foxy” fashion, Madre attracted an Australian man named Kerry who just happened to be in London with a group of Rugby fans on the last leg of their spectator tour through Europe; he sat at our table, grabbed my camera, and was very comfortable entertaining us for the evening.

Needless to say, the following photo gallery is one for the books!  It begins with Madre’s photos from her solo excursion and ends with Kerry’s drunken snapshots.  Cheers!

Bonjour!

Ok so today I decided that sometime in the future I would love to travel to Paris and London…

You see when I was a kid I always wanted to go to Paris, I was obsessed with going there one day and seeing the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Musee du Louvre and so so so much more…

Notre Dame

As for London who wouldn’t want to go there?! London Tower, Tower Green, The London Eye, Buckingham Palace and so so much more…

Tower of London

So I have like NO money whats so ever!

I am handing my resume in to loads of places tomorrow and hoping to get any job plus the place I used to work at know I am looking for a job and will let me know as soon as one is available for me…

So Meaghan and I were talking and we’ve decided that we will go to London together and hopefully America at some point…

Le sigh…

If only we had the money now…

You know what sucks…

Last year I had the money and I had the chance to go to England, Wales and Ireland but I never went because I wanted to finish up my contract…

Then I just never booked it again and my parents ended up needing the money for a new car…

BAH!

So now I am waiting on them to pay me back the money over the next two years…

Until then I am going to get a job and earn some more cash…

Or Meaghan and I will win the lotto

Ahhh! Pointless blog I know but still…

I really wanna go to Paris and London….

Especially Paris its been a dream of mine for so so so long…

But the only thing with going to France is learning French!

I was learning it earlier this year but I just kinda stopped so now I have to enrol in a class for next year while I got to college and do Legal Services or Medical Business Administration…

Ahh I hate thinking about going to Paris or London because it just makes me wish I had of gone to London when I had the chance…

Or even America!

About 6 years ago my Aunty offered to take me to America with her, but I was in school and I really didn’t want to leave for 6 months…

I wish I had of now, living in America for 6 months would have been worth it plus I would have gone to an American Highschool while I was there…

Can’t believe I turned down that opportunity!

So now I plan on going overseas and I am hoping it will be before I turn 25…

So for now I dream and look at the tours and think about what I would like to do…

And learn French lol…

Until next time

You know you love me xoxo

Elise

You probably didn’t know that Buckingham Palace has its own post office.  But if you’re walking down The Mall and want to pop in to send a parcel or pay your road tax you can forget it.  The Court Post Office provides a full range of counter and delivery services exclusively for around 450 Buckingham Palace staff, as well as handling all official incoming and outgoing mail.

Now, information that has been released recently under a Freedom of Information request shows the full cost of running this facility, paid for by Grant-in-Aid from the government.

In the last financial year this service cost the taxpayer an eye-watering £562,000, or more than £1500 a day.  “Only” £255,000 of this was postage costs.  Most of the rest was staff costs, with the remainder covering travel, admin and equipment.

This may seem like an enormous amount of money, but Buck House has been on an economy drive.  Two years ago the bill for the Court Post office was over £700,000.  Now, non-urgent items are sent by second class mail.  What difficult times we do live in.

Of course, every large organisation has communication costs, and Buckingham Palace is certainly no different.  Letters will have to flow in and out whether the head of state is an unelected hereditary monarch or not.  But at a time when everyone else in both the public and private sector is facing tough economic cut-backs, more than £300,000 to run the post room seems somewhat excessive.

To put these figures into some sort of context, John Cross, who writes the blog “confirm or deny“, reveals that the typical cost of keeping open a rural post office is around £18,000 a year.  So the potential savings of closing the Court Post Office would be equivalent to keeping open up to 16 rural post offices.

Just two years ago, in October 2007, the Post Office (that’s the one you and I use) announced its Network Change Programme, which is management speak for “we’re closing post offices”.  As part of a nationwide cost-cutting exercise, fifty-one rural post offices, most in rural locations, were permanently closed across East Suffolk and East Essex in spite of local protest.  Sixteen  other post offices were replaced with “outreach” services in shops, pubs, and homes, most with limited opening times.

Closer to home, eleven post offices were permanently closed in the Suffolk Coastal district.  In several cases, the proximity of alternative services was cited as a key reason for closure:

• Denham, Eye
• Reydon, Southwold – nearest alternative 0.6 miles
• Bramfield – nearest alternative 3 miles
• Dennington, Woodbridge – nearest alternative 2.75 miles (Framlingham)
• Cretingham, Woodbridge
• Knodishall, Saxmundham – nearest alternative 1.3 miles (Leiston)
• Aldeburgh (Fairfield Road) – nearest alternative 0.8 miles
• Hacheston, Woodbridge
• Woodbridge (Hasketon Road) – two alternatives within 1 mile
• Great Bealings, Woodbridge
• Martlesham (BT Adastral Park), Ipswich – nearest alternative 0.5 miles

In contrast, Buckingham Palace has nine other post offices within a mile and three others within half a mile.  By applying the Post Office’s own proximity criteria for closing rural post offices, Buckingham Palace’s Court Post Office would be shut tomorrow.  The savings could be used to reopen all of Suffolk Coastal’s eleven closed post offices that used to serve such a valuable role in their local communities.

When the Palace’s idea of making cut-backs is using a few more second class stamps it only serves to show how out of touch with economic reality the Royal Household really is.  So if your nearest local post office is now a bus or car journey away, you can be assured that, thanks to you, at least the queen doesn’t have to walk far to get a stamp.

I have a theory.  God made England sunny for a September weekend so that when I visited London, I’d find it quite pleasant and want to come back, thus not disappointing the Brit and causing him to spend oodles of his own cash with mandated trips down to Paris because I’m terrified of coming up to face yet another rainstorm. As it turned out, it was the Brit’s trip down to Paris that resulted in a downpour or two, and my last trip back up (just a week ago) was pleasant with only a few drops of rain and gusty winds – yes, even in Scotland!

In case you don’t believe me, I thought I’d give you some evidence that England can, in fact, be sunny.  Consider this our first flashback.  All the way back to September, when I left the US (for quasi-good) on a jet plane headed to Gatwick Airport.

I arrived in London at dawn, and after a confusing half-hour stumbling around the airport looking for a coffee shop in the wrong terminal (that’s what happens when you arrive in a country without a cellphone and no calling card), I managed to meet up with the Brit and he shuttled me off to his country estate. Ok, not estate, but rather a nice little house in a charming town called Horsham.  After a recuperative nap and some unpacking, we took a walk around town and through the park, where we ran into the Brit’s paternal unit. A brief chat later, we snagged lunch (a real English sandwich!) and did some more wandering before heading back home to meet the maternal unit and one half of the sibling set.  The meet-the-parents routine went rather well, I think, though I felt bad for bringing a bottle of wine when his mum doesn’t drink (but I’m making amends with my next trip up).

The next three days were devoted to London and trying not to miss our trains. We did a lot of walking, I think I counted 7 miles covered in one day, and saw a lot of the mandated tourist destinations.  I’ve got a couple of images from my own camera, before I discovered the sensor had been splattered with dust, and then a couple from the Brit’s camera that will serve as guides to this exciting narrative.  And just for kicks, I thought we’d go sight by sight, rather than follow a timely chronicle, since I can’t remember what we did first, but I certainly remember what we did.  So here’s the London Top Ten, in no particular order.

#1: The London Eye. You can’t miss it if you go to London, and it’s a great way to orient yourself in the city – kind of what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Structurally I found it quite beautiful, and the view from the top was well worth the price and the wait.  The British certainly like to queue up.  Although I couldn’t help but think of that Doctor Who episode every time I saw this landmark…also, there was some random 4D movie experience, basically an excuse to get misted and have wind blown in our face, with some 3D effects that were better than Disney’s, while watching cool shots of the Eye and some little girl.

#2: Big Ben. If you have to see the Eye, then you can’t help but hear Big Ben. I found its architecture interesting, though I prefer the proportions and detailing of monuments in Paris. When we were at the top of the London Eye, in true British style, a gent asked me for the time. And as a truly ditsy American, I searched my purse for a watch, Big Ben ticking away behind me, while the rest of the cabin laughed.

Big Ben at night, doesn't he look handsome?

#3: Buckingham Palace. So, we didn’t get to see the changing of the guard, and we didn’t go inside the Palace or the Gardens, but I did get to see a guard and he walked around a bit, so it was almost the same.  It was weird thinking that this essentially huge McMansion belongs to a little old lady that happens to be very rich and the (decorative) head of a small island/important country.  And that Prince Charles grew up there, funny ears and all.

That's the guard! And okay, so he moved a total of 10 feet...but he did change positions!

#4: Piccadilly Circus. The Brit describes this plaza as London’s version of the Big Apple’s Times Square.  I will say, it was cleaner than Times Square.  It was also smaller than Times Square, like waaaaaay smaller. I guess everything is bigger in America. But the tiny size and it’s great aspirations only made it quaintly adorable. Wait a minute, that sounds like an apt way to describe England itself…

It has a lot of moving images, which are interestingly hard to capture on still digital "film."

#5 Trafalgar Square, National Gallery. The Brit and I made it a tradition to approach relevant bits of public sculpture from the rear, and then forget to see them from the front.  We made an exception for Trafalgar Square, only because walking around the sculpture was key to our getting on our way. The National Gallery itself was beautiful, architecturally, and I was especially fond of its bathrooms – one of my professors always said, you can tell how well a space is designed by how much thought is given to the bathrooms, as they tend to be an afterthought.  The art in the gallery was your usual smattering of stuff, though I particularly enjoyed the Turners on display.

From the rear at sunset, as we saw it. Take note of the sliver of moon on the right.

That’s it on London for now.  Look for Part II shortly!

Oct 23 – Jeffery’s Bay, South Africa (Island Vibe): Hang over day. Ate at The Mexican in the arvo.

Oct 24 – Addo, South Africa (Orange Elephant Camp): Safari through Addo National Park.

Oct 25 – Aliwal North, Lesotho (Moorosi Chalets): Aussie Tim and New Zealand Sarah (The last couple) had someone try to get into their tent. Luckily they went to bed early and were in there. Crazy, crazy, CRAZY rain, thunder, lighting storm while entering Lesotho. So crazy that the water made the roads too muddy and dangerous to drive. We had to park on the side of the road to camp. No pitching tents. We all decided to slumber in Gunga (our truck).

Oct 26 – Malealea, Lesotho (Malealea Lodge): Rain go away!!! Drove through the Gates Of Paradise. Still in the storm. Hail the size of marbles hit us hard. Poor Gunga and her fiberglass roof…and our ears.

Oct 27 – Malealea, Lesotho (Malealea Lodge): Quazi sunny day. Rain teasing us for now. Skipped out on the pony trek through the landscapes of Lesotho. The next time I ride a horse’ish like animal is when RJ wants to experience it. Otherwise, not on my own terms.

Amazing local family village dinner with Meusi and his son Dohwa (misspelling the names). Thank you again!

4AM, thunder and lightning storms are back. Stayed up and watched the lightning from my tent door. Flashed bright every couple seconds.

Oct 28 – Drakensberg National Park, South Africa (Maahai Camp) – G’bye Lesotho. Last new country of the trip, however it didn’t want us to go right away. We got stuck in the mud. Shovels + pushing + mud + rocks + mud + locals + 2 hours = finally on our way. Drove through the Golden Gate National Park. Beautiful landscape.

Oct 29 – Drakensberg National Park, South Africa (Maahai Camp) – Raining again. Ugh! Will not be able to hike the Dragensberg National Park. Lame.

Oct 30 – Johannesberg, South Africa (The Backpacker Ritz of Johannesberg) – Final dinner with everyone at Moyo.

Oct 31 – Johannesberg, South Africa (The Backpacker Ritz of Johannesberg) – Official end of our tour. Sad.

Nov 1-3 – Johannesberg, South Africa (The Backpacker Ritz of Johannesberg) – Watched Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” and “District 9″. Visited Shopping Malls.

Skipped out on Kruger National Park due to multiple reasons.

Nov 4 & 5 – London, England (Sleeping at LHR): One day in London. Brilliant city. I want to move here.

(poof redding not avilable)

London

London is the beautiful capital of England.  It is often said to be the most beautiful city of Europe since it is famous for several attractions such as the London Bridge, the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the amazing Harrods Department Store. In London you can visit

Harrods

different museums or just take a relaxing walk through Knightsbridge……everything is possible here.

Ps. The competition for the 5 First class vouchers is still going on. To take part simply comment bellow telling us what your dream getaway is and why

Where To stay

The Langham London Best Choice

The Langham, London has been delighting guests with enchanting encounters since she opened in 1865 as Europe’s first Grand Hotel. Now she has completed an exciting 80 million pound transformation, exuding a graceful and timeless elegance, blending a sense of the past with the style of today. Perfectly located in the heart of the West End,   and London’s luxury shopping including Bond Street are on her door step.  Price: 300 Pounds Per night

The Milestone Hotel

The Milestone Hotel

This intimate five-star hotel offers award-winning country house style, warmth and elegance in the heart of London, perfectly placed for Knightsbridge and The Royal Albert Hall and with easy access to the West End.

Price: 500 Pounds Per night

Where To Eat

There are unlimited Dining options in London……

Restaurant Gordon Ramsey

This Restaurant is a unique place to dine and of course it has Gordon Ramsey as head chef.   $$$

Le Gavroche

This Restaurant combines French dining with an english flair. $$$

What To Do

Here is a list of the Top things to do in London.

1. The London Eye

The London Eye really has to be included in a trip to London. The 32 capsules carry around 10,000 visitors every day. Because of the way the capsules are suspended it allows for a full 360 degree-panorama when you’re at the top of the wheel.

2.  The Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s official residence. The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. If you are visiting at a different time of the year go along to see the Changing of the guard which happens on scheduled days so check before setting off, and arrive early to get a good position to watch the action!

3.    Tower Of London

The Tower of London is where the Crown Jewels are housed, which are quite spectacular. It’s also where you can stand on the execution site of three English queens! The Tower Bridge  is also worth seeing and is only a short walk away. Tower Bridge’s architect, Horace Jones, and engineer, John Wolfe Barry, took 8 years to complete the bridge, which opened on 30 June 1894. It remained the only river crossing east of London Bridge till the Dartford Crossing (a tunnel) opened in 1991.

How To Get There

Many different areas fly to London. British Airways has flights to almost every destination world wide. Flight from Los Angeles are about 600 Dollars

Thank you for reading this guide about London, we hope that we have helped you. If you need any further assistance then please dont hesitate to comment on this blog and we can help you.

Here few places that you should visit when you traveling to London. It is top Attractions list in London

Westminster Abbey
Steeped in history, the pillars of this great vaulted hall stand on the final resting place of the men and women who built Britain. Its great Gothic hall continues to play a part in the formation of the kingdom, having hosted nearly every coronation since 1308.

Buckingham Palace
Not the prettiest royal residence, but a must-see for the glimpse it affords of the modern life of the monarchy. The opulence of the state rooms open to the public provides plenty of wow factor, and don’t forget the collection of china and carriages at the Queen’s Gallery and Royal Mews next door.

St. Paul’s Cathedral
No matter how many times you have been before, the scale and elegance of Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece never fail to take the breath away. Climb the enormous dome, third largest in the world, to experience the freaky acoustics of the Whispering Gallery, and higher still for fantastic views across London.

Tower of London
The Tower is London at its majestic, idiosyncratic best. This is truly the heart of the kingdom—with foundations dating back nine centuries, every brick tells a story, and the ax-blows and fortunes that have risen and fallen within this turreted mini-city provide an inexhaustible supply of intrigue.

British Museum
If you want to journey through time and space without leaving the confines of Bloomsbury, a visit to the British Museum holds hours of eye-catching artifacts from the world’s greatest civilizations, including the Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, and the Sutton Hoo treasure.

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
You can catch a Shakespeare play almost every night of the year in London. But standing on a floor of leaves and sawdust in a painstakingly re-created version of the galleried Tudor theater for which he wrote is a special thrill.

Hampton Court Palace
This collection of buildings and gardens so captivated Henry VIII that it became his favorite royal residence. Its Tudor charm, augmented by Wren’s touch, and a picturesque upstream Thames location make it a great day out—not even dour Oliver Cromwell, who moved here in 1653, could resist its charms.

Tate Modern
More of an event than the average museum visit, Tate Modern, housed inside a striking 1930s power station, is a hip, immensely successful addition to the London gallery landscape. Passing judgment on the latest controversial temporary exhibit inside the giant turbine hall has become almost a civic duty among art-loving Londoners.

National Gallery
Whatever the collective noun is for a set of old masters—a palette? a canvas?—there are enough here to have the most casual art enthusiast cooing with admiration. When you’ve finished, enjoy pedestrianized Trafalgar Square on the doorstep of this collection.

London’s Central Parks
With London’s green spaces so broken up, it seems churlish to pick out only one. The four central parks are all within walking distance: pick St. James’s Park for fairy-tale views; Green Park for hillocks and wide boulevards; Regent’s Park for its open-air theater and the London Zoo; and Hyde Park for rowing on the Serpentine Lido. (Fodors)

This picture of Presidential candidate Obama, reminded me of

Today is my wedding anniversary.  I know what you are thinking: but I’m Italian, I got married in Italy where nobody knew anything about Halloween.  Though my mother told me a few years ago that Halloween had landed in Italy too.  Globalization – which reminds me of the talk-about-good-news-only ripple effect I was talking about a couple of days ago -

Looking for a suitable image for today’s post, something that somehow combined halloween with wedding anniversary, I came across a picture of President Obama that took me back a year.  And I am tempted to take a little stroll down memory lane, to go revisit all that took place in what now seems like a lifetime ago and only yesterday, at the same time.  The global groaning, shuddering and reeling under the effect of the biggest financial tsunami to ever hit the world, was deafening.

I myself was clinging to a bare thread to keep myself from sinking, but the time came when… I am saved from staying on that dangerous path by checking my emails.

Today’s quote is another example of the Law of Attraction in action, for it tells me exactly what I need to hear.

“The content of your vibration equals how you feel right now. And whether

you’re thinking about the past, the present, or the future, how you feel

right now — as you think about the past, the present, or the future — is

your life. And it’s a precious, fabulous, creative life that you are not

wanting to squander in a place of resistance. Your life is right now”

— Abraham

I am reminded that this is a vibrational Universe and that responding to the vibrations created by our thoughts, the Law of Attraction does not differentiate between past, present or future.

That’s all the reminder I need to step off that train of thought, and eagerly jump on a different one.  On this one, I am being driven to the Church in the Piazza, where my tall, handpicked, aristocratic, English husband and his family had been waiting for me for almost an hour.  Ouch, but it hadn’t occurred to me to mention it that in Italy it is customary for the bride to be late.

What a wonderful wedding it was!  Then, when we stepped out of the Church as husband and wife, we were showered in rice.  When I looked up, I saw that the Piazza was full of people and they were singing what sounded like Happy Birthday To You in English.  In the small Sicilian town where I’m from, they are not used to foreigners, and I was, at the time, the only daughter in this town who’d left, gone “abroad” and returned to get married with a man who looked as if he’d stepped out of Buckingham Palace.  Now do you see why they’d all turned out to take a look?

Wow, I’ve done a really good vibrational job on myself down that memory lane.

Sorry, but I can’t stay here and talk to you all day; I’ve got to get into the right costume and celebrate.

Happy Halloween and See you tomorrow

Your blushing bride friend,

Success

Just when you think he can’t get any crazier Choudary launches into this tirade.

A FANATICAL Muslim group campaigning to impose sharia law on Britain wants to turn Buckingham Palace into a mosque, it was revealed last night.

Days before a potentially incendiary rally in central London, the hardline Islam4UK group claims to have uncovered historical evidence which challenges the right of the Queen to live at the royal property.Notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary is calling for the palace to be renamed Buckingham Masjid, the Arabic word for mosque. The Mall, which approaches the palace, would become Masjid Road.

Choudary, the right-hand man of exiled cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, spoke out as he urged Muslims across Britain to join Saturday’s rally to demand a complete overhaul of the British legal system and the introduction of sharia courts.The protest is due to begin at 1pm outside the Houses of Parliament and end at Trafalgar Square, less than a mile from Buckingham Palace, raising concerns over security.Last night angry politicians and fellow Muslims condemned Choudary’s comments.

Tory MP Philip Davies compared Choudary to the leader of the BNP, saying:

“This man’s a complete idiot. He’s the Muslim equivalent to Nick Griffin. I’m all for free speech and people having the right to have their say but, equally, there are all these ridiculous laws the Government has introduced about inciting racial hatred. Quite clearly, that’s what he is doing.“If these laws are in place, they have to work both ways – they can’t apply to just one group of people.”

In a rambling diatribe, Choudary wrote on the Islam4UK website:

“There is a spark that has ignited and its flame has become unstoppable.“In recent years the world has witnessed an Islamic resurgence which continues to grow in strength.“We find ourselves in the year 2009, waiting for Rome to fall, waiting for the White House to fall and indeed waiting for Buckingham Palace to fall.”

Choudary said that under sharia law the Queen’s official residence in London would have a dome fitted and a tannoy system to call followers to prayer.The Palace would be used as a judiciary court for handing down sharia punishments and a detention place for “prisoners of war”.In addition, the building would become the headquarters of the Islamic States’ supreme leadership and the Department of Information and Culture.Choudary also called for the Crown Jewels to be melted down into

 “more appealing jewellery, free from idolatrous engravings or symbols such as crosses or human beings”.

Islam4UK’s website shows mock-up images of the Palace as a mosque and the Crown Jewels being melted.Choudary added:

“At present, Buckingham Palace is nothing more than a hollow building exploited by the rich and withheld from any real use.“Under the sharia this would never happen, rather the British community would see it converted into a flourishing mosque which would be of a great benefit, not only for those residing in London but also the country as a whole.”

The Islam4UK movement is made up of leading members of the banned radical al-Muhajiroun group which was once led by Choudary. Around 15 per cent of people convicted in the UK of terrorism-related offences in the last decade were either members of the group or had links to it.

The Centre for Social Cohesion last night warned of the dangers of Choudary’s preachings.Houriya Ahmed, a researcher for the independent think-tank , said: “I think they are just doing this for publicity.

“Anjem Choudary is a ridiculous man. But that does not mean his ideology is not dangerous.”

Muslim leader Abdul Hamid Qureshi, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said: “The sad fact is that this organisation is driving the agenda. What they are saying is totally wrong. They are only a small bunch of people. There is no sense in it – it is not Islam.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are discussing the potential demonstrations on October 31.”

Thanks to DAILY EXPRESS

If you don’t get the title… its from an advert

It’s been over a week since I went to London with two of my friends, to visit another friend! She moved there last year for Uni and is in her second and last year doing set management or something like that. All I know is its a lot of work, crazy, but does seem fun and she likes it.

It was just my luck to be ill, and when I’m ill… I’m really ill! Or just complain a lot! I had lectures that day and omg it was so stressful buying the tickets. I had to buy them for the other two and work out all the details and travel and times. This is what Friday was like for me.

Walk to bus station, catch bus, catch another bus. Lecture, fire drill, lunch, lecture, bus, bus, lift home. Quickly pack since I was stupid and didn’t do it the night before. Friend #1 arrives and I still haven’t finished packing, need ticket reference numbers too and internet is sloooow. Mum gives lift to train station. Wait for train. Panic that train is at a different time. Friend #2 phones and tells me where I plan to catch the megabus is actually 15 minutes away from the train station and not next to it like I thought. Panic that we won’t make it in time. Get on train at the right time after asking the ticket guy who looked at us weirdly.

Get to Cardiff, meet friend #2, RUN through Cardiff and get on the megabus with two minutes to spare. Travel for four hours to London. Meet friend #3, walk to train station, catch subway train. Walk to bus stop, catch bus, walk to friends new house after stopping in shop to buy food. Make food, eat, fall asleep after talking.

I was so tired having not much sleep over the past few days and I was ill and yeah I did not feel good at all! Woke up freezing in the morning at like every hour too. That always seems to happen when I’m sleeping over people’s houses. I wake up super early (not always freezing). The next night I made sure I slept with a hoodie and two sleeping bags haha.

So yeah Friday was a bit crazy, all tat travelling and I get motion sickness too! >.< Saturday was lovely though. Took some meds in the morning and we went off to the shops to buy food to have a picnic! Or well… eat food on a bench in Hyde park which was fuuun!

There were two pigeons by us and we fed them some food, and then more and more kept coming till there were about 30-odd. It was getting insane! Then, some birds were flying past, a huge flock of them and all the pigeons took off at once it was a bit scary. One of my friends hates pigeons when they are in the air. It was fun making them run back and forth though.

There was a protest on in London, about Sri Lanka. It was pretty depressing but we didn’t watch for long. Funny story, or not really funny but in a way. One man was shouting “Fight the killers!” and my friend thought he was shouting “Pint of guineas!”  She didn’t believe me, and I was pointing to the signs they were holding up and there were people walking in a “concentration camp” which was depressing. I don’t really know that much on what it was about to write about tbh.

We then walked through Kensington Gardens and there were millions of crazy squirrels! We were feeding them, and THREE times I tried to get a picture feeding a squirrel, this little boy would come out of no where, RUNNING at the squirrel I was feeding, shoving his phone in their faces or a leaf and I was like “Nooooo! My arch Enemy!” He didn’t speak English either, my friend tried asking him nicely to please let us just take a picture but he ignored her and carried on shoving a leaf at the squirrel till it ran the hell away from him. That happened three times, I was sooo annoyed grrr lol.

In the end I did get a photo though haha and the kid came again but this time it was TOO LATE! I’d already had a photo The ducks there were pretty crazy too but they were all so cwute *squee* Spesh the squirrels. He put his little paws on my hand and I held the food (some muffin) so I could get a picture and he was tugging at it like “Give the the freakin’ muffin already human!” It was aweshum.

We briefly went to Covent Garden which I kept calling Convent Garden. I can’t help it, it’s SO much easier to say! I got made fun of a lot though. Me and one friend got our palms read by the same woman who did it last year. My friend had the same, and mine was similar. The only difference was last time she said I’d have 4 kids, and this time she said 2.

I went to the David and Goliath shop and bought a hoodie that says “Come to the dark side, we have cookies” and glows in the dark, I loves it and its comfy I also bought a keyring from there. The only other things I bought we two phone charms (in the cinema, hello kitty and a japanese doll thing but its the wrong starsign) and a magnet for my Mum. She loves getting magnets haha. I spent loads of money though, mainly on travel and food. I used a Oyster card though which made travelling so much cheaper

We saw two performers by there, the end of their act. They asked for any little kid to come up and the little boy who did was so cute. When asked his age he said 5, then looked really worried, shock his head and said “No six!” XD He got £5 for coming up at the end, and the two guys carried on with their performance when a little toddler came strolling across and the man was like “You are too late, the moneys gone!” which was creasing, but maybe its a you-had-to-be-there way.

We went to see Buckingham Palace and the Queen was in! Sadly, we did not see her ;P Took the usual tourists photos and went to Trafalgar Square to take pictures with the Lions. Last time it was raining, and this time it was drizzly. Next time I’ll get a sunny picture I hope but I guess I’d have to not go in November or October eh? We also saw the last few minutes of the Changing on the Guard, but there were lots of tall people standing in front of us.

Hmm I’m not good at structuring this, its the same when I write essays, all over the place. So we then met up with another friend who went to London this year and went to see a film, Zombieland. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was really funny and I wouldn’t mind buying it on DVD. I loved the rules. Wasn’t sure what three of the friends would think since me and the other friend made them come see it with us, at first they were like wtf is this film! But they enjoyed it after the initial zombies eating hoooman flesh, gross.

We finallllly got back to her house and btw her room is aweshums! She has an attic room with an en suite and cool windows and yeah. It was nice. Her house mates are friendly too. Met three of them, boys and they were funny and friendly.

The next day we woke up later, had a nice breakfast. I was the last one to finish packing so by the time I got downstairs breakfast was ready, crumpets yuuum. Then off we went early so we wouldn’t miss the bus to the megabus station. I bought a Heat magazine! Last time I didn’t so I made sure I did this time, even though I don’t read it! Or others like them, only when my mum gets them which is not that often haha. We went shopping for a bit round the station and I bought two scarves for £5 which was a good deal. We took turns waiting with the bags while others looked around since we couldn’t exactly take all our luggage with us into the shops.

Then it was time to get back on the bus for a few hours, something I wasn’t looking forward too. It took an hour to get out of London but was faster getting home I think, even though the traffic would have been heavier as it was earlier. We left one friend when we got off the bus as it wasn’t fair to make her come to the train station with us, but she was worried we wouldn’t find it. I’m not that great at directions and my friend isn’t either, he’d probably end up in the completely opposite direction. I did remember how to get there by site though and we worked it out as we went and only had a few minutes to catch the train, which was packed.

An hour later and luckily my mum gave us a lift home and that was it! A fun trip, spent waay to much money on barely anything and it was nice sight-seeing London this time instead of just shopping. And I felt better than I thought I would.

So a nice long rambly post which I’ve probably missed out loads on my trip to Landaaan baby!

Young people have named Stonehenge as their favourite British landmark, according to a survey.  The megalithic World Heritage Site took top spot, followed by Hadrian’s Wall, in the Travelodge poll of eight- to 15- year olds – ahead of Buckingham Palace and the London Eye.

Other landmarks in the top 10 included Edinburgh Castle in 4th place, and the Tower of London in 6th.

as read in the London Lite 26.10.09

Sunshine over Stonehenge

We’re leaving tomorrow.  Part of me is sad, because there are so many things that we didn’t get to do, but part of me is really looking forward to being back home with friends and family and a media that doesn’t completely ignore the netball!

Today dad dropped the car back bright and early, then we headed out into the city again.  We went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  So did a few thousand other people.  This is something that happens every second day.  It’s not like it’s rare or anything, but we were lucky to get a spot where we could see, despite arriving about an hour before it started!  I say started… that was when the first lot of people in silly hats with instruments walked around the side of the fountainy-roundabout thing we were standing on.  No-one actually came out of the palace gates until about an hour later!  We got to listen to lots of people in guard-uniform play brass band music, and see a few guys in funny hats (funnier than the bearskin ones.  They looked a bit like the love child of Lady Gaga and Cousin Itt) ride past on horses (one of which was playing up rather delightfully ).  The actual outside-of-the-gate bit lasted about 5 minutes or so, which was a bit of an anti-climax!

But I’m still glad we went, coz if we hadn’t I would still be wondering what it was like!

We ended up talking to a Kiwi woman standing in front of us – we’ve come across a few over here actually, lots in Scotland especially.

Took the tube (still LOVE that thing, by the way – when we met up with our friends yesterday we initially met at the Gloucester Rd station, and as soon as I walked in I sniffed the air and said to dad ’smells like the underground!’) to Leicester Square, where we ended up getting West End tickets for £12.50 (more on that later).  Then walked over to Covent Garden, where we had lunch and checked out the market.  This was very cool – full of vintage jewellery stalls interspersed with places like Lush (went in for a good sniff – I love that place!) and clothes stores etc.  Pretty sure I could have spent a lot more time (and money) there than I did!

Met up with dad again, he was watching a street performer trying to get out of a straitjacket.  Just as it finished and we were walking away, I spotted someone who looked kind of familiar to me.  I did a double-take, thinking ‘nah’ (coz the whole time I’ve been over here I haven’t run into anyone I knew that we haven’t intentionally met up with, but I’ve been wondering if I would, since everyone seems to have a story like that), then she did one too, and went ‘Brooke?’  It was a girl I played netball with in second year uni!  Randomest thing that’s happened to me on this trip by far, but very cool!

Then back on the tube to St Paul’s Cathedral, where I sat on the same steps as the birdwoman, then on to Paddington Station (photo in front of Paddington Bear souvenir stall) then back to the B&B to get changed (dad didn’t think we needed to, but I was wearing sandals and a top with food down the front, and was worried there might be a dress code.  There didn’t seem to be, but better safe than sorry!).  Went to Chinatown for dinner, which was yum, and they had pearl iced tea (aka Bubble Cup, which is one of the few chains I haven’t seen in London), which I was pretty excited about coz I’m kind of addicted and I haven’t had one in about three months!

Then off to find the theatre.  We ended up going to Avenue Q.  I dithered for a while, but since my dad is not the hugest fan of musicals and was pretty much just going along with me, I decided not to drag him to Wicked, figuring he’d enjoy Avenue Q more.  The best way I can describe it is Sesame Street for adults – a mixture of real people and puppets, whose puppeteers are fully visible, although you don’t notice them at all really.  Some puppets are obviously based on Sesame St muppets – there’s the Trekkie monster who sounds just like the Cookie monster except for the fact that he’s a total pervert, and Rod and Nicky, two guy-puppets who live together, one annoying the crap out of the other (Bert and Ernie, anyone?).  I think Kate Monster is supposed to Prairie Dawn, and Princeton Franklin, although I don’t remember Sesame Street well enough to be sure.

Our seats were as far back as you could get, but the place was tiered so we still had a good view of the stage.  And it was FUNNY.  We both LOLed a lot.  I’d seen bits of some songs on youtube, but didn’t really know the storyline at all.  The cast were awesome, and the girl who played Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in particular was great – each character had a really distinctive voice and she sang phenomenally well in both.  Dad even said it was one of his three favourite things we’ve done while we were over here – success!

I now have certain songs from it stuck in my head. I managed to keep a lid on the singing on the tube though.  ‘The Internet is for Porn’ in particular would have got me some funny looks!

And that’s it for my last post from London… might get a chance to post at LA airport, but if not, ka kite in Aotearoa!

We’re leaving tomorrow.  Part of me is sad, because there are so many things that we didn’t get to do, but part of me is really looking forward to being back home with friends and family and a media that doesn’t completely ignore the netball!

Today dad dropped the car back bright and early, then we headed out into the city again.  We went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  So did a few thousand other people.  This is something that happens every second day.  It’s not like it’s rare or anything, but we were lucky to get a spot where we could see, despite arriving about an hour before it started!  I say started… that was when the first lot of people in silly hats with instruments walked around the side of the fountainy-roundabout thing we were standing on.  No-one actually came out of the palace gates until about an hour later!  We got to listen to lots of people in guard-uniform play brass band music, and see a few guys in funny hats (funnier than the bearskin ones.  They looked a bit like the love child of Lady Gaga and Cousin Itt) ride past on horses (one of which was playing up rather delightfully ).  The actual outside-of-the-gate bit lasted about 5 minutes or so, which was a bit of an anti-climax!

But I’m still glad we went, coz if we hadn’t I would still be wondering what it was like!

We ended up talking to a Kiwi woman standing in front of us – we’ve come across a few over here actually, lots in Scotland especially.

Took the tube (still LOVE that thing, by the way – when we met up with our friends yesterday we initially met at the Gloucester Rd station, and as soon as I walked in I sniffed the air and said to dad ’smells like the underground!’) to Leicester Square, where we ended up getting West End tickets for £12.50 (more on that later).  Then walked over to Covent Garden, where we had lunch and checked out the market.  This was very cool – full of vintage jewellery stalls interspersed with places like Lush (went in for a good sniff – I love that place!) and clothes stores etc.  Pretty sure I could have spent a lot more time (and money) there than I did!

Met up with dad again, he was watching a street performer trying to get out of a straitjacket.  Just as it finished and we were walking away, I spotted someone who looked kind of familiar to me.  I did a double-take, thinking ‘nah’ (coz the whole time I’ve been over here I haven’t run into anyone I knew that we haven’t intentionally met up with, but I’ve been wondering if I would, since everyone seems to have a story like that), then she did one too, and went ‘Brooke?’  It was a girl I played netball with in second year uni!  Randomest thing that’s happened to me on this trip by far, but very cool!

Then back on the tube to St Paul’s Cathedral, where I sat on the same steps as the birdwoman, then on to Paddington Station (photo in front of Paddington Bear souvenir stall) then back to the B&B to get changed (dad didn’t think we needed to, but I was wearing sandals and a top with food down the front, and was worried there might be a dress code.  There didn’t seem to be, but better safe than sorry!).  Went to Chinatown for dinner, which was yum, and they had pearl iced tea (aka Bubble Cup, which is one of the few chains I haven’t seen in London), which I was pretty excited about coz I’m kind of addicted and I haven’t had one in about three months!

Then off to find the theatre.  We ended up going to Avenue Q.  I dithered for a while, but since my dad is not the hugest fan of musicals and was pretty much just going along with me, I decided not to drag him to Wicked, figuring he’d enjoy Avenue Q more.  The best way I can describe it is Sesame Street for adults – a mixture of real people and puppets, whose puppeteers are fully visible, although you don’t notice them at all really.  Some puppets are obviously based on Sesame St muppets – there’s the Trekkie monster who sounds just like the Cookie monster except for the fact that he’s a total pervert, and Rod and Nicky, two guy-puppets who live together, one annoying the crap out of the other (Bert and Ernie, anyone?).  I think Kate Monster is supposed to Prairie Dawn, and Princeton Franklin, although I don’t remember Sesame Street well enough to be sure.

Our seats were as far back as you could get, but the place was tiered so we still had a good view of the stage.  And it was FUNNY.  We both LOLed a lot.  I’d seen bits of some songs on youtube, but didn’t really know the storyline at all.  The cast were awesome, and the girl who played Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in particular was great – each character had a really distinctive voice and she sang phenomenally well in both.  Dad even said it was one of his three favourite things we’ve done while we were over here – success!

I now have certain songs from it stuck in my head. I managed to keep a lid on the singing on the tube though.  ‘The Internet is for Porn’ in particular would have got me some funny looks!

And that’s it for my last post from London… might get a chance to post at LA airport, but if not, ka kite in Aotearoa!

Day 5 in London…
Date: July 5, 2009

Checklist Item Crossed #14 — Buckingham Palace
8.30am – Woke up, almost late again. Took a quick shower, waited for Y to get ready; 9.30am – Trains still weren’t running from South Ealing, so we took the bus and a train from another station to St. James’ Park; 11am – Arrived at the Buckingham Palace, got a nice viewing spot….or so we thought….; 11.30am – Saw some guards marching past, including the cavalries. Took some pics of the procession as we saw the guards head towards the palace and entered the gates; 11.40am – Waited for the Changing of the Guards, took some pics of ourselves; 11.50am – Realized that the Changing of the Guards was actually taking place within the enclosed palace grounds instead of the spacious piazza we we stood waiting at….stupid!! 12pm – Walked to the palace gates, managed to get some lame shots of the guards in line. It was almost impossible to get a good view of the Changing of the Guards because the crowd that gathered around the row of gates to get a glimpse (GLIMPSE!!) of the event was so thick – we had to extend our arms above some people’s head to even take a lame pic of the guards, nevermind actually watching anything! 12.30pm – NOT impressed with the Changing of the Guards. Y and I decided to look for St. James’ Palace instead because my London Guidebook had said that visitors can take pics with the guards on duty outside the palace; 12.15pm – Could not find St. James Palace. Took some pics with Y at an unknown building instead.

My Best Shot

Checklist Item Crossed #15 — Embankment
1pm – Arrived at Trafalgar Square, took a train to Embankment. Linda, my ex-boss, insisted that I visit the gardens at Embankment when I travel to London, so there we were; 1.15pm – Discovered the comfort of Embankment’s park deck chairs. Apparently there was going to be an outdoor mini-concert later on, so the organizers were preparing the stage nearby; 1.45pm – Packed some lunch (I had Rice and Chili Con Carne, Y had some Chicken Curry thing) and headed back to the deck chairs at the park, on which we sat on while we ate and enjoyed an hour or so soaking up the Summer sun. Took more pics.

Me + Union Jack

Checklist Item Crossed #16 — Tower of London and Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

2.15pm – Headed towards Tower Hill alone. Y and I parted ways because she had a colleague’s farewell picnic to attend later on; 2.45pm – Purchased my ticket to the Tower of London, watched a demo at the Siege exhibit; 3.30pm – Joined the Yeoman Warders tour of the Tower; 4.15pm – Checked out the Crown Jewels exhibit. That was impressive; 4.45pm – Checked out the Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibition; 5.30pm – Tower closed for the day, walked out to see the Tower Bridge from a distance. Met Kim, a Korean girl, who helped take some pics of me with the Bridge and vice versa; 6pm – Kim and I walked to and along the Tower Bridge, took more pics. Too bad the Tower Bridge exhibition had closed for the day too.

Tower of London

Siege Exhibit

The White Tower

Checklist Item Crossed #17 — Hyde Park
7.15pm – Kim did not have any plans after visiting the Tower, so I invited her to follow me to Hyde Park — my last “Place-To-Visit” in London. She agreed. We arrived at Hyde Park after taking the train. I had an ice cream, while I waited for Kim to have her Hot Dog dinner; 7.45pm – Visited The Serpentine, Hyde Park’s famous lake. Oh, WOW….the view was absolutely breathtaking! Again, my camera battery had inconveniently died on me while visiting the Tower Bridge. Kim offered to take some pics of me with her DSLR camera and promised to email me once she got back to Korea a month later (I have yet to hear from her) Love Hyde Park, btw; 8.20pm – Kim and I parted ways. It was bad enough that the Piccadilly lines were closed, now the stupid train was not running past Hammersmith on District lines either. Took another train to NottingHill Gate where I had to change to the Central line instead; 9pm – Arrived at Ealing Broadway, took a bus back to South Ealing; 9.30pm – Arrived at Y’s place, checked my email, finished packing my stuff, took a shower, went to bed around midnight.

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Day 6 in London
Date: July 6, 2009

Leaving on a Jetplane
Y and I left her apartment early in the morning, she had to go to work while I was headed towards the London Liverpool St. Station, where I had to take the Stansted Express to the airport. I was leaving London for good. Y rode with me until Leicester Square and we bid goodbye when she had to get off. It had been a really fun trip and we had some nice times together. I arrived at Stansted Airport around 11am. Had a light lunch at one of the airport cafes and watched the RyanAir planes resting on the tarmac. I was to fly in one of those planes at anytime soon…..

1.50pm – Goodbye, London…

4.40pm – Hellooooo, Stockholm!!!

Day 4 in London..
Date: July 4, 2009

Checklist Item Crossed #11 — Buckingham Palace
A Change in Plans…
9.30am – Y woke me up. It’s a good thing she did or I would’ve overslept. I had planned to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace that morning. I was already running late. Showered, got dressed, no time for breakfast! 10.10am – Got a bottle of Evian at the shop downstairs, walked to the Underground station….oh, crud. I forgot my Oyster Card. Walked back to the apartment; 10.20am – Arrived at the Underground station, topped up my Oyster Card, then found out that the train wasn’t in service due to railworks on the Piccadilly line (dammit). Took the bus to Hammersmith, chatted with a nice but talkative London-based Sudanese lady who had gotten on at South Ealing with me; 11.20am – Hm…too late to go see the Changing of the Guards now — it was due to start in 10-20 minutes. Decided to mooch around the shops at Hammersmith station for awhile, then took a train to Piccadilly instead.

Checklist Item Crossed #11/12 — Lillywhites @ Piccadilly Circus/ PRIDE London Parade, Regent Street
12.30pm – Looked for the Liverpool home jersey for Rina’s brother at Lillywhites, a sportswear store at Piccadilly Circus (it turned out to be a size too small for him when I took it back to KL…); 1.15pm – Finally finished shopping at Lillywhites, it started to drizzle outside. Saw a small crowd gathering by the roadside just outside the store and realized that I was standing along Regent Street and that the PRIDE London parade (that’s the Gay&Lesbian parade, if you didn’t know..) was going to pass through. Oh, yay! I thought I was going to have to miss the parade, I guess it was a good thing the Buckingham Palace plan didn’t fall through after all! Also, I was lucky to be one of the earlier ones to be there because I got to be right up front at the barricades instead of having to fight for a good view with the crowd that was gradually growing all around. I could feel the nice cool English wind brushing against my bare arms; 1.45pm – Still waiting. It had stopped drizzling and was getting a bit warmer — was still glad that it was still slightly windy. Nice weather today! Crowd growing bigger; 2.15pm – The PRIDE London parade had finally arrived. It was my first live parade of any kind ever; 2.45pm – The parade was AWESOME!!! I saw Boy George too!!! 3.30pm – Parade ended, I’ve managed to exhaust my camera battery, the film rolls of *BOTH* my manual Kodak cameras (that I had purchased at the London Eye a few days earlier) and the space on my SIM card *AND* phone memory, having taken 200+ pics at the parade alone(!). Took a train to South Kensington, then onwards to NottingHill Gate.

Boy George in the middle!!

Big Ben

Por fin tengo unos minutos para actualizar el blog y contaros, en dos o tres entradas, el largo fin de semana que acabamos de disfrutar en Londres Fernando y yo.

Volamos el jueves a primera hora de la mañana con Easyjet al aeropuerto de Gatwick. Os hago dos recomendaciones: comprad la Oyster Card (para el Metro) en el mismo avión y pillad un billete de tren de ida y vuelta con Southern (más barato que Gatwick Express y tarda más o menos lo mismo, con casi la misma frecuencia).

El hotel, Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum, está muy bien situado, bien de precio y con unas habitaciones más que aceptables (la cama muy cómoda y el baño pequeño, pero limpio y con pinta de nuevo). El único “pero” es que cobran la WiFi ¡¡a 10€ la hora!! (no la utilizamos, claro).

Abadía de Westminster (detalle)

Parlamento (detalle)

Como Fernando no había estado anteriormente en Londres, comenzamos la visita por lo más típico. Primero nos acercamos a Bridge Street, desde donde vimos la noria London Eye y el Big Ben. Después pasamos junto a la Abadía de Westminster (no entramos porque cuesta la friolera de 15₤) y dimos un paseo por los Victoria Tower Gardens y Millbank, aunque no llegamos a la Tate Britain.

Parlamento (detalle y torre vista desde Victoria Tower Gardens)

Volvimos sobre nuestros pasos para ir hasta el Palacio de Buckingham, y lo hicimos cruzando por St. James’s Park: ardillas, pelícanos, patos, cuervos, un césped cuidado con esmero, un pequeño lago cruzado por un puente y unas vistas estupendas. El Palacio lo vimos sólo por fuera (paseamos por la entrada de Green Park e hicimos un par de fotos en el Queen Victoria Memorial) y seguimos nuestro recorrido por The Mall, en dirección a Trafalgar Square.

St. James’s Park (vistas desde el lago y desde The Mall)

Green Park

Buckingham Place y Queen Victoria Memorial

The Illustration Cupboard

Hicimos un pequeño alto en el recorrido para ver la exposición de dibujos de Nick Park (el creador de Wallace y Gromit) en The Illustration Cupboard (en Bury Street) y cruzamos la coqueta St. James Square. Seguimos después por Picadilly y aprovechamos para ver la Burlington Arcade y la Royal Academy Of Arts, en la que había una exposición de Anish Kapoor.

Leyendo un libro en St. James Square

Burlington Arcade

Royal Academy Of Arts

Como llegamos muy pronto a Trafalgar Square, seguimos hasta el Covent Garden y comimos en el Wagamama que hay en Tavistock St. (una cadena de restaurantes asiáticos de comida estilo Wok). Después de comer volvimos a Trafalgar Square, visitamos St. Martin In The Fields (estaban ensayando para un concierto de música clásica) y terminamos en la National Portrait Gallery viendo las exposiciones Gay Icons (normalita) y The 60s Exposed: Beatles To Bowie (ésta sí que la disfrutamos).

Covent Garden y St. Martin In The Fields

La Royal Academy Of Arts reflejada en la escultura de Anish Kapoor

Como nos habíamos metido un buen tute, volvimos al hotel a descansar un rato. La tarde-noche la pasamos en el Prince Edward Theatre viendo el estupendo musical Jersey Boys (la historia de Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons) y terminamos con una cena muy rica (un menú post-teatro) en Arbutus, uno de los restaurantes de cocina inglesa de calidad que está de moda en la ciudad.

Continuará…

P.D.: Si tenéis un iPhone, hay dos aplicaciones que son una pasada para visitar Londres: London2Go (plano de Londres con información muy completa de museos, restaurantes, teatros, etc., y con posicionamiento por GPS, por lo que puedes guiarte por la ciudad sin pagar conexión a internet) y London Tube. También resulta interesante NFT Lodon, aunque los libros de NFT son mucho mejores que sus aplicaciones para el iPhone.

De vuelta al hotel (Gloucester Road)

The Queen is hosting a tea party at Buckingham Palace today for former members of the Women’s Land Army and the Women’s Timber Corps.

The Duke of Edinburgh, the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Alexandra and Princess Michael of Kent will also attend.

The Women’s Land Army (WLA) and the Women’s Timber Corps (WTC) carried out farming and forestry jobs during the 1940s, when men had gone off to war.

Sheila Ellis from Cornwall joined the WLA for three years in 1943, aged 18. She worked on a farm at Friern Hospital, more widely known as Coney Hatch Lunatic Asylum in Barnet, London. The hospital had no source of food other than the hospital farm where Sheila worked as a milkmaid.

The tea party marks the anniversary of the disbandment of the WLA, 59 years ago on October 21, 1950. It will be held in the palace ballroom and the band of the Welsh Guards will play wartime classics to the guests.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said ‘The Queen met the WLA and the WTC when she was 18 and working for the war effort. The guests will be shown 1940s video footage of this.’