A few of my favorite things in London (and even Paris)

This photo book chronicles some of the highlights of the trip for me. I even found a few things to be happy about in Paris. (Click on the cover below to open the book in a new screen.)

Long day's journey home

Well, it took 20 hours of travel, but I'm finally back home in Louisville. It involved:

• An epic struggle down the Tube escalators/staircases with my severely overweight suitcase. (Made possible by the extreme kindness of a British man who carried it down the final two for me. Although he did share his opinion that I had over packed for my month-long stay.)
• An hour train ride during rush hour. (Fortunately no need to switch trains.)
• A seven-hour flight to Montreal. (Thanks for the free passport stamp for my two-hour layover.)
• A two-hour flight to Washington-Dulles. (On a plane so tiny that another passenger and I had to move to the back of the plane to "distribute" the weight safely. Needless to say, I didn't sleep on that flight).
• A two-hour flight to Louisville. (Nap time, since it was closing in on 10 p.m. in the U.K., and I had been awake since 4 a.m.).
• A 10-minute car ride with Ryan back to the house, where I was greeted by an excited Sydney dog.

I now have three currencies in my wallet (British pounds, Canadian dollars and U.S. dollars) and am about to go put my road skills to the test after a month without driving. Scary.

Ryan and I will have a wrap-up post about what we learned later this weekend. In the meantime, thanks everyone for reading about our adventures!

The royal rundown: A note about palaces

During my time in London and Paris, I managed to see eight castles and/or palaces. In the order I visited them, they are:

• The Tower of London
• Windsor Castle
• Westminster Palace (a k a the Houses of Parliament)
  
• Dover Castle
• The Louvre
• The Palace at Versailles
• Hampton Court Palace
• Buckingham Palace 

I admit that palace fatigue began to set in toward the end. So I'm probably biased toward the ones I saw earlier in my travels. But here are a few quick opinions on each of the eight. Can you guess which one was my favorite?

The Tower of London: The White Tower that William the Conqueror built was finished by 1100. Inside the tower is an exhibit on weaponry, but it's hard to get a sense of what it was like as a residence. Plus, the Tower's more sordid history as a torture center and execution spot make it a huge tourist draw and therefore incredibly crowded. The Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, give excellent tours on the half hour.

The White Tower before things got too crowded.

Windsor Castle: We visited as part of our day of "tourist nerdishness", as one of three stops on a guided coach tour. That hectic schedule left us with only about 90 minutes to view the castle and grounds, which was just enough time to view the state apartments and that's it. The audio tour was excellent, with a basic introduction to each room and then options to learn more about certain details or rituals.

Windsor Castle is still one of the official royal residences.

Westminster Palace: This palace was built by Edward the Confessor during the mid-1000s so that the devout monarch could oversee the construction of Westminster Abbey. The state openings of parliamentary proceedings would sometimes take place here beginning in the 1300s. It became the permanent home of parliament in 1512, when Henry VIII abandoned the palace after a fire. Most of the palace was rebuilt following another fire in 1834. So you don't really get the same "palace" feeling as you do with the others on this list. The guided tour was good, though I think next time we'll try to visit on a weekday while parliament is actually in session to get the full experience.

Westminster Palace has been the home of Parliament since 1512.

Dover Castle: This castle was built between 1180 and 1185 to designed for royal ceremony rather than defensive strategy. Several of the rooms are outfitted as they would have been in that time, during the reign of Henry II. It is very interesting to see the size and colorfulness of the furniture at that time. The furnishings were created over the last few years by prisoners throughout Britain, according to the Times. Multiple staff members are stationed in each room to answer any questions about the furnishings, royal life, and the castle's history. The whole experience really gave you a sense of what life was like during the 12th century.

An reproduction of a chair from the 12th century at Dover Castle.

The Louvre: It is easy to forget that the Louvre was once a royal palace, and was, in fact, turned into a museum only after the French revolution. The Museum Central des Arts opened to the public in 1793 in the Grande Galerie and the Salon Carré, before gradually taking over the entire building. Napoleon I's conquests helped "grow" the collection.

The Louvre was a palace for many years. The Pyramid is a bit more modern. Photo by zoetnet/Flickr.

The Palace at Versailles: I preferred the grounds to the palace itself, because the crowds made it almost impossible to use the audio tour or even get a good look at what was in front of you inside the residence. Even the Tower of London's crowd was a pittance compared to this. The Hall of Mirrors was my favorite thing to see, but again, I didn't really feel like I had the time or space to completely appreciate it. Plus, my knowledge of French history is much less comprehensive and therefore what I was seeing was not as meaningful.

The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace at Versailles.

Hampton Court: I expected to truly enjoy this palace, considering how much I've read about Henry VIII and his many wives (not to mention what I've watched, and we all know how painstakingly accurate The Tudors was). Plus, half of the palace was renovated by William III and Mary II in the baroque style, making it a study in two architectural styles. But the entire visit was pretty much ruined by a horrendous audio tour. I'm sure it was exactly some people's cup of tea -- one of the castle workers serves as your tour guide for the day, explaining how court life works and "introducing" you to various people and places around the castle. The hum of daily castle life fills the background. It was rather like a radio play. And it annoyed me to no end. I couldn't fast forward easily through the nonsense to get to the stuff I wanted to know. The tour about William III was slightly better, but I still preferred the more straightforward approaches of the tours at Windsor and Buckingham.

Fountain Court at Hampton Court Palace.

The Great Hall in Henry VIII's state apartments.

This intertwined H and A were for Henry and Anne Boleyn. The king ordered all of them removed after her death, but this one in the Great Hall somehow survived.

Not surprisingly, Hampton Court had impersonators walking its corridors. Henry VIII is apparently a bit flirty. I didn't get close enough to find out.

Buckingham Palace: The tour seems short, as you see only about 20 of the palace's 775 rooms. But that probably is to be expected, considering that it is the administrative headquarters of the monarch, as the Prince of Wales informs you at the start of the audio tour. Although the audio tour probably benefited from following the irritation of Hampton Court's offering, I thought it gave the right amount of information and included interviews from various castle workers to spice things up. As a bonus, the palace has an exhibit this summer on Kate Middleton's wedding dress that I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside.

Buckingham Palace has been the official London residence of the British monarchy since 1837.

Feathered frenzy. Now in Glog form.

Pigeons waiting for someone to feed them in Russell Square.

Londoners may not feel the same, but feeding the birds remains a popular tourist activity at the city's parks. Mary Poppins did sing about it, after all. This poster should introduce you to the basics of a lovely afternoon of bird feeding in the Royal Parks.

References

Birds in the Royal Parks. (n.d.). The Royal Parks. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from http://www.royalparks.org.uk/docs/RPbirdsinfoWEB.PDF

Cinemato [Recorded by J. Lozano]. (2006). Retrieved August 3, 2011, from http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=19556

Feed the birds (tuppence a bag) [Recorded by J. Andrews]. (2006). On Mary Poppins: original soundtrack [MP3].
Hurry music [Recorded by R. Frohlich]. (2007). On Silent movie - Sam Fox. Retrieved August 3, 2011, from http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=31297

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. (2011, June 6). Problems with pigeons. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved August 01, 2011, from http://www.richmond.gov.uk/problems_with_pigeons

Spanish [Recorded by R. Frohlich]. (2007). On Silent movie - Sam Fox. Retrieved August 3, 2011, from http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=31315

Score! Even theater is like a sport

The national sport here might be football, but I think theater is a close second. A group of us went to see Wicked on Tuesday night, and it struck me how much the two activities have in common.

Tonight's main event: Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

To start, people plan vacations around what shows are playing and the specific stars they are eager to see perform live. Secondly, many shows play to sell-out crowds night after night. Thirdly, there is a ton of memorabilia available for sale at each show: T-shirts, programs, stuffed animals, hats. If you can name it, the theaters probably have it.

And finally, roaming vendors sell candy, ice cream, water, beer and even "chilled wine" during the intermissions. Yes, that is completely different from the States, where most Broadway theaters wouldn't trust you with a bottle of water in your seats, let alone a cup of double chocolate ice cream.

It's the best shot I could get of the vendor walking through the Apollo Victoria Theatre with a cooler strapped to his back and selling "Ice Cold Beer."

An ice cream saleswoman at the Victoria Palace Theatre, where we saw Billy Elliot.

(Incidentally, the ice cream I purchased was delicious, even though a few members of our party had a little trouble with the tiny spoons that came in the packaging).

However, the theaters aren't quite as full service as they could be, despite what the signs said.



The corresponding sign on the other side said "Gents' Toilets."



Why I suddenly love grocery shopping

If blackberries hadn't come into season before our departure date, I might have handcuffed myself to the Sainsbury’s produce counter to wait them out. That should give you an idea of how much I love British grocery stores. Or at least Sainsbury's

My very favorite Sainsbury's store, on Tottenham Court Road.

Rather than monstrous Wal-Mart type stores where you can shop in expansive warehouse-like buildings for groceries, pharmaceuticals, clothes, tires, garden tools, jewelry, toys (well, you get the idea), stores in London are focused strictly on food and are quite small. This is paradise for people who don't like to cook or even to spend much time in grocery stores feeling guilty about not being able to cook.

A modern Tesco out on the East End is much more like U.S. stores, spacious with a lot of options and departments.

Because so many people come into the city to work, Sainsbury's offers prepared lunches ready to go. Not the prepared sandwiches you may have had the misfortune to pick up at certain unnamed stores in the Midwest, but really good sandwiches -- like chicken fajita wraps or chicken and egg salad on whole wheat bread. Sainsbury's has a deal where you can pick up a sandwich or wrap, bottled beverage of up to 750 ml, and either chips or dried fruit for a mere £3. It is the grad student's best friend.

A variety of sandwiches and wraps in the £3 deal. Add chips or fruit and a drink and you're set.

The more upscale chain Marks & Spencer carries that over to dinner, where you came buy a prepared dinner for two -- with wine -- and take it away with you for £10. Many chains have small stores either in the subway stations or just outside them, making it very easy to do a small grocery run each day on your way home from work.

Marks & Spencer's Dinner for Two.

Wine for sale by the (plastic) glass at Marks & Spencer.

There is a definite emphasis on freshness here. In central London, eggs are not refrigerated and seem to be sold mostly in six packs. Almost all of them are labeled "free-range hen eggs," something we pay extra for in the States. Milk and bread are sold in smaller portions, too, requiring you to replenish more often.

Eggs. Not refrigerated.

The produce here is also phenomenal, as I alluded to above. I buy either strawberries or raspberries (or blackberries, now) almost daily. The strawberries are perfect -- all tiny and sweet. Most everything is British grown - or Scottish, as one particular lady noted to me in Sainsbury's one day. She was wearing a rain hat and carting a rolling suitcase for her grocery trip, and we were both practically salivating over the raspberries on display. 



My favorite snack, while the raspberries were in season.



A fellow fan of Scottish raspberries.

Besides freshness, Britons also are much more wary of preservatives than Americans are. Rarely do you find the unpronounceable lists that seem to accompany many of our foods. Dyes are extremely rare, so the color of certain things are different. This preservative fear means you are pretty much shopping organically without intending to do so.

Ryan drinking a soda from Pret, a local chain restaurant that promotes fresh foods and 'No nasties'.

There are more American-type stores the farther you get from central London. There are even a few in London itself. And I see the value in having them. But for my short time here, I very much enjoy my daily grocery trips in the tiny stores. Especially now that the blackberries are here.

Regarding Harry

It's hard to believe that I have been in London for three weeks and have written or edited nearly 40 blog entries without mentioning Harry Potter once.

It's probably because I'm trying not to focus on Harry too much, seeing as I haven't watched the last movie yet. Mostly because I don't think Ryan has forgiven me yet for seeing Order of the Phoenix without him in 2007. So while my fellow classmates managed to sneak in a showing here in London, I've been holding out.

But there are lots of Harry Potter sites here to tide me over. While Ryan was here, we accidentally stumbled on the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premier in Trafalgar Square on July 7.  More accurately, I was seriously irritated by the line of people camped out for the 3,000 tickets to watch the stars and the premier.

The bulk of the crowd can't been seen in this shot, but I think they had already distributed the tickets by this point.

Not really sure why she was there then.

We saw the Great Hall at Christ Church in Oxford that served as the inspiration for Hogwarts' dining hall. The movie scenes weren't actually filmed in the hall because the logistics wouldn't work. So the filmmakers created a set to use instead. You can definitely see similarities though.

The Great Hall at Christ Church.

Hogwarts' Great Hall as seen in The Chamber of Secrets. Photo courtesy of All Movie Photo.com 

The staircase at Christ Church also plays a role in the movies. Or more accurately, the landing you can't really see very well in my picture. Can anybody pinpoint the scene?

Staircase to the Great Hall at Christ Church in Oxford.

Also at Oxford, the Bodleian Library's Divinity School was a setting for two completely different scenes in HP movies. It was fitted as both the infirmary -- which made multiple appearances due to our brave trio's many brushes with death -- and as the location for Ron's dancing lesson in Goblet of Fire.

The Divinity School at the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

Ron and Professor McGonagall in The Goblet of Fire.
Photo by Murray Close, courtesy of All Movie Photo.com

St. Paul's Cathedral doesn't allow pictures, but this geometric staircase was featured in The Prisoner of Azkaban. What purpose did it serve?

Photo of St. Paul's geometric staircase courtesy of the BBC.

Australia House serves as a stand-in for a very important place in the last film and a couple of others. Amusing anecdote alert: a group of us got lost one day and came across this building and, oddly, we all felt like we recognized it. A tour guide told us why a few days later -- we had all seen its digital duplicate. Do you know what it is?

Australia House. Photo courtesy of Paul in London via Flickr.

On the way to the Globe Theatre, we walked across the Millennium Bridge. You may remember it as the bridge that the Death Eaters snap at the opening of The Half-Blood Prince movie.


 Scene featuring the Millennium Bridge in the Half-Blood Prince. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Millennium Bridge looking much less ominous
after we safely crossed it.

On Thursday, we visited the King's Cross St. Pancras tube station. It houses the "entrance" to Platform 9 3/4,  ready and waiting for tourist photos. Like mine.

The platform was recently moved from its rightful spot between platforms 9 and 10 to outside the tube station. It might be because of construction, or it might be because of the sheer annoyance of dealing with people like me.

People waiting for their turn to take a photo at Platform 9 3/4.

So there's a quick tour of Harry Potter's Britain. The sites are so popular that there are several tours devoted to them exclusively. You can Google "Harry Potter tours" to find out more.

Digital story: The city that reads

You see readers everywhere in London. My digital story looks at how prevalent books are in London culture.

References

Bowker. (2010, April 14). Bowker reports traditional U.S. book production flat in 2009. Bowker.com. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.bowker.com/index.php/press-releases-2010/616-bowker-reports-traditional-us-book-production-flat-in-2009

Brown, M. (2009, September 19). Charles Dickens bust at Mary Ward House. Flickr. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/3934121575/

Central Intelligence Agency. (2011, July 5). United Kingdom. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html

Central Intelligence Agency. (2011, July 12). United States. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

Jones, D. (2011, January 28). Site of bookshop where George Orwell used to work, Hampstead. Flickr. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgjones/376403748/

Nielsen Company. (2010, January 26). Even more books published in 2009. Nielsen Book. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from
http://www.nielsenbook.co.uk/uploads/press/NielsenBook_BookProductionFigures3_Jan2010.pdf

Palisade Dance [Recorded by Sid Phillips & His Orchestra]. (1937). On Palisade dance. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.archive.org/details/SidPhillipsOrchestra-01-03

Robinson, L. (2007, March 24). Masses of humanity, Embankment. Flickr. Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortalcoil/432564517/

Transport facts. (n.d.). London Councils. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/londonfacts/keyfacts/transportfacts.htm

Four other views of London

Our videos were due on Monday, and my flatmates did some great work that I thought I'd share.

Eliza's video:



Theresa's video:




Kalyca's video:




Elena's video:

Sitting by The Serpentine in Hyde Park

The Royal Parks here are quite beautiful, and I have managed to spend a great deal of time in them so far. Over the weekend, I even spent a little time in one of the deck chairs along The Serpentine in Hyde Park. You can learn more about my adventure by watching my first video.



Special thanks to Anne Lyng for being my videographer.

References:

Hyde Park facilities. (2011). The Royal Parks. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde_park/facilities.cfm

View available parks. (2011). Parkdeckchairs London. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from http://www.parkdeckchairs.co.uk/

Documenting life in the city

On Monday we visited the Museum of London, which featured a thought-provoking exhibit on street photography in the city from the 1860s to the present.

Street photographers have met some resistance in London ever since the July 7, 2005 bombings, in part because of fears about national security. (Which is odd considering that CCTV is everywhere in London -- it's predicted that there is one camera for every 14 people). Not to mention that our society is more protective of our children than any previous generation; one veteran photographer predicts this will be the least photographed generation of children in at least 150 years.

As a bit of guerrilla street photographer myself these last few weeks, I really appreciated what the photographers were trying to accomplish and how difficult it can be to accurately capture city life. No photos were allowed in the exhibit, but I'll post a few of my favorites from the catalog here:

• Feeding the Pigeons in Trafalgar Square by Henry Grant (circa 1950-1959).
• General Perspective of Picadilly Circus: 19th Century by Charles A. Wilson (circa 1889-1891).
• Fog at Cambridge Circus by Wolfgang Suschitzky (1935)
• Street Market by Corry Bevington (1960)
• A man walking with umbrella in New Oxford Street by David Gibson (2008)
• Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster by John Thomson (1877)

And my absolute, No. 1 favorite:


Big Ben by Steven McLaren (2007).
Photo courtesy of the Museum of London.

If you want to know more, there's an interesting article about the exhibit from Phaidon.

My lesson in kite flying

Ryan was absolutely great when I told him that I wanted to do this study abroad program in London for three weeks. He didn't blink when I told him the cost of the program and airfare. Or when I told him I wanted to put the two classes toward a second master's degree.

My kite.

And then he saw that I needed to purchase a kite for a class outing at Primrose Hill, the site of the famous kite flying scene in Mary Poppins. Ever since, he has told anyone that has asked about our trip that I was going to London to be taught how to fly a kite.

So I am happy to report to Ryan that I believe I passed kite flying on Wednesday. My kite caught a breeze on the first attempt and it stayed up for a good 10 minutes. I even managed to take a couple of good photos at the same time. It was a lot of fun to take part in, even if we were viewed as crazy Americans (especially after the group sing-a-long of "Let's Go Fly a Kite!").

Besides serving as an ideal spot for kite flying, Primrose Hill offers a beautiful view of the London skyline and a perfect spot for lunch after spending the morning in nearby Regent's Park with its beautiful gardens. And now I'm blogging about the experience, so Ryan can see exactly what else I'm learning (which today, incidentally, was how to use the foilage setting on my camera).

Live from Abbey Road: Why am I here?

Many people who know me are aware that my parents forgot to teach me about the Beatles. (Sorry Mom and Dad, but it's true.*) Ryan himself witnessed a particularly nasty incident in which I mixed up the Beatles and Bon Jovi. So Abbey Road didn't really resonate with me, as you can probably tell by my annoyed expression in the photos below. But I know enough fans that I thought I'd post a slideshow from our visit on Wednesday.




To see just how far my ignorance goes, notice that I forgot to take a shot of the Abbey Road sign. I grabbed this one by diluvienne from Flickr:

Abbey Road sign. Photo by diluvienne.

*My father did attempt to correct this oversight in my early 20s after the Bon Jovi incident, giving me the complete Beatles anthology. I am now able to correctly identify a handful of Beatles songs. (As well as a few Bon Jovi ones for altogether separate reasons.)

Going behind the scenes at the 2012 London Olympics

The 2012 Olympic Games will be London's third time as host of the summer sports extravaganza, but it will be the city's first chance to truly wow the rest of the world. Their two previous Games were both hasty affairs by necessity -- in 1908, London agreed to take on the Games after the planned host, Rome, had to pull out because Mount Vesuvius erupted, and in 1948, the city was still scrambling to recover from World War II.

Logo courtesy of the London 2012 website. It was not universally liked over here. 

London was awarded these games in July 2005, and spent two years planning before any demolition or construction was done. The organizers used that time to figure out how to truly benefit London and Britain both during and after the Games, with some impressive results.

The start of the Orbit Tower, which will be 459 feet high, next to the aquatic venue.

The Olympic Park is located in London's East End, a former industrial center that was heavily bombed during the war. The area never really recovered, suffering from poverty and dereliction for decades. In fact, the five boroughs that border the Olympic Park have been some of the poorest in the United Kingdom.

 

The Three Mill area in London's East End relect the area's industrial past. Only two of the mills that provided the name remain.

 



Abandoned warehouses and grafitti-marked buildings can still be seen near the Olympic Park, though it is expected that the land will be sold or refurbished in the coming months.

But the Games offered London a chance to change that. Millions of pounds have been poured into revitalizing the area. Some of the improvements that have been made:

• Waterways that were severely contaminated with oil, petrol, arsenic and other toxins have been cleaned.
• More than 1.4 million tons of soil were washed
• Local ecosystems were rebalanced and wildlife is returning
• Transportation facilities and options have been upgraded
• More than 400 apprenticeships were awarded to neighborhood workers, giving them skills and a trade that they can pursue after the Games.

East End waterways were cleaned up. Shopping carts, tires and occasionally entire cars were removed.

The organizers were also very focused on making these improvements while keeping the environmental impact minimal. More than 50 percent of construction materials were transported by water and more than 90 percent of the building materials were reused or reclaimed. In fact, the white piping used for the Olympic Stadium was purchased for another project and never used, so it was re-purposed for this one.

The Olympic Stadium. The field is sunken below the ground, which should reduce wind and make the facility more friendly to record-setting performances in the track and field events next year.

And London has specific plans about what will be done with the Olympic Park and venues after the Games to ensure that the facilities don't go to waste:

• The Olympic Park will be turned into a 500-acre urban park, the largest to be built in Europe in more than 150 years.
• The Olympic Village where the athletes will be staying will be converted into more than 2,000 homes.
• The athletic facilities will be downsized and adapted for use by local clubs and communities.
• Bridges will be reduced to half their size to match predicted traffic needs.

Playing ping-poing at one of the parks being renovated near the Olympic Park.

I've tried to resist sounding too much like a tour book on this blog so far, but I really have to emphasize how fantastic it was to have Sean as our Blue Badge tour guide; otherwise the magnitude of what the Games mean to London and specificially the East End would have been lost on us. Rick Steves himself benefited from Sean's expertise -- you can see Sean in the 2011 London guide.

Photo from Rick Steves' 2011 London guide.

If you are planning a trip to London in the next year, you should definitely consider hiring a guide and visiting the Olympic Park to see it for yourself.