West End (Part IV)

Hear them up in Soho Square, dropping H’s everywhere!

So sang the famous Professor Higgens in My Fair Lady. I heard a lot of people in Soho Square but not many were dropping H’s. Most were speaking French. But I did hear a bit of American-English. Silly place.

The statue is Charles II. Not sure what he’s famous for (I should know I’m sure), but he apparently built Soho Square. If you look closely you’ll see a pigeon on his head, and he’s covered in, uh, whitewash.

For my dear brother, I took a photo of this theatre (not cinema) that I had absolutely no desire to visit. But I did get a pretty good laugh out of the theatre façade.

And here you can make out The Queen’s Theatre advertising their production of Les Miserables, which has been showing non-stop on West End for over 20 years.

At the risk of making many of my friends jealous unto sin, I will eagerly share that I did in fact go to see the evening production of Les Miz. It was the most amazing theatrical production I have ever seen, though that’s only because I had bad seats when I went to see Beauty and the Beast in Kansas City back in 2003. Now I want to read the book in its original French. If you’re not familiar with the story, you should be. Go out and listen to the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre version of it, the musical CD, or just read the book. Don't watch the movie with Liam Neeson. Somehow this story captures the reality of the human life on so many levels. The opposing character’s of Jean Valjean and Javert represent humanity’s two possible responses to the Grace extended to us. An excellent spiritual allegory that deserves not only a blog post but several books expounding on the gems of the story. Maybe I’ll do that sometime (the blog post, not the books).

Around the Old City (Part III)

After the Queen’s Mews, I had all afternoon to continue exploring London.

Below is Big Ben (again, sorry about the angle thing. I’m going to fix these before I print them). Off to the left you can see the top of the London Eye. I wanted to go up it, but there was a three-hour wait, and it cost something like £40 ($80), so I didn’t. London is an expensive city.

Sadly, Parliament wasn’t open yet (again, I was ten days too early), but here’s some photos of the outside:

That statue is Oliver Cromwell. Okay, not him really but his image.

And Westminster Abbey, which I also didn’t go into because the wait was over an hour and cost around £16 ($32). I did go into Saint Margaret’s Chapel, which is, I think, the official Parliamentary chapel. It was really cool but there was a sign saying “no photos”. I was the only one who obeyed the sign.

After not visiting the Eye of London, Parliament, or Westminster Abbey, I decided to have a snack and sit by the River Thames. Beautiful. This is actually right behind Parliament and part of the park I was in is fenced off as the private gardens for MPs. But the public can still see in! Unfortunately Parliament was already dismissed, so there wasn’t anyone wandering about.

After walking around a bit longer in the government area of the city, I decided to head to the West End. I was almost immediately accosted by a beggar around my age saying he hadn’t eaten in three days and couldn’t I please give him some money? I told him flat out no but that I would buy him fish and chips if he would show me a good place to get them myself. He agreed but the whole way there kept badgering me to just give him some money. I remained firm and refused. He finally admitted he didn’t really want food. I offered to buy him a drink, and he accepted that proposition by getting two. As he finished them, he promptly threw the cans on the ground. I was a bit shocked. And he kept asking me to just give him some money. Finally it came out that he wanted to hire a prostitute, to which I said that this was exactly why I wouldn’t give him my money. He wasn’t very happy with that but did show me a great place for fish & chips and a nice cup of tea!

The Queen’s Mews (Part II)

Sadly Buckingham Palace wasn’t open yet for guests. I was ten days too early. Depressing, I know, but I survived through tears and howls of anguish. What was even more depressing is that they were going to be hosting an exhibition on state banquets as a temporary exhibit. I would have enjoyed that. A lot. Oh well. I’m sure one day I’ll get to attend a real one with the Queen present! J (Bonus Points to whoever can identify the second tense used in my third sentence of this paragraph).

After a quick photo-prohibited tour of the Queen’s Gallery (a selection of paintings, furniture, jewels, etc. from the Queen’s personal collection), I went for a relaxing tour of the Queen’s Mews (stables). I was blown away by how many coaches the Queen has and the history and purpose of each.

I can’t honestly remember which this one was. There were several very similar: the Irish Coach, the Scottish Coach, the Australian Coach, the Glass Coach, and Queen Alexandra’s State Coach to name a few. Each had interesting bits about it. One of them is the Queen’s favorite because it has electric heating and cooling. Interesting for a horse-drawn carriage, eh? The Australian one was a gift from Her Majesty’s realm of Australia on occasion of her 50th anniversary on the Throne (I think). However, the Queen didn’t want Australian citizens to have to pay for it through taxes, so it was completely funded by donations.

I also found out why Wales is never represented on the flag, crest, or any other object of the United Kingdom, but England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland always are: Wales is a principality, not a kingdom, and therefore isn’t afforded equal status as the three kingdoms. Interesting to me since Wales now has its own Parliament and is, arguably, freer (more free?) than England within the United Kingdom (England still falls solely under British Parliament, with representatives from all four countries voting on issues that only affect England while each of the other entities has a local Parliament). British politics are interesting. And somewhat sad.

But onto the rest of the Mews! Here’s a royal carriage for young princes and/or princesses. It has been pulled by goats, sheep, donkeys, big dogs, and finally ponies.

Here’s the front picture of the huge State Coach used only at coronations or, sometimes, weddings. The Queen did use it on her Golden Jubilee as well, but that was the first time it had been used since her ascension to the Throne. Before I forget, the woman in the front was our charming tour guide. She has a beautiful accent and seemed to know everything about the royal family. Sadly, she had to deal with some spoiled Yankee brats in our tour. I wanted to ask their parents to PLEASE get them under control but, alas, I did not.

And here’s the side view. One of the British kings created this coach to rival Louis XIV of France, so that’s why it looks as if it belongs in Versailles rather than Buckingham.

The Greek god of the sea shows British navel superiority. All of the weapons illustrated have been broken to signify the end of one of the conflicts with France. I think it was the War of the Roses, but I’m not sure.

In case you were wondering, the wheels are, in fact, slanted; it is no fault of the picture-taker. This apparently relieves pressure on the axles so the wheels don’t snap under the several tons of weight. This coach is by far the heaviest in the Mews (probably the world) and has to have a team of eight horses to pull it!

There are only five cars in the Queen’s employ. Queen Victoria famously asked the Keeper of the Mews to please never allow those “horrible machines” into the royal stables. It didn’t quite turn out as she would have wanted; her son immediately added one or two for his use upon his mother’s death.

So that’s the Queen’s Mews.

Arrival in London (Part I)

First I must apologize for not getting these photos up sooner. Life gets busy in those changing times of life, which, for me, seem to come at least every three months. After my tour to London, I found myself in a shocking shortage of time. I needed to get packed up (which proved to be a lot more complicated than I thought), finish up project at work (which took more time than I usually spent at work), and say goodbye to many dear friends I had made in Brussels. Bright and early the next Saturday morning, only seven days after being in the same station on my way to London, I found myself leaving Brussels for France. Sadly, when I arrived in France I couldn’t get my wireless card to read the wifi signals in my hotel and other places. I felt like launching it out the window but resisted the urge. I am now writing this entry and saving it to my hard drive in hopes that someday soon I can post it on my blog. If you’re reading it, then I have probably done just that (or you’ve hacked into my computer to which I would have to say, “shame on you”). Anyway, the commencement of my exciting four days in London!

My train left Brussels at 6:50 in the morning on Saturday, July 19, 2008. I arrived in London at 7:53. Quick train, one might think, and it indeed was. But it wasn’t quite that fast. There is a one-hour time set back between Brussels and London that one has to remember, so really the train ride was two hours. Still pretty fast if you ask me.

I arrived just as the Old City was beginning to wake up. The perfect time, really. After a quick breakfast at the McDonald’s right across from the train station, I set off. It took me fully 2 hours to get my coordination, eat breakfast, purchase bus and metro passes, and arrive on Constitution Hill. Here she is:

Strange, I thought, since the United Kingdom doesn’t have a written constitution, to have, as the connection between Parliament and the Royal Palace, a monument called Constitution Hill. My apologies for the picture. My camera takes photos slightly angled (or I’m crooked myself, who knows?).

Next I walked up the path through the beautiful St. James Park toward Buckingham Palace. Below is my first glimpse of my first recognizable landmark in England!

Here are some “bobbies” guarding her Majesty’s palace from all manner of evil: terrorist, vandals, thieves, and, of course, the French:

And a Royal Guard.

As you can tell, it there weren’t any guards in the fuzzy hats doing the guarding. Not sure why not, but there you have it. I was back in front of the palace again at 11:30, but the Changing of the Guard was canceled because it rained a bit. I was disappointed, but there were so many people I don’t think I would have been able to see it anyway. And I’m not big on hanging around in large gatherings of people. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate people? I hate people. I love persons, but people are generally loud, rude, uncouth, and uncaring to an individual. Below is a picture facing the opposite direction of the palace, toward St. James Garden and a big monument that I should know the name of but don’t. As you can tell, there are still enough tourists.

More Wifi Problems

If you have been reading my blog since the beginning of my time in Brussels, you'll remember that I had tons of problems with my wifi connection in Brussels. I finally got it to work but now it will not work down here in beautiful southern France. I must admit I'm irritated; what's the point of technology when it does not work. And I lugged my computer all the way down here for nothing. Oh well. So I will post my London Adventures soon enough. I warn my readers that I have not been idle; I have already written about eight blog entries. Once I finally have access again on my computer, I shall post them all as. But that may not be until I get back to the States, in which case the number will at least double if not triple. You don't have to read them all in one sitting, but be forwarned that the most recent will appear at the top, so you will have to scroll down to read the entries from the beginning.