Irene's Adventures

Canada - New Brunswick

irenecabay — Sat, 18 May 2019 08:57:00 GMT

I woke up early to hit the road on my way to Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. It was pouring rain with a bit of fog. I still made good time to cross back over the Confederation Bridge. I pulled in to Cape Jourimain Nature Centre on the New Brunswick side of the bridge to snap a few photos of the underside of the bridge arches. The Nature Centre museum, restaurant, and gift shop were closed, but the bathrooms were still open. The bathrooms were very unique. There was no flushing. A fan sucked air downward into the pit where “it” was broken down by earthworms, bacteria, and insects. Disease organisms die and the rich humus is recycled as fertilizer. Urine entering the toilet system is transformed as it moves through the compost pile so that by the time it reaches the removal area it is stable and odourless. Vents allowed carbon dioxide and odours to escape. The sinks used rainwater and not well water. The used water is collected and cleaned then returned to nature.

I carried on to Hopewell Rocks to witness the tide rising in the Bay of Fundy. The average tidal range worldwide is about 1 metre. In the Bay of Fundy, it is 14 metres (46 feet) and will cover a horizontal length of two football fields. Tides can be higher, depending on the position of the sun, moon, and atmospheric conditions. Super moons can cause the tide to rise another metre. 160 billion tons of water move into the bay twice a day. There are about six hours and 13 minutes between each high and low tide. The reason the tides are so much higher here is because of an unusual combination of factors: resonance and the shape of the bay.

The water in the Bay of Fundy has a natural resonance or rocking motion. Compare this with water sloshing from one end of a bathtub to the other. It takes this bathtub 13 hours to rock back and forth. Just as a gentle push can keep a child on a swing going high, the same idea is in place to keep the water sloshing back and forth here. The sun and the moon push and pull thereby gently keeping the rocking motion. Secondly, the bay's shape and bottom topography are factors. The bay becomes narrower and shallower -from 130 metres to 40 metres) toward the upper bay, forcing the water higher up the shores. The tides start rising slowly but speed up until they are about half way in. At their fastest, the tide can rise straight upward at a rate of 4 metres (13 feet) per hour at Hopewell Rocks. Although I did not see it, I was told that the tide can push the rivers backwards and the water can begin to whirl around, as you would see at the drain hole of a sink or bathtub.

I arrived at Hopewell Rocks at 10:00 AM and decided to take the small tram to the entrance to the Rocks, hoping to still make it to the ocean floor before the cut off time. Also, it was only 6 degrees Celsius, with wind and rain. I didn't feel like walking the 15 minutes. According to the sign, I was already a half hour past the cutoff. The guard cautioned me to pay attention to the security people at the bottom and let me pass. I descended the huge staircase on the “DOWN” side. With 225,000 visitors a year, these designated up and down staircases help ease congestion during the busy summer months.

The water was already touching the huge rock formations. It had already risen by 8.5 metres (28 feet).

Canada - Prince Edward Island

irenecabay — Fri, 17 May 2019 07:11:00 GMT

The countryside was very nice. It was a combination of highway 63, with forest on both sides of the road, and the Rocky Mountain foothills, with its hiss and bends. It was a bit rainy, but not so bad that I could not take in the beautiful views. There was a $4 toll along this route. The pavement was a sage green colour. There were lots of dead raccoon along the road. At first, I could not figure out what the animal was, but then I started noticing the ringed tails and a few little bandit faces.

I had to cross into New Brunswick a bit before coming to the Confederation Bridge taking me across to Prince Edward Island. The New Brunswick roads were definitely worse and the pavement was a brown colour. The soil was redder in colour as well.

I was so excited and somewhat nervous, to be crossing the 13 km bridge connecting New Brunswick with Prince Edward Island. The speed limit is a mere 80 km/hr. There were stop lights every so often, which I thought was very strange for a two-lane bridge. Why stop lights when there is only one way to go? It was explained to me later that there are cameras and sensors all along the bridge with someone monitoring the traffic speed and the wind speed all the time. If the winds pick up it can actually lift vehicles and potentially push them off the bridge deck. The traffic monitor then turns on the stop lights to force traffic to slow down. The cement railing along the bridge is really high, so I could not see the water I was crossing. The same fellow who explained the monitoring system also said although he would also like to see the water while crossing, he is very happy for the high sides when he can feel his car starting to lift – similar to hydroplaning on a wet road.

Immediately on the PEI side is the small town of Borden, with an information center. I pulled in and asked where the best spot was to get a picture of the bridge. The girl was super helpful. She pulled out a map, circled where we were and told me exactly how to get to an old church on a hill that had the best view. Then she recommended that I drive a certain route because that would take me through Kensington where there is an old train station (more on that later) as well as the best restaurant to have lunch. Perfect!

I drove to the old church and snapped a few pictures of the bridge. I then took the route she suggested. It was a good thing my navigation system was working now because there were dozens of turns. The roads were not very wide, like the typical country road, but they all had pavement. I drove past fields and fields of newly cultivated red soil. The fresh smell of the newly turned dirt was wonderful. The moist soil was the colour of brick. It was shockingly red. Some fields had small potato plants beginning to come up, which contrasted with the red soil. The potato plants looked greener and the soil looked even redder.

Originally, this island was part of the Mi'kma'ki nation. In 1604, the French claimed all of the Maritimes. French colonist arrived in 1720. By conquest, the British claimed all of the lands, including PEI in 1763. It became the British colony of St. John Island in 1769. Even though the Canadian Confederation talks were held in Charlottetown in 1864, the Islanders opted out of being part of Canada in 1867.

The PEI terrain may be good farmland, but it makes for a poor foundation for train tracks. Millions of tones of gravel had to be imported to make a proper roadbed. Even so, every spring the thaw made the rails buckle and heave. Every small town wanted the train to pass through their community. This was not a problem for the contractors as they were paid by the mile and the province failed to set a limit on the amount of track laid. Some towns won rights to the train legitimately, whereas others were not so ethical. The original plan was to have 192 km of line built. It grew to 236 km. This may not have been a problem in a flat province, but the Island's terrain prevented an economical straight line track. There was an average of two curves for every mile of track. There were 65 stations, one every 4 km, where the engineer was required to stop if someone was waiting. By 1873, with the job half done, the colony was on the verge of bankruptcy. Canada offered to complete the railway. On July 1, 1873, Prince Edward Island became Canada's 6^th province.

Five Lanes End was a small village where 5 roads met. With the railroad's plans to go through Five Lanes End, many train-less communities pulled up stake and moved to the newly named Kensington and turned it into a bit of a boom-town. In1873, the federal government found the original train station lacking a residence for the ticket agent and his family. 20 years later (the government didn't move fast then either) a new two-story depot was built. The current building is the third depot and was built out of field stones in 1904. The station was designated a National Historical site in 1978. The last train pulled into this station on 22 December 1989. It was used in the TV series Anne of Green Gables as the station where Marilla & Mathew Cuthbert met Anne Shirley.

I pulled into the quaint town Kensington and quickly found the old train station. It is a majestic building that looks solid enough to be a war bunker. I wandered up and down the old tracks reading about the history that I relayed above. The inside of the building had been converted into a charming little restaurant. This was where the girl at the information booth told me to eat. It was early for lunch so there were only a few people inside. The waitress let me sit where I wanted and recommended the lobster/crab burger. It was my first proper meal in the Atlantic Provinces, so I had to say Yes. She asked if I wanted fries with that. I asked if they were PEI potatoes. She said if they weren't they would be run out of town. I then asked why the entire town smells of french fries. She said it is because of the Cavendish Farms plant. They make french fries for all of the MacDonald's restaurants. She also said they were the largest factory on the island and the Island's largest employer. Well, that explained all of the potato farms I passed! The burger was more of a pulled lobster/crab, and not pressed like a hamburger. It was delicious! I was glad I came early because before I was finished eating the place filled up (including the back dining room) so that they were turning people away. I had to chuckle thinking that not so many years ago only the poor kids brought lobster sandwiches to school.- while I paid for my $23 lobster burger,

Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables, was raised by her maternal grandparents after the death of her mother when Lucy was not even 2 years old. Her grandparents ran the Cavendish Post Office and lived on site. She led a lonely life and was consoled by her imaginary friends, nature, reading books, and writing. She did not want the locals to know she had a dream of being a writer until she was a published author. While she worked as an assistant postmaster in her grandparent's post office, she secretly mailed her famous book to various publishers. After three years and my rejections, it was published in 1908.

Montgomery considered her own imaginary friends as “real folk”. This is probably why Anne Shirley is thought to be a real person by millions of people around the world. Montgomery even loaned some of her own imaginary friends to Anne. Katie Maurice was Montgomery's own reflection in the window of her Grandmother's china cabinet.

On my way to Cavendish, I came to Lucy Maud Montgomery's birthplace house. I pulled into a small parking lot of Montgomery's birthplace, but when I got to the house I found that it was closed for the season. I took some pictures of the exterior and carried on to Cavendish.

In Cavendish, I missed the turnoff into Green Gables and had to turn around in town. This worked out fine because I turned around at the Green Gables Post Office. I had wanted to stop here anyway. I had heard they have a special Green Gables cancellation stamp. I'm not sure how a Post Office can be closed for the season, but it was, so I never got to find out if the cancellation stamp story was true.

I made my way back to Green Gables. It was a rather cool day and early in the season, so there were not many people wandering about.

The main interpretive centre was, you guessed it, closed for the season. The iconic green gabled house was open for business, however. The house was furnished with period pieces of the late 1800s. The wallpaper in the entrance and main staircase had crazy bright flowers.

There was a laundry room just off the kitchen with its own door to the outside. There was a pantry for preparing the food and storing the good dishes. The kitchen had a New Waterloo No.2 stove. It is a 3 tiered cast wood stove, with a peep-a-boo oven where the stovepipe meets the stove. This is the stove that was mentioned in the Anne of Green Gables books.

Of course, there was a fancy dining room as well as a formal sitting room. Up the main staircase were three spacious bedrooms with soft coloured wallpaper. Each bedroom had a small dressing table with a pitcher and wash basin, a chair and a chamber pot under the bed. The knitting room had a spinning wheel and an umbrella swift, for balling the yarn. The maid's corner was at the top of the back stairs leading directly into the kitchen. You can't have the hired help using the main staircase! There was no wallpaper and only a bare window. It had a very lumpy looking bed. The back entrance had a fantastic old wooden screen door with decorative woodwork to hold the screen in place. It banged nicely when the spring pulled it shut and it reminded me of when I was a child. Montgomery's cousins lived in this house and she used it as the inspiration for the setting of Anne of Green Gables.

I took a walk through the Haunted Lane. It was a 1.1 kilometre smooth gravel trail that looped through a spruce grove. There were slopes and steps leading to wooden bridges “in ferny dells with brooks slipping through them”. There were benches and rest stops along the way. Montgomery imagined these woods to be full of mystery. In Montgomery' words “a place with winding paths and treasure-trove of ferns and mosses and wood-flowers”. Montgomery believed in fairies. “You always just miss them.... but their laughter floats back to you in sudden whisper of the wind and the puckish rustle of the aspen.” It was a very peaceful and magical stroll.

I then made my way to Avonlea Village. Only one gift shop was open. The rest of the Village was closed for the season. I found an open back gate and wandered around the deserted streets.

I then headed off to see the famous red Cavendish cliffs located in Prince Edward Island National Park. It was made into a park with thanks to Montgomery. After her book became world famous, people from all over began to flock to this area to see the place that inspired the story. The government was looking to create a National Park and this just lent itself to being the location. The park is 60 km long but only a few hundred metres wide, stretching along the coast. In places, it widens to a few kilometres wide. The park opened in 1937.

There was a huge parking area with a trail leading to an outlook stand. The cliffs were bright brick red and dropped about 4-5 metres to the crashing waves. There were signs cautioning visitors to stay off the cliff edges due to erosion. What looks like solid ground is actually an outcrop of land, held together by grassy roots, jutting precariously over the cliff. Many places had huge rocks that came loose from the edge of the cliffs and had tumbled down to the water. The entire island is made up of layered sandstone bedrock, which is rich in iron. As the bedrock crumbles and oxidizes it forms rust, which gives the rock and soil its distinctive reddish colour. Wind, waves, and ice are constantly shaping the soft sandstone, carving it into fascinating forms as it wears away at the coastline. The north shore of PEI erodes at an average of one metre per year. However, eventually, the eroded soil creates a sand bar, which slows the waves, which eventually causes a new beach. The grinding action removes the rust coating from the grains of sand, which reveals the white coloured sand, which forms the beaches and sand dunes. The contrast between the brick red cliffs and white sand is beautiful. Toss in a few bright green pine trees and it is an artist's delight.

There were signs near the sand dunes saying to stay off of them. Marram grass has vigorous roots but is fragile. Foot traffic can damage and kill the grass that binds the dunes together. The sand can then blow inland causing damage to property and crops. The pine trees that are the most exposed to the sea are bent at 45-degree angles. They stripped clean of any branches or needles on the seaward side of them, giving testament as to the power and force of the wind and sea spray. One farm was very close to the edge of the cliffs. I had to wonder if it was originally built further back, but years of erosion have moved the sea closer. The wind, sea spray, and sand must raise havoc with the buildings as well.

I headed to North Rustico a few short kilometres away to find my guesthouse. It was a beautiful old house that was built in 1840 by the original family now running the place. They added on to the house about four times as the family grew, with the newest addition of a sunroom only a few years ago.

While on the subject of houses, I find most the houses in the Maritime provinces to be very box-like with a distinct New England look. Most houses are two or even three storeys with either open or closed veranda.

Some houses are very grand while others are no bigger than a 2-storey holiday trailer. Some houses have dormers and some are just a box with absolutely no protrusions even over the front door. This harkens back to the original designs where tight compact houses could withstand the harsh winds and storms. The steep roofs with no overhang prevented snow build-up. However, most have contrasting trims around the windows and doors. There were huge wood piles beside the houses and I could smell the wood smoke coming out of the chimneys as I drove past. Most of the churches had very narrow and pointy steeples.

I ate at the recommended By the Bay restaurant where the portions were huge and the fish freshly caught that day. Then I headed to the old fishing village to get a picture of the old lighthouse.

Captain Emard Court used to be a living tourist attraction in North Rustico. He lived next to the old lighthouse. There were 5 Court brothers and a few Court sisters. The parents forbade the boys to get married. It was fine for the girls to get married and leave the family fishing business, but not the boys. I guess they never considered that a new wife could help expand the business. One brother ran off with a woman from the prairies, never to return. Another brother married after the parents died, but remained in North Rustico. The other 3 brothers remained bachelors. Emard became a tourist attraction when someone snapped his picture and entered it into a photography contest. The photo reached international acclaim and people started flocking to see this grizzled old seafarer. It helped that he was a treasure trove of stories. Although I can find nothing to substantiate this, I was told he was also the Old Spice man at one time.

I stopped on a dock lined with lobster boats. It smelled of fish but did not reek. I talked with a local man who told me that there were 40 boats here, each with 300 traps. Each trap will catch 2-3 lobster. He went on to say that it takes 18-24 months for a seed mussel to be harvested. It takes 3 years for a proper oyster. I guess I won't complain about the prices anymore.

Interesting notation: The traffic lights in PEI had the red one square, the yellow one diamond shape, and the green one a circle. No excuses even if you are colour blind.

I was in bed early so that I could be on the road at daybreak. I had a long drive to Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick to see the tide coming in on the Bay of Fundy.

Canada - The Maritimes - Shaky Start

irenecabay — Fri, 17 May 2019 07:10:00 GMT

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane in Halifax was the smell of the salt air. I got my rental car and headed off to my AirBnB in Grand Lake. I used my phone Google Maps to find it. The roads were very winding and hilly and it took me longer than the 12 minutes from the airport that they said it would The accommodations were very good and I was tired from a long day of travelling so I fell asleep quickly and slept hard. I woke up about 5:30 AM and decided to hit the road for the 3-hour drive to Prince Edward Island.

When I picked up the car I saw it had some kind of navigation system, but I was too tired to figure it out. Now that it was morning, so I thought I could sort it out. I had to download an App to talk to the car's system. OK, fine. But it wouldn't connect. Weird. OK, fine, I will just continue with my phone Maps. I got partway down the road when my GPS signal got lost. OH CRAP! I knew I was coming up on an important intersection and I had NO way of knowing which way to turn. I was panicking! Luckily, I saw a Tim Horton's just past the intersection so I decided to pull in there, have some breakfast, calm down, and sort everything out. Before entering the restaurant, I thought I would try connecting to the car's system again. My phone flickered then shut itself off. Not just the screen off, but shut OFF. I tried pushing the ON button. Nothing. I remembered this happened to me once before and I had to push and hold the on/off button and the volume down button simultaneously for several seconds. Nothing. Oh, double crap! Now I not only have no navigation system on the car, I have nothing! All my reservations were in the phone, all my Maps were downloaded (in case of bad GPS – I guess that didn't work so well for me), my flights were in my phone, my LIFE is in that phone! PANIC!!

I went into the restaurant and ordered breakfast. I needed to calm down and figure this out. I saw two middle-aged men sitting at a nearby table, both on their cell phones. It is amazing how brave one can be in a crisis situation. I went over, apologized for interrupting their coffee and asked (almost demanded) them to Google how to troubleshoot my phone. Jerry scooted over for me to sit down while Brian offered sympathy over my dilemma. Jerry Googled the problem. It said to push and hold the on/off button and the volume down button simultaneously for several seconds. I said I already tried that. Rather than simply handing the phone back and shooing me away, he took my phone in his left hand and continued to hold the buttons, while continuing to Google search with his right hand on his own phone. While he was doing his search they were both giving me very detailed instructions on how to get to PEI. They even told me where to find a Superstore in Truro, where I could buy a new phone, if necessary. After about 2 minutes of holding the buttons down, my phone vibrated to life! 2 minutes! That is a lot longer than the 10-15 seconds the troubleshooting recommended. I was so happy I hugged them both! They were a very good first impression on the friendliness I was to encounter on the rest of my trip. Thank you, Jerry and Brian.

I was in a much better mood. My stomach was full and my phone was working again. I got back in the car and decided to try again at syncing the phone App to the car. I uninstalled the first download, reinstalled it and Voila it connected. Maybe it just needed a reboot. Off I go. I now know which road to take, because of Brian and Jerry's earlier directions, but as I am turning I notice the car is not talking to me. The map is showing nicely, but no voice commands. Geez! That doesn't help much when navigating through a town. I can't keep looking down at the map! An hour and a half up the road, I had to stop for a bathroom break, so I took the opportunity to fiddle with the App more. In the end, I disconnected the Bluetooth and then it worked. And here I thought it was the Bluetooth that allowed the phone to talk to me through the car's nav system. (??) Whatever the issues were earlier, everything was now working perfectly and I was on my merry way. (It did stop working again a few days later. I stopped for a lunch break and when I got back to the car it was the same issue. I had to uninstall then reinstall everything again. But this time I was calmer.)

Mexico - Playa del Carmen

irenecabay — Sat, 2 Mar 2019 02:35:00 GMT

It had been a long, cold winter. The first snow was in September. February was the coldest in 40 years. We needed a reprieve so we went to Playa del Carmen for week. We had been to most of the tourist spots on previous trips, so decided to just chill (or get warm) on this trip.

We stayed at the same resort as a few years ago, the Reef Coco Beach. Last time we were there a hurricane had wiped out the beach and as a result the resort was nearly empty. The beach has been restored since then to a nice sandy paradise. Ed purchased the VIP package which gave us access to a private part of the beach complete with nicely padded lounge chairs. It also had its own private bar, which served much better mojitos that the pool side bar. They also had better scotch for Ed. He had taken a large thermos to keep drinks cold. He had had a few beers and then decided to switch to scotch later in the afternoon. He went into the bar, handed over his thermos and asked for a scotch. The bartender filled his thermos!! OMG! Needless to say, he was a bit more careful about asking for scotch after that.

We met a couple on the beach that were from Norway. Their names were (get this) Hans and Greta. Real life Hansel and Gretel! They were very interesting and we spent a lot of time chatting with them.

As we had no interest in sightseeing, we did wander down 5^th Avenida to check out the touristy shops. That said, the last time we wandered down 5^th Avenida it was nearly all touristy shops. However, since then, most of the junky shops have been replaced with up scale designer shops. We did buy and interesting silent wind chime that looks psychedelic as it twists in the breeze and a couple beaded hummingbirds for me to give as gifts to some of my friends – as well as one for myself.

I also went diving for 3 days with the Reef Marina. It is attached to the resort, so is VERY convenient. I dove with them before. They are very professional. I actually took a refresher course in the resort swimming pool, as it had been over two years since my last dive. The refresher was good and it made me very confident that I had not lost my skills. The first dive was near the beach and quite shallow. I don't know if it was because I had not dived in a couple of years, but I think that first day was the best.

There were some guys dressed up in Mayan costume and they pretended to “capture” me while Ed took a few pictures.

Further down, at the Parque Fundadores we saw the Portal Maya arch. It is a beautiful bronze sculpture of a man and woman clasping hands as their bodies form a 16 metre (52.5 foot) high arch.

Just as we were leaving there were 5 men getting ready to do the Danze de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers). They were dressed in white shirts and red trousers with wildly coloured headdresses, sashes and socks. They shimmied up the 30 metre high pole then tied a rope around their ankles. Then as the fifth man played flute the other four kind of fell backwards. Their combined weight causes the spooled rope to unwind as it slowly had them descend – head first and circling the pole. Apparently, there are 13 rotations per man, totalling 52, which all cleverly ties in with the Aztec calendar. The ritual dates back to ancient times and associated with rain and sun gods, as well as Spring Equinox. It is a Mesoamerican ceremony, not specifically Mayan or Aztec, but to the region of Central America. A hat was passed after the men safely landed on their feet.

We ate at the Italian, Mexican, and sushi a la cartes most nights. The Sushi restaurant put on a fabulous show of fancy knife work and flames. The food was good, but the entertainment was better. The Mexican restaurant had a wall of beautiful stained glass vases. The food was also tasty. The Italian restaurant seemed to have only pasta in various sauces. Their salad bar was excellent, though.

We came out of the restaurant one evening and saw a couple dining on the beach. I don't know how they managed that, but it looked very romantic.

The day we were to check out, we went back to our room in order to start packing up and by chance, the phone rang. It was the Sunwing rep telling us that our flight had been cancelled! According to him, the weather was bad in Edmonton and the airport was closed. (Later we found out that the turn around flight was delayed which prevented the airline staff from having their proper rest period between flights.) Since the Reef Coco Beach was full, we were being transferred to their sister hotel, The Reef 28. They taxied us over and set us up in a junior suite. It was gorgeous!

Although it had a rooftop pool, lounge and hot tubs, it was a block away from the beach. We walked down to the beach and found it so crowded that I am glad we did not stay there. As much as I am not a fan of all-inclusive resorts, if I am going to one I want it on the beach.

The dining room was amazing and only the salad and dessert bar was buffet. The other meals were off a menu. They were good, but I think I prefer variety.

Ed was thinking of booking us into that resort initially, as it was an adults only hotel. I talked him out of it saying that it was not old people staying there, but probably younger party people. It turned out I was right. The suite we were in was on the third floor, directly below the nightclub on the roof. Also, we were right beside the elevators and stairs. We hardly slept. All we could hear was the partying.

This did pose a bit of a problem because our shuttle was to pick us up at 1:40 AM. This was all confirmed that afternoon – the time and the change of hotels. I set my alarm AND asked for a wake-up call for 12:30 AM. I just happened to wake up at 12:25 so I shut my alarm off. The wake-up call never came. Good thing I set my alarm. We were downstairs early, as is our custom for things like this, and we waited and waited and waited. Finally, at 2:10 AM we decided we had best take the 50 minute taxi ride to the airport for our 5:00 AM flight.

The taxi driver gave us a receipt. Immediately after checking in we found a Sunwing rep and presented him with our taxi receipt. After much checking and a few phone calls he determined that we were not even on the list to be picked up. Much apologizing later, he assured us we would be reimbursed. (We did eventually get reimbursed.)

We headed to the boarding area only to find out our flight is now delayed until 6:30 AM. That's fine, it gives us time to eat something, except there is only a coffee and muffin place open at that time of the morning. The line up was over a half hour long. By the time I got to the front of the line, I noticed that a Starbucks was now open. Well maybe they have more than sticky muffins, so I only bought some mixed nuts for the plane. I headed over to the Starbucks, where I found Ed already finishing his espresso. I bought a bagel and a coffee and more mixed nuts.

It was a rather boring trip, but well-needed rest and reprieve. And I even got a bit of a tan!!

London 2018

irenecabay — Sun, 9 Sep 2018 06:08:00 GMT

Greenwich

We took a day trip to Greenwich to see the Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory. On my last trip to Greenwich, I discovered the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, that links the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich. It was built to replace the unreliable ferry service that allowed workers to cross the Thames to their jobs on the docks and shipyards. We got off the tube at Island Gardens and walked the 370-meter tunnel to come out on the other side of the Thames and near the great cutter ship.

We took the tube from Greenwich back, though. We wandered quickly through the Cutty Sark, had a spot of tea and a biscuit in the cafe below her belly, then headed through the Old Royal Naval College grounds on our way to the Royal Observatory.

There were things that I wanted a closer inspection of at the Observatory; things that I did not give enough time to on my previous visit. On my last visit, the Red Time Ball was being repaired. This time, we were there to watch its climb to the top of the shaft, then drop suddenly at precisely 1:00 pm. It was rather anticlimactic, but it was still wonderful to see an event that has occurred every day (except when being repaired) since 1833 to help mariners synchronize their clocks – a vital key to their navigation.

To read about my previous trip click the link:

https://adventures.worldnomads.com/members/articles/edit.aspx?i=149122

Ed did not seem too interested in exploring the Observatory further, so we headed back down the Greenwich Park hill to have a snack at the Greenwich Tavern. From there we went to the Maritime Museum. We did not have a lot of time, as it was getting late in the day. We did see enough to whet our desire to come back the next day.

Outside the Museum, along the perimeter of the grounds, sit numerous anchors. I never really thought about how big and heavy an anchor must be in order to hold a huge ship fast. I stood beside a 4 tonnes, 14 x 9.75 foot anchor – it made me look pretty small. There was also a cutter-head dredger that weighed 11 tonnes!

Outside the museum doors is a huge ship in a bottle. It is a 1:30 replica of Horatio Nelson's flagship, HMS 'Victory”, on which he died during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Its details include 80 guns and 37 sails set, as on the day of battle. Inside the museum, we saw the uniform Nelson was wearing when the fatal musket ball hit his left shoulder. The bullet hole remains.

Other interesting features of the museum took us through the history of tea and pepper. For instance, in 1677 over 8 million pounds of pepper was imported. In 1801, 31.5 million pounds of tea was imported. In 1833, the government collected 22.7 million pounds (1.8 billion today) in taxes. The East India Trading Company controlled half a million square miles of territory in India and ruled around 93.7 million people. Lots of facts and figures, but it tells the story of how greed and power brought about wars and slavery.

Britain wanted Chinese tea, porcelain and silk. The Chinese wanted silver, but nothing else the British had for trade. Huge amounts of silver were leaving Britain. To get their silver back, the British started buying Indian opium and selling it illegally in China, but only accepting silver as payment. By 1839, opium sales to China were paying for the entire tea trade. The resulting widespread addiction to the Chinese population was causing serious social and economic problems. That same spring the Chinese government confiscated and destroyed 1400 tons of the drug that were warehoused by British merchants. The merchants were pissed!

Diplomatic relations were already strained because the British thought the Chinese were uncooperative with allowing them only one port, Canton, to be used by western merchants. The war was on! The Chinese finally signed an agreement on 18 January 1841 by which Hong Kong became a British territory. But that was not good enough, the British wanted compensation for the opium confiscated (really??) and the costs of the war, the opening of further ports to international trade and the establishment of diplomatic relations. After more fighting, the war finally ended in August 1842. A treaty was signed allowing the British to “carry on their mercantile transactions with whatever persons they please”. It also committed the Chinese to free trade, including the trade in opium. More ports were available to all traders and the Chinese paid for reparations.

The slave trade was just as bad. This is a brief history of the Triangular Trade Route. Ships would go to Africa, grab a bunch of slaves, take them to America where they would be sold to work on sugar, coffee, tobacco and cotton plantations. The cheap goods were shipped to Britain where they were sold in order to pay for the voyage back to Africa. By the 1820's eight million Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas. In the same period, only 2.5 million Europeans crossed the Atlantic. So if you don't like all the black people in America, blame your plantation owning great-grandpa and his European sugar-crazy relatives.

That said, many Britons were against slavery. They protested not only by signing petitions – with the greatest number of names on one particular subject – with over 400,000 names, but they also abstained from eating sugar. At a time when women had no vote, their kitchen and culinary non-voices played a huge part in the protest.

There were lots of whimsical facts at the museum, as well. For instance, sailors had no formal uniform prior to 1857. However, they wore distinctive loose trousers, checkered shirts, neckerchiefs, waistcoats, and jackets. This doesn't sound too distinctive, except for the fact that most men in Britain wore breeches and stockings at that time. Sailors did not wear shoes on board the ship. However, they did keep fashionable clothing, including shoes, to wear ashore to make an impression.

The regular sailor may not have had shoes for everyday use, but one particular Admiral Rodney had his image sculpted onto the lip of a jug. Now that is egotistical!

The Queen's House

The Queen's House is joined to the Maritime Museum by a long covered colonnade.

The Queen's House was commissioned in 1616 by King James I as an apology gift to his Queen, Anne of Denmark, for swearing at her when she accidentally killed one of his hounds during a hunt. And we think flowers and a night out is a good apology! The work began the following year, but poor Queen Anne died in 1619 and did not see the apology gift to fruition. Henrietta Maria, queen consort of King Charles I, saw to its completion in 1636. Royal families used the house until 1805 when George III granted the House to a charity for orphans of seamen and was used as a school used until 1933. It was then taken over by the National Maritime Museum. Today it is famous for its art collections – most famously Elizabeth I's Armada Portrait, which commemorates the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. It was the most famous conflict of her reign.

It is a simple looking building, however, due to its position, it speaks of majesty. From the southern side, a grand balcony overlooks Greenwich Park. On the northern side, a wide fine gravelled path, lined with twisted boxwood, leads up to the double curved stairs framing the visitor entry door. The colonnades seem to frame the building, giving the impression of leading to the Queen's House rather than away from it.

Entering the building, it seemed rather drab. We walked through a side alcove that gave a short video history on the design and the architect, Inigo Jones. From that small room, we climbed some stairs and were gob-smacked to see the Great Hall.

It is a perfect cube in shape and has a striking black and white marble floor in a geometric pattern. There are absolutely no wall hangings, thereby drawing the attention strictly to the floor. Once we got past the floor design, we saw the first-floor gallery above us. Further up, the ceiling of the Hall has a square within a square (like a lopsided tic-tac-toe board) with a huge circle filling the middle square and four smaller circles filling the corner squares. From the floor, it looked like exposed wooden beams in a nice pattern and rather plain, but up close it was anything but plain.

The wooden beams were carved into an almost herringbone pattern and completely covered in gold leaf. Each space within the herringbone had a small rose carved. At the crossbeams, larger roses were carved. The ceiling itself looked like it was covered in a whimsical wallpaper. In fact, it was hand drawn and each whimsical wisp was gold leaf, as well. The walls were painted in the same pattern. From far away, it was not even noticeable, but up close it was gorgeous.

Huge windows overlooked the Thames. Queen Mary had asked that the Royal Naval College did not block her view of the Thames, and the request was granted when Sir Christopher Wren designed the College buildings. The promenade between the buildings now frames the view.

Just off from the Great Hall were the famous Tulip Stairs. Looking up, the delicate spiral staircase seemed to draw us up into the sky through the circular glass window in the ceiling. This is the first unsupported spiral staircase in Britain. Each tread is cantilevered from the wall and supported by the stair below. The ornate wrought iron is formed into tulips (but more likely lilies – the royal flower of France and a nod to Henrietta Maria) and is painted smalt blue. It was striking against the stark white walls and steps.

The remaining rooms were filled with beautiful works of art. There were paintings, sculptures, pottery, and relics of everyday items. One such item was the Chatelaine. Every lady in waiting was an expert in needlework and this utility belt also doubled as a fashion accessory. It was a handy, yet ornate, chain belt that held a thimble holder, pin cushion, potpourri (they rarely bathed) and scissors.

Some of the sculptures were made of wood and others terracotta. The details were so intricate that the lace on Sir Walter Raleigh's picadil looked like someone had spray painted actual lace. The paintings were just as realistic. The painting of Philip II of Spain looked like actual brocade was glued onto the picture. Not all of the works of art were old, there were modern pieces as well.

The rooms, themselves, were works of art. Some ceilings had beams that were painted a vivid blue and decorated in gold leaf. Fireplaces had ornate figurines accentuating the mantle and side posts.

On the tube back, we took a detour to see the Emirates Air Line Cable Car.

Emirates Air Line Cable Car

Getting off the tube we made our way through a park and some suspended water noodles to find the Greenwich Peninsula Station.

The Emirates Air Line is a gondola cable car that crosses the Thames. It is part of London Transport and used as a commuter vehicle as well as a tourist attraction for a unique view of London. It is one kilometre long and stands at a height of 90 metres. It opened in July 2012, in time for the Olympics, at a cost of 60 million pounds ($104 million CDN) – up from the initial budget of 25 million pounds. Emirates stepped in to help with the cost in exchange for branding the cable car with the airline's name. There 34 gondolas in use at any one time and there is a crossing every 15 seconds. It can move 2500 passengers an hour in each direction. It takes 5 minutes to cross during rush hour and a leisurely 10 minutes in the off-peak times.

After paying our 8 pounds 40, and handed an “in-flight guide” we were instructed to enter the glass capsule as it made its way around. It was similar to getting on a ski-lift but slower. Once the capsule left the boarding area it sped up. There was commentary playing that complimented the guide as to points of interest as well as a brief talk on the gondola itself.

It was a spectacular ride and I was turning this way and that trying to take it all in. We had an incredible view of the London skyline and the snake-like curves of the River Thames. It was interesting to see the busy streets and trains from this high vantage point. It was also impossible to hide the decrepit old dock areas. Because of its close proximity, the O2 stuck out like a giant mushroom. There were sites that piqued our interest for future viewing and other things that we knew nothing about – like the Thames Barrier.

The Thames Barrier is a 520 metre barrier that keeps London from flooding. 10 gates hold back exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving in from the North Sea. Six large gates (weighing 3300 tons each) rise from the river and 4 smaller gates live above the water until needed. The gates are hollow and filled with water when in use. The gates work in pairs, starting from the outside and working in, so as to work in harmony with the flow of the river. If closed all together it would cause a rebound wave back up the river. Nothing is left to chance. If the computer fails, each gate has its own override. If that fails, good old manpower can move the gates. Also, even though there are two arms to move each gate, each arm is strong enough to raise and lower the gate on its own. The entire system can be up in 90 minutes. However, in an emergency, they can be up in 15 minutes. It has been operating since 1982 and has been used 183 times, an average of 5 times a year. Rising sea levels could push that up to 30 times a year. How did I not know about this??

We saw London City Airport that looks like a rectangular island in the middle of the river. We saw old Lyle Golden Syrup Factory and found out they give tours (something to consider on a future visit). Tate and Lyle have been making sugar products for 140 years – which puts them back into the slave days.

Across from the old Royal Victoria Docks were old brick warehouses, with huge silent cranes standing before them. I believe these warehouses have been converted to homes and businesses.

After we looped back to our starting point we disembarked and had a look through the Emirates Aviation Experience. Sticking out of the building was a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 Engine, which is much larger than I expected. Inside the building, the outer shell was stripped away and we could see the working guts of the engine itself. Considering the amount of time I spend on an airplane, I had to be impressed that this is what propels me up and through the air safely. I didn't understand the technology, but I certainly appreciate it!

There was also a flight deck simulator, where we could sit in a pilots chair and be mind-boggled at all the switches, dials and information screens. The buttons and switches completely covered the area in front of the seats and swept all the way over onto the roof above the seat. I could not help but think of our friend Bill, who flies for Air Canada. He actually KNOWS what everything is for.

There was a short video that took us through the life of our suitcase from the moment it disappeared on the conveyor belt to the moment we would collect it at our destination. There are 17,000 meters (17 kilometres) of conveyor belt in the airport. If we check in early, our bag goes to a holding conveyor, 46 kilometres long, that loops at 27 kph, constantly passing a scanner to read the bar code that indicates our destination. At a certain time prior to departure, the system automatically grabs our bag and sends it to the departure gate. Our bag is typically 2.5 kilometres away from your plane when we drop it off at the check-in counter. Upon landing, the bag goes directly to the claims belt and is only 1.4 kilometres long. This is with Emirates Airline, but the system is basically the same in every airport. The bigger the airport, the longer the system, which begs to ask, Why does it take so long for our luggage to arrive when we land in tiny YEG (Edmonton)?

The Air Line ride was interesting and informative. The Aviation Experience was very interesting and very informative. I recommend them both.

Bus Tour

Although I had been on the double-decker bus tour years ago, Ed had never been; so we decided to do the tourist thing and hop aboard. It was a different tour than what I had taken, and sometimes that is a good thing. I got to see some things that I had not seen before. The tour guide seemed to have her standard script, so when we got stuck in traffic she had nothing extra to say about things around us, or interesting stories about the history of London, in general, to keep us occupied and engaged.

However, I did learn that the famous red telephone booths are made of cast iron and that Monument Tube station is named after The Monument that commemorates the great fire of London.

We made a huge loop of London and went past the major sights – Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster, Parliament, (Big Ben was behind scaffolding), St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, where we got off. Some other sights included the Dunamis sculpture in Park Lane, the Wellington Arch, RAF Bomber Memorial, the Ritz Hotel, the mounted guards, and 17 Fleet Street, a house that survived the 1666 fire.

We took a few pictures in front of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial before heading through Green Park to find the Hard Rock Cafe we had passed earlier on.

Ed had his heart set on a Hard Rock t-shirt. This is the original Hard Rock Cafe and had lots and lots of memorabilia from artists like Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend and Elton John. Surprisingly, Ed did not want to have lunch at the cafe, which I thought would be amazing.

I walked to the nearby RAF Bomber Command Memorial. It is a relatively new memorial, unveiled in 2012 to commemorate the 125,000 men who served in Bomber Command. Bomber Command was formed in 1936 and played a critical role in WWII. Nearly half the men, who were really only teenagers, lost their lives. Their sacrifice contributed to the victorious outcome of WWII.

It is a stark marble-like two-walled structure, with white pillars on the other two sides. Inside stand seven bronze statues of bomber soldiers depicting various roles – pilot, 3 gunners, navigator, radio operator and engineer. It was quite moving, with their sombre faces looking down at me.

Walking back to the Hard Rock Cafe, I had to pass through a tunnel to cross the street. On the walls of the tunnel were inscriptions on the history of various landmarks in that area. For example, the name Piccadilly derives from the early 17th century “picadils”, the large lace collar that was in vogue at the time. The area was home to noblemen and businessmen. Legend had it was named Piccadilly because of a landowner who made a fortune selling picadils.

After the Bus Tour, we made our way to the Adelphi Theatre to see Kinky Boots. It opened in September 2015 and this was its final year. It is a whimsical musical about a struggling shoemaker who befriends a flamboyant drag queen who complains that fetish footwear is made for women and not men. The struggling shoemaker takes a last-ditch attempt at saving his business by catering to the unique drag queen market. I'm not sure Ed cared for it, but I loved it.

The next day we went to Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge

On 30 June 1894 Tower Bridge opened, over budget but at no cost to the taxpayer. How was this possible? The answer lies in a mysterious symbol that you'll notice appearing everywhere - on the tablets proclaiming the opening of the Bridge, on its flags, and often combined with the crest of the City of London Corporation. The symbol of the mysterious organization belongs to the Bridge House Estates. Part of the City of London but unknown to many, it has existed over many hundreds of years, long before the Tower Bridge was even imagined, silently working in the background.

Construction of London Bridge began in 1176 and was completed 33 years late, in 1209. In 1282, forward-thinking King Edward I (1239-1307) issued a Royal Charter that established the Bridge House Estates to care for the management, prepare for the inevitable maintenance and repairs, and set up financing for the possible rebuilding of London Bridge.

The Bridge House Estates original income was from taxes and bridge tolls on London Bridge as well as any fees and penalties paid by the vessels crossing under its arches and the drawbridge in the middle. It also benefited from bequests and the rent from the houses and businesses that stood on it.

The Bridge House Estates employed clerks, workmen and builders, supervised by the Bridgemaster. These workers could also be hired out by other businesses. Over the centuries it became very rich by investing its money wisely, mostly into property.

The Bridge House Mark (or Bridge Mark) has been the symbol of the Bridge House Estates for centuries. Its origins are hidden in the mists of time, but the mark first appears scribbled onto maps and plans in the 1500's. The symbol might have its origin with illiterate masons and carpenters marking materials reserved for the repairs of London Bridge with a few strokes of an axe or knife. Other theories link it to the ancient Chi Rho symbol of the early Christian church and the Roman Empire. Whatever its origins, William Leybourn, Surveyor of the City, gave the mark its final shape in the late 1600's.

One bridge became many and by the 19th century, the Bridge House Estates was in charge of London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Southwark Bridge and from 1886 the Tower Bridge. In 2002 it added the Millennium Footbridge to its portfolio.

The Bridge House Estates still exists as a trust and is administered by the City of London Corporation today. It is responsible for the Barbican Arts Centre, the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey and several green spaces including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest. Its administrative heart beats in Guildhall near Cheapside, the traditional centre of London.

Six City of London committees and sub-committees look after different areas of responsibility of the Bridge House Estates, guaranteeing the survival of its ancient role: Upkeep and maintenance of the four city bridges, operation of Tower Bridge, management of tourist and events elements of Tower Bridge, management of its assets worth 1.34 Billion pounds (thank you, King Edward I), costs, resources and business planning, and grantmaking.

The Bridge House Estates has a long tradition of supporting good causes. In 1995, in view of the surplus built up over the centuries, the City of London decided to establish the City Bridge Trust, which has become the largest independent giver of grants in the Greater London area. It provides around 20 million pounds every year for charitable activities supporting the most vulnerable in society.

The activities supported by City Bridge Trust include money for environmental initiatives, making buildings fully accessible, encouraging volunteering, services for older people, and work with the homeless. The Trust makes grants of various types and sized helping thousand of Londoners every year. Every single ticket sold at Tower Bridge helps to fund these activities.

We took the lift up and walked across the glass-floored walkway then descended on the other side. From there we walked to the opposite bank and entered the museum that showed us exactly how the bridge raises and lowers.

Technology has replaced men shovelling coal to keep the water heated to maintain the steam used to move the pistons.

30 people used to be employed in the engine room every day of the year. It once took 80 men wearing different hats to distinguish their position to maintain and lower the bridge, now it takes 12 with no distinguishing hats. The steam pump engines had 384 valves that had to be constantly monitored. The whole room would smell like sweet oil, which was much preferable to the boiler room that smelled of coal. The bridge used to be raised 20-30 a day, now it is raised only 20-30 times a week. Hand powered levers are no longer used, it is a joystick.

It takes 20,000 litres of paint to cover it. During WWII it was painted battleship grey to disguise it. Although the nearby Tower of London was it 15 times during the Blitz, Tower Bridge was not hit once.

Tower Bridge's Bascule Chambers were built as an operational area to allow for the movement of the Bridge's huge 422 ton counterweights used during Bridge Lifts, this cavernous brick-lined, subterranean space is normally out of bounds for everyday visitors. But, on rare occasions, this space is opened up for public use and provides a spectacular venue of acoustical delight for special events. People sit on the gigantic gear cogs. I mention this because the Bascule Chambers were hosting an event while we were in London this time. Alas, tickets were sold out months ago.

Flower Market

We all hopped on a bus one Sunday morning and headed to the Flower Market on Columbia Road. The Market started in 1869 as a covered food market boasting 400 stalls. It had a roller-coaster existence but has settled into the Sunday Flower Market hosting about 50 vendors. The second and third generation vendors begin setting up as early as 4:00 am for the 8:00-3:00 hours.

We walked past a few pubs and beautiful wall murals and entered Columbia Road. OMG! The people! It was a normal narrow street, lined on both sides by flower vendors. There were thousands of people. We had to squish past and through people, at times not even being able to raise our arms – which is really difficult when trying to take pictures. I was fearful for the grandchildren. How easy it would have been to become separated from them and they would have been completely lost in the crowd. I told Julian to hang onto me and NOT let go. Whenever I could not feel his tugging hand, I quickly looked down to see him looking terrified of the masses. Len finally boosted him up onto his shoulders. Michaela had taken Freya and waited for us at the end of the street with Ed.

Being fearful for the little ones aside, I loved, loved, loved it! There were flowers in every colour of the rainbow and of every variety. I took loads of pictures to add to my virtual flower garden. The vendors were yelling their prices out in strong Cockney accents, reminding me of the One Pound Fish Man. “3 for 5 pounds! Only 5 quid! Bring some home for the Misses.” I bought a bundle of sunflowers for 4 pounds. I think he was trying to sell off his flowers before the Market ended and he was stuck with them.

At the end of the street, there were buskers playing a washboard, french horn, guitar, and base. They were very lively playing and singing. We stood, watched, listened and danced a bit. I bought a CD. Walking away from the Market, we passed Ravenscroft Park, where a young man was playing very calming techno music. I bought a CD from him as well.

We were not sure if some street signs were gags or for real, but one official looking sign said “Crack Pickup Point” and another said “Give way to Oncoming drug dealers”. Very odd.

A bit of trivia: There is a 2015 movie called Legend about twin gangsters, Ronald and Reginald Kray. The Kray brothers lived near the Columbia Flower Market. In the movie, one of the brothers buys flowers for his girlfriend, which we assume was from the Flower Market. This fits right in with us seeing Bobbies interrogating pickpockets at the Market. With so many people squashed together and always being jostled about, it is pickpocket heaven.

Another bit of trivia: How did Bobbies get their name? Sir Robert Peel (1778-1850) created a police force that was accountable to and protected the common citizen from robbers and thieves. It was hugely successful and the officers were nicknamed after their founder Bobbie (Robert) Peel. For a time they were called Peelers. We know why that name didn't stick!

Leaving the Market we began to head toward home. This time we walked, as the weather had turned lovely and warm. The kids got tired and hungry so we stopped at a small restaurant, the didn't have the greatest of food, but they did have a large fish tank which kept the kids entertained while we waited.

From there we walked over some Canals and made our way to Victoria Park. There we found another market. This one was selling food items where we bought some olives and honey. Further along in the Park, we came to an ice cream truck. There were many, many ice cream trucks in the park, but this one was really clean – which they normally are not. Len felt compelled to compliment the man on his clean truck. He thanked Len then offered the kids a free cone. Well, how can you say no to the kids after they heard that! In the end, the man gave us each a cone then posed for a perfect ice cream man picture.

We came to a playground (there are many within the Park) that had a water feature. Kids could pump water from an old fashioned pump jack and control how it flowed by adjusting flaps in the pipes leading away from the pump. From there, the water flowed into a small creek that joined up with a larger creek that ran from a small pond. The kids stripped off their coats, then shirts, and began to play in the water. Eventually, Freya was down to just her knickers. People in the UK are not as paranoid as North American's. No one seemed to notice our little girl running around in just her underpants because their kid was also running around in underpants.

After the kids were tired of playing, we had some drinks and something to eat in the courtyard of People's Park Tavern before heading home in an Uber.

Kew Gardens

I wanted to go to the Kew Gardens but Ed isn't as interested flowers as I am, and he gets tired of waiting for me to take hundreds of pictures of flowers, so I went alone.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a botanical garden in southwest London that houses the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological (study of fungi) collections in the world.” It houses more than 30,000 different kinds of plants. The herbarium contains over seven million preserved plant specimens, collected over 170 years, from around the world. It is a World Heritage Site and is one of London's top tourist attractions.

Royal residences began in 1299. Around 1600 the land around was known as Kew Field. Later into the 1600's Lord Capel John of Tewkesbury extended an existing exotic garden. Future royals expanded and added to the gardens and also built several garden structures, including the Chinese Pagoda. It now covers 132 hectares (330 acres). It is also very instrumental in preserving rare and threatened varieties of plants as well as assisting in forensic cases where plant material is evidence in criminal cases.

It is not just a big park with lots of flowers, there are four Grade 1 listed buildings (buildings of outstanding merit where every effort should be taken to preserve them) and 36 Grade 3 buildings (buildings of some merit where some effort should be taken). It is also located in an internationally significant landscape as a Grade 1 site.

Getting off the tube, I basically followed the crowd past some quaint shops, through a residential area and easily found the Kew Gardens. I qualified for their senior's discount (woo-hoo), took my map of the grounds and entered.

The massive grounds with little paths leading this way and that was not what I was expecting. After wandering a bit, I spotted the Palm House down a path. It is massive! It looked like a glass submarine sitting on top of the ground and surrounded by beautiful lawns and shrubs. It is a long domed structure with a bigger dome rising up and out from the mid-section. I had to stop for a quick look at some of the roses in the garden surrounding it.

Inside, my glasses instantly steamed up from the rain forest climate. The air was humid and almost hurt my lungs to breathe. There was a constant dripping of moisture from the leaves and from the glass ceiling 19 metres (62 feet) above. There were birds chirping also. I was in heaven! I wandered up and down the long aisles of trees, shrubs, and flowers. I stopped to read as much as I could about the various plants, learning about their uses for furniture, medicine, and other things, like shellac. I learned about the scarcity of some plants, the longevity of others, and efforts taken to preserve and protect them. Some trees have become cultural symbols.

There is a huge Jurassic cycad, a type of palm, that is the oldest plant in Kew Gardens. It arrived in 1775 and has been in the Palm House since it was built in 1848. Slowly growing at only 2.5 cm per year, it is a healthy 4 metres long. I say long because it is rather flopped over and supported by stilts to carry its one-tonne weight!

There was a spiral staircase at either end of the highest dome.

I went up and was able to walk the circumference of the dome on a walkway. I was able to look down on the entire area. Amazingly, there were trees that were pushing against the ceiling. I also got a good view of the lake with the Botanical Restaurant across the way.

Exiting the Palm House I headed back toward the entrance, on a different path. I came across a small tour guided road train that takes people through the gardens. Realizing that I may not get to see everything by walking from place to place, I opted for the hop on hop off train ride. I got off at the Temperate House.

The Temperate House is the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure and is twice the size of the Palm House. It is surrounded by huge trees which disguises its size. It also looks more distinguished than the Palm House. Whereas the Palm House looked like a beached submarine, the Temperate House looked like a glass palace.

It contains plants and trees from all the temperate regions of the world, including the most rare and threatened. It plays a key role in safeguarding them. I was in flower heaven! There are over 1500 species of plants from five continents and 16 islands. It was just being restocked after massive reparations to the building, and therefore was not as crowded as the Palm House. It was airy and spacious. It felt like I was walking in an outdoor garden and I just wanted to swing my arms out and dance like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.

I took a quick lunch break at the rest area behind the House then walked to the nearby Chinese Pagoda.

The Chinese Pagoda was erected in 1762 by Sir William Chambers as a gift to Princess Augusta. It can be seen towering above the treetops from nearly every part of the Gardens. It is a 10-storey octagonal tower standing at almost 50 metres. Each level is 30 cm narrower than the one below. In true Chinese fashion, each storey finishes with a projecting roof and covered with ceramic tiles. Every roof has a dragon sitting one of the eight corners, making a total of 80 wooden dragons brightly covered in gold gilt and shiny paint.

It was possible to go up the 253 steps for a bird's eye view of the grounds, but I opted not to. Instead, I got back on the train and enjoyed the leisurely ride through the redwood grove, past the water lily pond, past Queen Charlotte's Cottage, past the Treetop Walkway, through the oak collection, and magnolias until I got off at the Orangery deli. Now you may be wondering why I skipped past so much. Basically, I knew I was going to run out of time and I really wanted to check out Kew Palace. Knowing what I know now, I could plan many, many trips back to Kew Gardens and see something different every time.

Kew Palace was built in 1631, atop the under-croft of an earlier building. Most of the original building has not survived. All that is left is the Dutch House. It was a retreat home for King George III and his family. Inside were many old pictures and some artifacts from that time period, particularly items belonging to Queen Charlotte. After she died in her bedroom there, The Palace fell out of favour with the Royal family. It was not a huge Palace and took less than an hour to walk through.

Behind the house was a small but beautiful leisure garden with statues, fountains, and square cut shrubs. It was lovely to walk through. Alongside the garden was a trellised walkway that hinted at various herbs and other plants that were grown there for culinary and medicinal purposes, rather than their beauty. “They were used in cooking to mask the flavour of tainted meat and strewn either fresh or dry in houses to sweeten the atmosphere in an age when hygiene and cleanliness were not considered important.” Quoted from a plaque on the Queen's Garden wall.

Nearby was the Queen's Kitchen. I had to walk down a narrow, bush lined path that took me to a small house with a little garden in front.

This was where the actual vegetables were grown and the food was prepared for the Royals. It was common for the food preparation to be in a different building or certainly in a discrete part of the Palace so as not to disturb the Royal Family or their guests. I was very fortunate that an era attired guide was about to give a talk and tour of the kitchen.

The cooking area of the building was in the basement. This and the high ceilings kept it cool. Large windows could also be opened if necessary. Even with these efforts, it must have been terribly hot working in the kitchen. The oven was a massive affair with the ability to have five spits going at once. The smaller cooking areas had the fire burning in a small oven directly below and resembled a barbecue. Everything was built of brick and once the bricks got hot they must have heated the area to be like a sauna.

Just off from the cooking area was a crockery storage room with various food items stored. Directly across was the Kings bath chamber. This may seem odd, but it was practical. There was an endless supply of hot water. If servants had to pack it to the Palace, it would have cooled considerably by the time they got it there. But considering bathing was actually considered unimportant, I doubt it was used a lot. Further along was a wine storage area – a true wine cellar.

I decided to make my way slowly back toward Victoria Gate, taking pictures of all the flowers along the way, when I came across the most unusual structure.

The Hive is 17 metres tall and is constructed from 170,000 aluminum parts and has1000 LED lights. It is a massive rendition of a beehive. The entire structure is triggered by real bee activity. There are vibration sensors on an actual beehive at Kew. The vibrations are sent in real time to The Hive. The lights go on and off according to the activity within the beehive. Signals from the real beehive trigger noise gates at particular thresholds, activating sounds from a pre-recorded library created when human musicians improvised to a live feed of beehive sounds in the key of C, the same key that bees buzz in. It sounds like a soft symphony.

In an area below the Hive were pillars where one can put a wooden stick in your teeth and press it to a sensor which converts the sounds of the real beehive to vibrations that travel directly to the skull. This is how bees communicate. There are about 20,000 bees at Kew.

I went inside the Hive and just sat on the floor and marvelled at the experience. The next time I go – and there will be a next time – I want to go in the evening so I can see the lights better.

At this point, I could not have been happier. I was fully prepared to leave Kew when I came upon the Princess of Wales Conservatory. This conservatory is low to the ground to get maximum use of the sun's energy. It has 10 computer controlled micro-climates. The cooler climates are situated on the outer edges of the building and the hotter, tropical areas are toward the middle, where the heat is conserved. Although I was getting tired, I could not resist one last chance at seeing more flowers. There was everything from cacti to water lilies and orchids to carnivorous plants. It was designed with lots of stairs taking me from one section to the next. By the time I finished walking through, I was truly tired and decided it was time to head home.

I will definitely return to Kew, to explore the areas I did not see and to re-explore some of the areas that I fell in love with. It is easy to see why this is one of London's most popular tourist spots.

Brighton

The day after I went to Kew Gardens we hopped a train to Brighton. I had been to Brighton previously but Ed had not. I remembered it to be a lovely beach town and thought it would be nice to go again.

We got off the train and made our way to the Brighton Pavillion, the seaside retreat for King George IV. It is a grand building that needs to be seen slowly to appreciate all the intricate details that Georgie Porgie put into it to impress everyone. I won't repeat the details here. To read about my previous triphttps://journals.worldnomads.com/irenecabay/story/128157/United-Kingdom/Brighton Needless to say, I was impressed all over again.

Ed wanted to head to the Pier. It was very windy and quite cold. Ed was very glad I encouraged him to wear a warm jacket, as I remembered it being cold from before. We walked to the end of the Pier, with hellacious waves crashing beneath us. We could feel the Pier vibrate from the crashes. The beaches were near empty.

Since it was chilly we headed to a pub for a beer. From there were wandered around The Lanes until we came to Druids Head Pub, built in 1510. I had eaten there before and we ate there again.

We popped into the Choccy Woccy Doodah chocolate shop to see their magnificent chocolate sculptures. They are much too beautiful to eat! But then again, they are chocolate....

We wandered a bit more then headed back toward the train station. We were somewhat early so decided to have an early dinner at a nearby pub. Down in the ladies bathroom was a very clever poster. It said if you are on a date and it isn't working out, if you feel you are not in a safe situation or feeling a bit weird “go to any of the staff and ask for 'Angela'. They will know you need some help getting out of your situation and will call you a taxi or help out discreetly, without too much fuss.” How bloody clever is that!! More public houses should have such a service – even in Canada.

The next day we had tickets to see Bat Out of Hell the Musical at the Dominion Theatre. It was all the great music of Meat Loaf – without his great voice – and Jim Steinman. It put all the songs together into a storyline about a girl who falls in love with a bad boy and her somewhat shady father disapproves. There was one scene, sung to Paradise by the Dashboard Light, that ended with the car falling into the orchestra pit (all planned). It was hilarious! The conductor comes out with his baton bent and looking like What the Hell Just Happened? All in all, it was a good performance – bearing in mind no one can sing like Meat Loaf, himself.

Mail Rail

Len told me about a Mail Museum that included an underground railway that was used to move the mail quickly between major postal stations. Wow! I had to check it out the Mail Rail.

Long before Mail Rail, the Victorians had an underground system that could help keep the post moving. Mail first travelled in a 40 mile network of pneumatic tubes about three metres below London's streets. Wheeled metal capsules with rubber air tight flaps carried the letters and parcels from Central Telegraph near St. Paul's Cathedral directly with Parliament, the Stock Exchange, and other important places. The cars ran along rails, propelled by air pressure created by a huge 6.4 metre (21 foot) steam-powered fan. A driver-less metal capsule carrying 35 bags of mail could make the short journey in one-minute travelling at 60 km/h (40 mph). The railway operated from 1863 until 1866 and then again between 1873 and 1874, but the tunnels were later abandoned.

“Not only have letters and parcels been transmitted, through the [pneumatic] tube but also a lady. ..... [She] shot the whole length of the tube, crinoline and all, without injury to person or petticoat.” - The London Journal, 1863

However, London's streets were so congested by 1909 that mail travelled at less than seven miles per hour. A new underground electric railway was proposed to speed up deliveries. Construction began in 1914. After wartime delays, the railway opened in 1927 and ran until 2003. The tunnels were 20 meters below ground and linked major sorting offices directly with mainline railway stations. Specially designed driver-less mail cars just over eight metres long with four containers, each with a capacity to hold about 15 bags of letters or six bags of parcels, ran at up to 30 miles per hour on a 0.6 metre (2 foot) gauge railway.

Mail Rail ran on 440 volts of direct current which was supplied by a third rail, To slow the 30 mph cars at stations, there was an incline and the power dropped to 150 volts. As the train accelerated down a slope away from the station, the power returned to 440 volts again. As many as 18 cars sped around the track at a time. Loading and unloading mailbags had to be done in double-quick time. If a faulty train wasn't moved within 5 minutes the whole system came to a grinding halt.

At its peak, the underground mail cars ran 22 hours a day and carried 4 million letters every day. A dedicated staff of over 200 people took enormous pride in the efficiency of the Mail Rail. They worked in shifts around the clock to keep the system running. From the postal staff to cleaners, railway workers to specialist engineers, the in-house team had every skill they needed. Engineers could build and maintain equipment and track, often with recycled parts, keeping the system running with remarkably few delays and derailments. There were very few repairs that technicians couldn't do on site. 180 mail cars ran on the Post Office railway over its working life.

Underground mail trains had no driver and operated automatically between stations. Postal workers were in charge of each train's route. Each station had its own switch frame in a cabin on the platform to change the points along the line and link up with neighbouring stations. As a precaution, trains only left the station when a postal worker pressed a button and the track ahead was clear. A red light, known as a cherry, showed other postal workers that this train was about to move on.

“In the busy period a train remains at the station for only one minute, and in this period the containers have to be withdrawn and the others for dispatch placed on the cars. Postmen also receive the mailbags from the chutes, conveyors and lifts, and divide the bags for dispatch by the train for their various destinations.... the work is extremely heavy, arduous and intense.... also the work is carried out under exceptional conditions, which vary from station to station and from one part of the station to another.... The physical discomfort is appreciable...” The Post, 2 July 1949

Workers were paid very well. Within a few months of starting, one worker was able to afford a new car.

To mark the railway's 60 anniversary, the underground postal railway celebrated with a new car design and colour, and the whole system was officially renamed, Mail Rail. Soon after, the railway was also computerized. A single control centre ran all the trains from an office nearby in Mount Pleasant, fitted with a bank of monitors, Mail Rail engineers maintained the computer system as well as the tracks and trains. But as fewer letters travelled via London sorting offices closed and centralized. Mail Rail eventually became uneconomical and in 2003 it ceased operations. There have been many ideas as to how to use the tunnel network - from a mushroom farm to an underground cycle superhighway.

Arriving at the Mail Rail location had me buying a ticket in the gift shop then heading directly downstairs to the actual Rail tunnel. I was directed to place any handbags or coats into a locker area then proceed to the Rail car. The Mail Rail cars were converted to tiny passenger cars covered with domed Plexiglas. I was glad I was alone. If there had been two of us our feet and knees placement would definitely have been an issue.

The little train made its way down a former mail track, stopping every now and then for a video history. It was cleverly done! The video projected onto the tunnel walls incorporated actual doors and platforms, making it look like ghosts still at work at their former jobs. In between the video stops, a commentator gave other historical facts. It was about a 10-15 minute ride that brought us full circle to our starting spot.

Exiting the Rail car, I proceeded to their small, but very informative interpretive centre. There were former mail cars, equipment, and lots of placards explaining the former guts and running of the system. There was a storage shelf that was left exactly as it was on the last day of work. It was eerie. There was everything from a shoe, to work notes, to tools – like they just stepped out for lunch, never to return. There was an interactive switching station where I could try my luck at moving the mail cars without delays or incident.

The most interesting to me was the Mail Train Car. The train didn't stop at every station to grab the mail. So how was it collected along thousands of miles of track from hundreds of small towns? Each small town had an apparatus hung along the tracks with a quick release clasp. Letters and parcels were placed in a thick leather pouch and hung out on the apparatus. As the train went zooming past, a bag catching net made of ropes, on the outside of the train, snatched the pouch. The pouch was then retrieved into the Mail Car to be sorted.

No wonder parcels were frequently damaged! They were smashed into the catching net by a train going full speed! Post Office regulations allowed people to send game in the post, including rabbits, as long as they had a neck label and “no liquid was likely to exude”. Remember, this was in the days before plastic. Yuk!

Inside the Mail Car, men would sort the letters into cubby holes according to their general destination. As the train neared a certain area, the letters in the cubby holes were sorted even further to their specific towns. As the train zoomed past that particular town, the leather pouch was tossed out to be used again for the next outgoing mail. It was a full time and stressful job. Obviously, smoking was strictly prohibited.

“We'd get flung around a lot and you were constantly bracing yourself against the lurching of the train. You got used to that, though you never actually liked it! You learned to work around each other, almost like a dance routine."

Postal Museum

After leaving the Rail Mail Museum, I headed across the street to the Postal Museum. This museum covered the history of mail in its entirety. It had a nice little cafe to warm myself on this rainy day, as well as a gift shop.

The very first post to be delivered in Britain was to King Henry VIII and only to Henry VIII. He wanted to keep a closer eye on his kingdom. Each town had to have three horses available for transporting royal letters, both coming and going. The stables used to keep the horses were called Posts, and the King appointed the Master of the Posts to run the system – hence our modern name.

As mail edged away from a Royal only luxury, it was a Post-Boy who delivered the mail. Usually about 14 years old, the post-delivery boy rode for miles on horseback braving robbers and bad weather. They would blow a post horn to let people know they were coming. Robberies were so prevalent, banknotes had serial numbers at both ends to be cut in half and each half sent separately through the post to foil the thieves.

Defend the mail at all costs. The orders for fighting pirates was as follows: “You must run where you can. You must fight when you must. When you can no longer run, and when you can fight no more you must sink the mail” Ships were attacked so often that there was a generous compensation scheme for death or injury – 8 pounds for a sailor's leg, 4 pounds for an eye.

One enterprising man set up the first Penny Post in London in 1680. The government shut him down as illegal. The government then promptly reopened the Post as part of their own service.

Queen Victoria introduced the Penny Black for everyone to enjoy the mail. With people moving hither and yon and wanting to keep in touch with family, the Penny Black helped increase the literacy rate by making it affordable to all.

Postal workers had to look smart when they knocked on the door to deliver the mail. As early as 1793, letter carriers in London received a free uniform with a bright red coat, blue waistcoat and top hat. The eye-catching colours also made it easier for bosses to spot any workers idling in the pub. In 1855, free trousers were included in the uniform. Uniforms were not provided to countryside letter carriers until 1872. The few women postal workers first had a uniform in 1894, with a skirt and waterproof cape.

The Post Office proved to be unknowingly instrumental in changing the culture again in the 20^th century. When WWI broke out in 1914, the Post Office was Britain's biggest employer. As men left to fight, tens of thousands of temporary female workers, who had never before worked outside the home, came in to keep the mail moving. Wartime saw a huge rise in letters, postcards, and parcels sent between the home front and loved ones abroad. To cope with the increase, the Post Office built the Home Depot, an enormous wooden temporary sorting office n Regent's Park. At its peak, it handled 12 million letters and a million parcels in a week. The Mail Rail had not been built yet to speed the process up.

At the outbreak of WWI 73,000 male postal workers signed up, some serving in the Post Office's own battalion, the Post Office Rifles, which was formed in 1868. They were engaged in some of the fiercest battles in France. They won 145 awards for gallantry and one Victoria Cross. Of 12,000 Post Office Rifles who went to war, 1800 were killed and over 4500 wounded. I guess there is a history to the term “going Postal.”

The Post Office first installed green roadside posting boxes in the Channel Islands in 1852. Proving successful, the tall, cast iron pillar boxes appeared all over the country. In the countryside, some people thought green pillar boxes were dreary and hard to see, so in 1874 red became the preferred colour. During WWII, pillar boxes were painted with white bands to avoid accidents during black-outs. Some even had their caps painted in a special gas detector paint, to help Air Raid Wardens detect gas during enemy raids.

Until 1965, most stamps still simply showed the monarch's portrait. Only 19 sets of commemorative picture stamps had ever been issued. In the late 1960s it was proposed to remove the Queen's portrait. Today, the larger format stamp, despite the design or image, still has a small silhouette of the Queen, and encourages much greater design freedom.

On display were stamp and coin proposals for uncrowned King Edward VIII and a rare pillar box. As I was taking a picture of the pillar box a lady told me that her small hometown still had one in use. Edward VIII abdicated 326 days into his reign. If pillar boxes bearing EVIIIR needed repairs, the letters were changed to GVIR – King George VI, his brother; our current Queen's father.

It was a very interesting tour of the history of something we took for granted for years. I never imagined what a dangerous job it was for those first letter carriers. Thieves, pirates, cold, wet, and hunger were part of the letter carrier's life. In 1816, a lion escaped from a travelling menagerie and attacked the mail coach horse! Today, with the popular use of electronic mail, the history of the mail service may soon be just that – history.

Rochester

On Sunday before we were to depart, Len suggested that we go to Rochester. He said he had seen the town through the train window on many occasions and it looked interesting. Good enough for me! We took the kids and off we went to Kent on that cold and rainy day.

Rochester has a very long history, with neolithic remains left by Celts, Romans and Saxons. In more recent history it saw the building of the current cathedral in 1080-1130. The Dioceses was founded in 604. The Castle was built in 1087-1089 (recent history is relative in the UK) The Castle, built on a high hill, was built to guard the river crossing. The Cathedral is directly behind it.

The town itself was old, old, old. There was a pub called The Deaf Cat. There were building with plaques dating from the 1500's. Interestingly, one building had a plaque commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of the French Hospital for the relief of poor French Protestant refugees. The French Protestant were refugees?? There was a stone horse watering trough in front of a Nail Salon. There were boot scrapers built into the wall on either side of the door of another building. So many practical, everyday things from another era. Julian and Freya had no concept of them.

They were hungry and cold, and tired (not really, but they complained enough that we relented). We took them to an old pub and had chips. We also hoped that the rain might also relent while we ate. It didn't.

We made our way to the Rochester Cathedral. We went in through a side door and discovered there was a mass in progress. We told the kids to talk in hushed voices and walk quietly. Although they did not understand the proceedings, they were quietly respectful and I was very proud of them for it. I didn't understand the special mass, myself. They had a blue sash coming down some steps from the altar, representing water. The parishioners were taking lighted candles to place on either side of the blue sash. One thing that stuck with me were transparent banners hanging from the arches. They were covered in poppies. We really felt like we were intruding so basically made our way to the front doors of the church and went to leave. However, a member of the church came up to the kids and gave them each a big sticker with a bird on it, that said Rochester Cathedral. They were tickled pink.

Directly across the street was the back side of the Castle. A doorway in the wall caught Julian's eye and he scampered off to check it out, only to find it was locked. On the way back he discovered some old tombstones. The kids did not seem bothered at all when we told them the dead people were buried under them.

We had to walk completely around the walls in order to gain entry to the Castle. As luck would have it we passed an ice cream stand. The kids immediately were hungry again. We bought them each an ice cream. We also passed a very crooked house. The top of the house was nearly touching the straight house next door. We wondered if it were falling over but then noticed that the windows were actually straight. Later, when we were heading back to the train, we specifically walked between it and the straight house to check it out closer. The door jam was crooked but the door was straight, making it sit lopsided in the jam. In the end, we really couldn't figure out if it was built that way, and if it was, why? And if not, how is it still standing? And being used as a shop?

We walked near the water's edge and saw where the bridge used to be. Then we walked along the vine-covered stone wall until we came to what is left of the Castle and bought our tickets to enter. Inside the Castle, we climbed lots of steps to various levels. Amazingly the kids didn't complain and were, in fact, quite eager to climb.

A personal note here: My grandchildren are growing up in a country that is filled to the brim with castles, cathedrals, historical artifacts, and history. To them, this was just another day out with Daddy and Grandma, whereas children from Canada would be gob-smacked. Yet, these two little ones are too young to appreciate they can see history by climbing old castle steps, whereas children in Canada can only read about it.

One level had a diorama of what the original Castle would have looked like. Also included was a brief history of the castle, the reigning Kings of the day, sieges and besiegers, and subsequent pleasure garden. We made our way to the very top of the 100 foot castle (that is 10 storeys!). The building was in incredible shape. It was not hard to envision someone replacing the timbers to support floors, put up a new roof and Bob's your Uncle, have a working castle again.

We met a man who was with his son and telling him amazing details about the Castle and history. We unashamedly eavesdropped and began to ask questions. He said he was raised in Rochester and used to come on school field trips here. That is why he knew so much. He pointed out areas that were breached in a siege and explained how the Castle defended itself. We were fortunate to run into him.

As we were heading back down to leave, our attention was drawn to some people down in a small room just off from the exit. What was this about? It was the Castle toilet. We couldn't figure out if there was a sort of plumbing system that dropped the waste down via gravity or if it was brought down in buckets. Either way, it was a fairly big space that definitely had to be cleaned out by hand by some poor bloke.

It was getting late, and it was time to head back to London.

London general

When we weren't being tourists, I was being Grandma and Mom. We coincided our visit with Len's birthday. It happened to be a warm sunny day so we had a Barbecue in the back yard.

I took the kids to the park a lot. Julian can ride a two-wheel bike with no stabilizers now. Freya can go unassisted on her scooter. Freya never gets tired of being pushed on the swing. My arms were ready to give out but she kept screaming for more and push higher. Julian rode his bike on the path circling the park. They both went on a zip line that had me laughing. They would jump on (with Mommy's help) at one end, glide to the end where it stopped so suddenly they would almost be jerked off the seat, then rebound to nearly halfway back. They would jump off and pull it to the start point to do it all over again.

Every day I would take them to their respective schools. I would drop Julian off at Barclay's school, then take Freya to Cornerstone Nursery. We would head out for the day and try to be back for me to pick the kids up again. First Julian, with salami and avocado sandwich in hand because he's starving. Then walk over to Freya's nursery and wait, while Julian ate his sandwich, for her class to let out. Once we crossed the two streets to get home, they would race each other to see who could get home faster. It was rather fair because Julian could run faster but Freya always had her scooter to keep up. On the days when we knew I wouldn't be back in time to pick them up, I always got scolded by them. “Why can't you pick us up!?”

The school is protected by a very high steel fence. It has a locked gate that is only open to drop kids off and pick them up. Many times I had to wait for someone to unlock the gate before I could enter. The playground is very small and has only 2 large oak trees with a bench encircling them. There is no grass and the kids play on a kind of rubberized area. It is rather sad, really. No wonder they love to go to the parks.

I let the kids play on my tablet and phone way too much. But isn't that a Grandma's prerogative? Especially when I only see them twice a year? They are growing so fast! As I mentioned, Julian doesn't need stabilizers on his bike anymore. How fast they are growing also hit home when I was taking them to school on the first day. We have to walk past Julian's friend's house. The friend joined us. On the corner of the street is a house with a fish pond in the front yard. Everyone stops to look at the fish, especially the kids. Julian's friend was all excited because they could see over the fence without having to be lifted up. They chatted about how they were big boys now and quite proud of themselves.

Len bought Julian a Labo game. It is part of the Switch computer game. It is all cardboard that has to be assembled into various interactive games. The assembly instructions are viewed on the Switch and easy enough for Julian to assemble himself with minimal help. Once put together, the Switch sits inside the cardboard assembly and creates a virtual reality game. The first assembled item was a toy bug that, through the vibrations of the Switch, actually moved and could be controlled by the other Switch. It had a small camera to see where you were going. Julian put it downstairs then went up to his bedroom to see how far the range was. Len happened to pick up the “bug” and Julian yelled to put it down. Len was asking how did Julian know he had picked it up. Julian was saying he could see him. Len was turning the bug this way and that and asking how. Julian kept yelling to put it down. It was funny.

Another game, that we all enjoyed, was a fishing game. One Switch was part of the fishing rod (all cardboard) and the other was the screen to see your hook in the “water” and the kinds of fish. The deeper you went the bigger the fish. When you caught a fish, the rod actually jerked and you could feel the fish on the line. There was a cardboard reel to wind to get the fish out of the water. IF you got the fish out of the water, it always smacked against the screen then gave you its weight, length and kind of fish. The bigger ones always got away and we could feel the line snap. Julian held the record at catching the biggest. (Beginners luck) It was incredibly realistic and we even played with it after the kids went to bed.

Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, very near where Len & Michaela live. The Alfred Hitchcock Hotel is a short walk away. The tube station has murals depicting various Hitchcock themes. Outside the tube station is a large wooden bird feeder with Hitchcock's picture over the trough. There are always dozens of pigeons fluttering about. A very clever depiction of The Birds.

We generally shop at Tesco for groceries. They have a big box of fruit with a sign that says “This fruit is free for kids to eat while you're shopping.” Nice!

There are lots of foxes in London. They have next to no fear of humans and can jump in and out of a high fenced yard like it was nothing. We saw them every day, sometimes just napping on the grass. One evening I spotted two of them on the neighbour's shed roof. They were sprawled out like they were taking in the last of the day's sun, like loungers on a beach. A few years ago, we got up in the morning to see five in the back yard. Cheeky buggers!

The one day that I went on my own to the Rail Mail, Ed went shopping on his own. He came across a guitar shop and went in. There were all kinds of beautiful guitars for sale, most worth tens of thousands of pounds. One guitar had a sign that said: “ASK”. OK, then.....

Alas, our time was up and we had to leave again. It hurts more every time when I have to leave. As I write this, my daughter, Sara, now lives in London, as well. All the more reason for me to visit more often.

USA - Richmond, VA

irenecabay — Fri, 8 Dec 2017 13:59:00 GMT

My cousin, Stacey Cabaj, was starring in Mary Poppins in Richmond, VA. Considering I had missed her starring in Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and South Pacific I really wanted to see her perform. We cashed in some Aeroplan miles and took the plunge.

We had a 9:25 flight from Edmonton to Calgary, then to Houston, and finally arriving in Richmond at 23:30. It was a long milk-run, but we had gotten a super deal - $334 for two return tickets. While in Edmonton the ticket agent asked for volunteers to check their carry-on luggage. We went up the agent, fully intending to check our only bags straight through to Richmond when my Spidey-sense said not to do it. We kept our luggage with us. Before we even left Edmonton Google was telling me our Calgary-Houston flight was delayed by one hour. When we landed in Calgary the delay had jumped to 2 hours. We had allowed 2 1/2 hours to change planes in Houston. This was not looking good. But then Google gave me a list of alternatives (I love Google) I went to the United Airline counter and asked if we could change to another flight to take us to Richmond. Yes, there was a plane leaving in one hour to Chicago, with a one-hour turnaround to Richmond. This option would get us to Richmond at 21:30. Sweet. If we had checked luggage we would not have been eligible. (Thank you Spidey-sense) When we landed in Chicago, Google – still thinking we were on the Houston flight – told me that the Houston-Richmond flight had been cancelled! (double thank you Spidey-sense and Google alternative flights) It was snowing hard all day in Richmond. When we approached, the captain said we would have to circle until they cleared the runway. We circled for 45 minutes before the captain said we would have to go to Dulles to refuel. The crew had no answers whether we could return to Richmond or have to overnight in Washington. While refuelling, it was announced that Richmond was open again. We finally landed at around midnight, but at least we didn't get stuck in Houston.

A cab to the Clarion Hotel cost $40. At the hotel we waited 15-20 minutes for a front desk clerk, only to be told there was no hot water. We were assured it would be operating by 9:00 the next morning. We flopped into bed and slept until 9:00. There was still not hot water. We complained to management and she gave us a comp night through Booking.com.

Because there was no hot water, the hotel restaurant did not open. We went across the street to Kitchen 64 and had a delicious and inexpensive breakfast. We happened to arrive during a rare snowstorm and freakish cold snap. The locals loved it, we sighed with resignation to our bad luck. Rather than our planned walking everywhere, we had to take Uber.

There were a couple of guides at the American Civil War Museum who were extremely knowledgeable and gave us a brief but detailed account of the Civil War. We went to the Tredegar Ironworks building first. Tredegar was the biggest iron-works in the Confederacy during the Civil War and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond its capital. It supplied half the artillery used by the Confederate Army as well as the iron plating for the ironclad warship, the CSS Virginia. Retreating Confederate troops were told to destroy anything that may be of value to the North, but the manager of Tredegar paid 50 armed guards to protect the facility. As a result, it survived and continued production until the mid-20^th century.

There were short films explaining the significance of Richmond's location, the role of Tredegar Ironworks, and about specific battles. Interestingly, most of the history of the Civil War was written by the Confederates, even though they lost. It is probably the only war documented by both sides and therefore not skewed.

There were War memorabilia on display. There was an army doctor's kit that contained mostly saws and knives.

There were freedom papers for a black man. A pair of sunglasses were on display (somehow that amazed me that there were sunglasses back then). An epaulette was made of tiny coils of fine metal wire. There was a picture of a man with his chin missing.

The Civil War Museum next door had 3 short films explaining why the war started, the Emancipation Proclamation, and 1863. Here's the quick explanation: The United States at the time was the 13 states on the east coast. The political power was in the North while the South was agribusiness, which relied on slave labour. The North was having trouble competing, they only had child and immigrant labour. They wanted to free the slaves, not because they were morally better, but because if the slaves were free then the Southerners would have to pay them and it would weaken their economic strength. Also, slave owners had 3/5 of a vote for every slave, therefore a lot of political clout. As well, the United States had just tripled in size through the Louisiana Purchase and ousting Mexico from Texas, New Mexico, California, and Arizona. This newly acquired land was up for grabs. If the Southerners grabbed it, they would wield the economic and political power. The Southern states wanted more autonomy from the Federal Government, seeking a European Union-like idea. The federal (Northern) government was trying to stay good terms with the British, who had already abolished slavery. This was a death knell to the cotton industry which was only viable only slave labour. The cotton gin could clean cotton as fast as it was picked. More slaves meant more cotton. Everything boiled down to the slave industry.

That night we went to the Virginia Repertory Theatre to see Stacey star in Mary Poppins. I cannot describe the emotions that I experienced seeing her come on stage. There she was, no longer the little girl I remembered. Here she was all grown up, the spotlight on her alone, and the audience going wild with cheers, whistles, and applause. I love live theatre, but this one will always and forever be the best for me. She is so talented! Her voice is clear, and strong and pitch perfect. It all seemed so effortless to her. She seemed merely to be speaking but in song. Were she to open up, in a bigger venue, I'm sure she would have blown us backward with the power she was withholding. She danced as easily as she walked. The entire show was amazing After the show the stage manager had us wait for Stacey to give us a short backstage tour.

I was amazed to discover that she had only 3 weeks to prepare. Her “flying” was accomplished by a strong man providing the counterbalance at the end of a rope. Talk about trust! The stagehands were shining flashlights into the tracks that allowed the props to be pulled on and off the set. Any debris could be potentially disastrous. Stacey said that sometimes the heel of her shoe gets stuck in the cracks as well. I never thought of that. That made her dancing even more impressive. The entire set was hand painted, even the “wallpaper” in the Bank's house. We were pleased to meet Andrea Rivette, who played Mrs. Banks. We agreed to meet for dinner on Monday and hugged goodbye for the evening.

On Sunday we went to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. It is an old house (not his house, but one reminiscent of the era) where we were shown his history. His father left his mother, an actress, with 3 kids. When she died shortly after, he was fostered by the wealthy Allan family. He took their surname as his middle name. He was a very bright child but liked to torment his sisters which possibly was an early sign of his love of terrorizing readers. Another building explained his early engagement, which her father sabotaged by withholding his letters the letters he sent her from college, was explained, and how they met again years later. His many books of poetry and stories were on display. Another building had more of his works on display and touched on his mysterious death. The last building had one entire display showing drawings, never published, of a certain artist's rendition of “The Raven”. They were too dark and sinister for the age to be used. Famous horror authors like Hitchcock and Steven King explained the influence Poe had on their writings.

There was a beautiful garden with a small, but lovely shrine in back. The shrine was basically a covered alcove with a seating area and a bust of Poe.

There were small nuances of Poe throughout the museum. There was a small spruce tree with a Raven puppet perched on top.

The light switches had a raven head on them.

One building had offices on the second floor with a sign saying not to go up. Of course, everyone looks anyway. They had a skeleton glaring down from the banister upstairs. Too funny! Ed bought a Raven t-shirt and I bought a Raven puppet.

We left the museum and walked past the Main Street Station building that is currently serviced by Amtrak. It is an attractive building built in 1901 that is almost buried in overpasses.

We went inside to have a look. Other than a huge statue of Neptune and a small art gallery, it was quite plain and somewhat disappointing compared to the exterior.

We found the First Freedom Center. The Declaration of Religious Freedom is the theme of this small museum. There was a 5-minute video that explained how and why it came to be and the influence it has had on every generation, right up to modern day. Thomas Jefferson wrote it and rather than having his being President on his tombstone, he wanted it known that he wrote this Declaration. It was more important to him than being President.

While at this museum, the guide told us about the Masonic Hall being open to the public. They were giving tours l- which is very, very rare. We backtracked toward the Masonic Hall, past the 17^th Street Market.

As I walked past the market an old woman was sitting on a chair, selling her wares. It was quite cold that day and I commented to her that she must be frozen sitting exposed like that. She got up from her chair and told me to sit. She had an electric heat pad under the blanket. Clever woman. We got to talking and she told me people call her Mama. She told me they used to sell slaves right at that location. Behind the market, in an empty lot, she said there used to be a swamp where her grandmother (a former slave) used to scoop water for other black ladies to wash. The market has been there since 1737, and despite modern malls and foretasted closures, it still sells local produce, breads, and cheese.

We found the old, weather-beaten Masonic Hall. Built in 1785, it is the oldest building in America erected for Masonic purposes and continuously used over all those years for that primary purpose. Many important people, such as John Marshall (the longest-serving Chief Justice to the Supreme Court) and Marquis de Lafayette, participated in meetings here. It was here that the Virginia Plan was adopted and eventually become the core of the United States Constitution.

Ed's secret handshake guaranteed him the royal treatment. The Brothers were thrilled to host a Canadian. While they chatted I partook in the tour. Apparently, they have a whole raft of ghosts ranging from a little English boy who used to play downstairs, to the old janitor who continued to clean even after he retired, to one of the future US Presidents (his ghost claims he is not President because his ghost self is prior to him being inaugurated).

One of the rooms had an arch over the chair of the Grand Master. The arch resembles some famous building in Washington. It is speculated that the architect of this arch used this design as a prototype for the bigger version. The speculation is due to the volute (the uppermost part of the column) having the shape of a rose.

The building is in a sorry state and they are trying to raise money to replace the windows. We later heard there is a threat of the entire building being demolished. I cannot see that happening to this historical site as I am certain other Halls will contribute as well as historical societies.

After all the other members of the tour went away Ed continued to visit with our hosts. The three men were all past or present Grand Masters. They bestowed Ed with gifts of lapel pins and souvenir glasses. When I mentioned Amanda was a Job's Daughter they gave another glass just for her.

From the Hall, we walked downtown to Max's Restaurant. We were early for our 17:00 dinner reservation but they seated us anyway. We chose a window table overlooking the Square with the statue of Maggie Walker – the first female band president and a huge accomplishment considering she was also African-American. We specifically wanted to eat at Max's because they had a Mary Poppins dessert and cocktail menu. They were no longer serving the items, but when I explained that Mary Poppins was my cousin, they kindly printed one off for me.

After dinner, we walked to the Quirk Hotel because we were told it had a beautiful Christmas lobby. They did have a big white Christmas tree, with smaller trees filling smaller corners. It was nice, but not nearly what we were lead to believe. The remaining lobby appeared to be a high-class bar with racks of wine glasses serving as the dividing wall to the main lobby.

Monday promised to be a warm, sunny day. We took an Uber to the Black History Museum, only to find that it was closed on Monday's. We were not far from downtown. We walked past the Mr. Bojangles statue. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson a real man and the first black man to dance with a white actress, by the name of Shirley Temple, in The Little Colonel in 1935.

We went to the Jefferson Hotel, as we were told that it was very impressive. This time we were not disappointed. The portico even had a bronze alligator decorated. (The luxury 1895 hotel used to have live alligators in a small pool in the lobby until 1948.) The fountain had cascading lights mimicking cascading water.

The main lobby had a life-size airplane, carrying Santa, made entirely out of gingerbread.

The hotel is built into the side of a steep hill and there is a grand staircase leading to the lower level. It truly is Grand! It was guest Margaret Mitchell's inspiration for the Gone With the Wind staircase. It was adorned with wreaths, lights and bobbles.

At the bottom was a 10-15 meter Christmas tree elaborately decorated. The tree sat in the centre of a huge mezzanine whose balconies were also adorned with wreaths, light and bobbles. There were vases filled with Christmas plants and decorations. The ceiling was comparable to one in a cathedral. At the far end, leading to another set of entry doors, was the floral boutique and gift shop. Both were dazzling with Christmas lights and overflowing with delicate snow globes and other delicate ornaments. We agreed this was the most lavishly decorated hotel we had ever seen.

We walked past Perly's restaurant, but since we had just eaten we didn't stop. We carried on to St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

It is a grand old church where Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis both worshipped. There were no grand pillars or vaulted ceiling, as the original design was one of simplicity and devoid of iconography that was considered too Catholic for the Episcopal Church. We were the only people in the church, other than the caretaker who gave us a brochure then disappeared. We admired the beautiful memorial stained-glass windows, many of which were created by the Tiffany Studios. There was a gold triangular symbol of the Trinity on the ceiling with the Hebrew Yahweh (God) in the centre.

I went up into the balcony and had a close look at the organ. Some of the pipes were big enough to put one's head into, without fear of getting stuck.

We were right across the street from the Capitol Square. The Square was originally a weed-filled open area with informal footpaths. In 1816 the lovely park we see today was developed. Across the street stood the castle-like Old City Hall.

We walked past the Virginia Washington Monument. It is a6.4 metre, 8200 kg bronze statue of George Washington on his horse, surrounded by 6 other noted Virginians who took part in the American Revolution.

We had a look at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, which commemorates the protests that helped bring about school desegregation in the state. One side has 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns stepping forward, leading the student general strike. More on this later.

We had a difficult time finding the entrance to the Virginia State Capitol. Unfortunately, there was a wall of metal bleachers erected in front of the building, prohibiting me from getting a nice picture of the sparkling white structure.

We didn't realize we had to go down the hill to the main entrance. Embedded in the cement in front of the doors is the Great Seal of the Commonwealth which shows the Roman Goddess Virtus, representing the virtues of heroism, righteousness, freedom and valour. She stands with one victory foot on Tyranny, who lays with his crown fallen off. The motto is “Sic Semper Tyrannis” or “Thus Always to Tyrants”. The reverse side of the seal depicts three Roman goddesses, Eternity, Liberty, and Fruitfulness. The motto on this side says “Preservado” or “by Persevering”.

Visitors go through a tunnel, that also houses Senate and House room, Pressroom room, a gift shop, and cafe to get to the main building. This underground extension was built in 2007 as a direct precaution after the 9-11 attacks. In a portico stands a statue of Thomas Jefferson. To give an idea of the size of the Capitol building, the doorway we entered through was once a window on the original building.

The original part was built in 1785-1788 by Thomas Jefferson's design. This was also the prototype for the Capitol building in Washington. Two wings (not in the original plans) were added to the east and west ends of the building to provide much-needed additional space for the growing legislature.

We were given a tour of the building and its seats of the Senate. The statue of George Washington under the domed skylight in the rotunda was interesting. Apparently, the French sculptor, Houdon, came to America and took several detailed measurements and sketches of Washington. He also took a plaster mould of his face placing large turkey feathers up Washington's nose allowing him to breathe in throughout the process. The same sculptor did Lafayette, both statues are exquisitely more detailed than others in the building.

He went back to France and completed the life-size statue but had to put it in storage until the American Revolution ended. In the statue, Washington is his uniform but holds his walking stick gently forward to depict he was a gentleman. His sword sheathed to indicate his military days are over. He is leaning on a one-bottom plow, which he invented and was very proud of. His jacket sits atop 13 rods, called fasces (the Roman symbol of civil authority) depicting the 13 states of the Union bound together to show unity. Between the rods are arrows depicting the American Indians, likely referring to America as a wild frontier.

There is a portrait of Lady Astor. Although she moved to England and won her deceased husband's former seat to become the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, she never forgot her Virginia roots. The clock she donated still hangs on the wall in the Jefferson Room, opposite a model of the original Capitol. Lady Astor and Winston Churchill did not like each other and their icy witticisms have gone down in history.

Astor: Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your coffee.

Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it.

We had stepped into the House of Delegates where a statue of Robert E Lee stands exactly where he did when he accepted command of the Virginia forces from the Governor. The Senate was closed to visitors.

After the tour, we went back into the grounds and had a look over the fence at the Governor's Mansion which is the official residence of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia since 1811. This building replaced the older residence on the same location. Prior to 1781, the governors occupied rental property.

We passed a row of identical black sedans with blackened windows – very CIA looking.

We made our way to the Confederate White House and were given a tour. The Crenshaw's were very wealthy and had many houses, so when a white house was required for Jefferson Davis, this one was selected due to the location on a hill. When the Crenshaw's sold the house to the City of Richmond, they left most of the furniture and a lot of ornaments behind. Mrs. Crenshaw actually toured the house later to verify items and to tell stories of the house and activities within. How special and rare to have the original owner verify a historical site.

Jefferson Davis did not adhere to the rules of protocol and allowed visitors to the second floor, which is generally restricted to family space, ie: bedrooms. Because he suffered from a series of ailments and injuries, he converted his second-floor bedroom to an at-home office and study. (the West Wing of the White House was not added until Theodore Roosevelt came to office.) He slept with his wife in her bedroom, which was mocked because only poor people slept together while proper folks had separate rooms. He further exited from protocol by allowing his children to run wilds and free and to explore to make their own discoveries. Good families adhered to the “seen and not heard” rule.

All in all, the house was full of lavish trinkets and adornments as to wow and intimidate political visitors of the day. Although many items have been donated by non-family members, a lot of the furniture and ornaments did indeed belong to the Davis family. The museum next door had an array of military uniforms, flags, and other Civil War related items. We were getting tired of museums and did not give it a proper viewing.

That evening we went out for dinner with Stacey at the Daily Kitchen and Bar on Cary St. I had a hundred questions for her regarding her acting and life in general. My biggest question was if she gets tired doing the same performance every night. She emphatically said no. She said a film actor does one scene then moves on, sometimes not knowing how that scene fits into the bigger picture or if it will even make the cut. They film and move on. In her case, she has to be constantly aware of the bigger picture. She must know her own lines, songs, and dance steps but she must also be aware of everyone and everything around her and to be able to improvise on the spot should something not stay on script. For example, she said during one performance the little boy made a comment about the dancing statues in the park that was not in the script. She and the others had to make the line flow with the performance. Another example is, during the performance that we saw, every now and then she would reach into the huge pockets on her coat, take out a Kleenex and dab her nose very Mary Poppin-ish. Stacey actually had a bad cold but incorporated the essential nose dabbing into the play. Brilliant.

Stacey's main career is not acting, she is a professor at the University of Louisiana. She had taken time off to perform. Between performances, she was busily marking papers from her students. She is such a dedicated and talented lady. Her positive energy and bubbling personality make her someone you cannot get enough of. My heart bursts with love and good intentions for her life.

The next, and our final day, we took an Uber to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. We were too early and it was still closed so we walked up to Cary Street, admiring the houses, and had breakfast. We passed a church that held Synagogue on Saturday and Anglican Church service on Sunday. How nice to see them share one building.

We decided to skip the Museum all together and instead walked along the boulevard of Monument Avenue to see the great Confederate statues. Ed joked that he wanted to see them before the millennials tore them down. It turns out that is a real possibility. There were many placards on lawns saying “Preserve Monument Avenue. Save our Monuments”.

It was quite a long walk, but it was pleasant to walk on the grass in addition to taking in the beauty of the centuries-old houses all decked out for Christmas.

We started the walk at the Stonewall Jackson Monument, then to Jefferson Davis, on to Robert E. Lee and finally J.E.B. Stuart. I liked Stuart's monument the best. It had movement to it. His horse appears to be pawing the ground, anxious to go. Stuart is looking to the side as if calling this troops to follow. It also has the added bonus of sitting in the round-about in front of the Gothic-looking First English Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Monument Avenue turns into Franklin Street past the round-about. It runs through the Monroe Park Campus of the Virginia Commonwealth University. A lot of the old buildings housed offices and classrooms. The Anderson housed the School of Fine Arts in number 907 1/2. It reminded me of Harry Potter's platform 9 3/4.

We stopped for a coffee before heading to the Black History Museum. (We Googled to make sure it was open this time.) It was a computer generated museum with touch screens full of information to read accompanied by relevant pictures. The major information I came away with was the struggle of the African-American people. They were declared “Free” by the Emancipation Proclamation but the government did everything it could to suppress and segregate them, all the while pretending that they were working in their best interest. For example, the government gave the African-American's separate but equal schools but funded them with only a pittance of what the white schools were getting. 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns led a student strike in 1951. 450 students marched down to the courthouse to make the officials aware of the difference in quality between the black and the white schools. Their struggle fell on deaf ears. It would take another 3 years before Ruby Bridges desegregated the all-white school in Louisiana, but not before having to pass a test to determine whether she qualified. Having to be tested could be considered as an admission by the government that the African-American schools were sub-standard. This was nearly 100 years after they were proclaimed free!! Today, 150 years later, prejudice and discrimination have not yet been eradicated. Shameful!

The day was still young so we made our way through the Jackson Ward District down Leigh Street. African-Americans settled in Jackson Ward in the early 19^th century and by the 20^th century had become the major residents. Jackson Ward became a nationally important centre of African-American economic and cultural activity. It hosted African-American banks, clubs, insurance companies, and other commercial businesses.

We walked past John Marshall House. It was closed but we walked around the house and through the open garden. John Marshall was the 4^th Chief Justice of the United States and the longest serving at 34 years. His ideas helped to the basis for US constitutional law.

We ended up the Valentine House. It is a museum that has been collecting, preserving, and interpreting Richmond's 100-year-old history for over a century. We were getting museum'ed out and did not give it its proper attention. We did enjoy the jazz display, with music, on the lower level.

Despite the deplorable situation of African-Americans, they developed their style sweet, sweet of music from the roots of blues and ragtime. Interestingly, the world hails jazz as “one of America's original art form” - never mentioning its African-American link.

We were tired. It was starting to rain. It turned cold. We had a morning flight. It was time to go back to the hotel and pack for home. We ran out of time. The more we saw of Richmond, the more we found to be seen. Partly due to the weather, we never made it to Hollywood Cemetery, Belle Isle, or took the Canal nor Slave Trail Walks. There are historical gems on every street. We decided we needed to return and also scout out other areas beyond Richmond.

A bit of history: It is rumoured that Sir Walter Raleigh suggested the name for Virginia around 1584 after the powerful Queen Elizabeth I of England. Also known as the Virgin Queen, she was an advocate for religious tolerance, literature, theatre and music. Eight Presidents have been born in Virginia. From the Virginia Territory, all or part of 8 other states were created.

Churchill, MB - Polar Bear Tour

irenecabay — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 05:03:00 GMT

Christina's boys bought her a polar bear tour in Churchill, Manitoba for her 60^th birthday and a group of her friends decided to tag along. The polar bear tour had been on my bucket list for a very long time, so this was the perfect opportunity. Our plane left at 6:00am, so it was a very early morning for us all.

Once on the Air North, our guides began to give everyone an education about polar bears and to explain what we were about to see and experience. First of all, we were not going to be on the tundra. Technically, tundra is the complete absence of trees. Ecotone still has some trees. It is the transition area between boreal and tundra.

Then the naturalists had samples of claws from a ringed seal, a black bear, a grizzly bear, and a polar bear passed around the cabin of the plane. The ringed seal has very sharp claws, for scratching breathing holes through the ice. The black bear claw is about as long as the seal but fatter around, better designed for capturing prey and digging. The grizzly bear claw is much longer and better still adapted for hunting. The polar bear claw is shorter than the grizzly but longer and heavier than the black bear. It is more similarly hooked to the black bear but sharper than the grizzly. It is good for hunting as well as traction on the ice. The polar bear has much more fur on its feet. The padding on its feet are nearly covered in fur – necessary for keeping their feet from freezing.

A sample of polar bear fur was passed around. The hair is very long – longer than my fingers. The shorter hair next to the skin is not soft, as I expected, but very course. It reminded me of very thick quilt batting. A sample of ringed seal fur was also passed around. It was pretty much as expected, short and very very thick.

Lastly, a polar bear skull was passed around. It was huge. The teeth were about the size and length of my longest finger and sharp! Brian Keating, one of the naturalists and a National Geographic fellow, pointed out the larger than normal channel for the auditory nerve. Polar bears have very small ears, so as not to freeze, but above average hearing. They also have a keen sense of smell. They can smell a seal from 32 km away and from under 1 meter of snow. Seals will sometimes dig a breathing hole under a snow drift and create a kind of igloo. Polar bears will pounce through up to 2 meters of snow to capture the seal. Only female polar bears are collared for scientific research. The male's neck is thicker than his head and the collar would simply fall off. Polar bears have very long necks and a tapered head, which is perfect for sticking down into a seal air hole.

Polar bears are NOT carnivores. They are livabors. They eat fat. They will eat the fat off a seal but leave the meat. They convert the fat on a 1 to 1 conversion. For every kilo of fat they eat they put on one kilo of fat themselves. They will eat meat or anything else that is handy when they are hungry enough. There used to be a garbage dump in Churchill but the hungry bears used to rummage in the dump and eventually make their way into town. There is now a remarkable recycling program in place in Churchill to eliminate this dangerous problem.

Bears still make their way into town, however. At Halloween, volunteers patrol the streets with rifles to keep them safe for the Trick or Treaters. There are also rifles mounted above the driver on the school buses. A few years ago a lady was attacked by a polar bear. A man was out shoveling his walk and heard her screaming. He ran to her rescue and beat the bear with his shovel. He was mauled more than the woman. Both survived after others ran to the rescue with rifles. The man was awarded a medal for his bravery. This is not a town for wimps. There is always a 10:00 pm curfew.

Problem bears are rounded up and put into Polar Bear Jail. When we were there, 5 bears were in jail. They had broken into 12 houses looking for food, mostly into garages where meat was hanging after a hunt. In jail, they are given water, but no food. This may seem harsh, but consider the bear's life. Unlike other bears that hibernate, polar bears take to the ice to hunt seals, beluga whales, or walrus during the winter. They hunt what they can during the winter, sitting by a breathing hole for up to 6 hours in hopes of catching a seal. Only one in 20 attempts is successful. It is when the ringed seals give birth that they can finally feast. The baby seals are plump balls of blubber and easy to catch. This is when the bears put on the fat they will need to survive the summer on land after the ice melts. When they come back to Churchill they can have as much as 6-8” of fat on them. Then they live off the fat but do not eat, hence not feeding them in jail. When the ice returns they are sedated, hauled out to the ice, then given something to reverse the sedation. In this way, they do not become reliant on humans.

The reason polar bears hang out in Churchill is because Hudson Bay freezes in the winter. As the cold begins to creep down from the north, the counter clockwise current of the Bay pushes the ice along the west side bank. There is an outcrop of land that acts as a barrier to the ice. Therefore, when winter approaches the ice gets hooked on the outcrop. In the spring, the reverse happens. The counter-clockwise current prevents the ice from floating further south. The bears follow the seal pups which sit on the ice and the ice stops at Churchill.

The females do not go into heat while on the ice in winter. Instead, they come in estrus on the land and only when the males start to mount them. Estrus would be a waste of time and energy on the ice. Each egg can be fertilized by a different male. However, the fertilized egg suspends itself until the female finds a den in the fall. The bred female does not go out onto the ice. She finds a den, at which time the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall and begins to grow. Sometime in February, she will give birth to blind, hairless, and toothless blobs that weigh less than a half kilo. When they are born, she holds them in her paws and breathes on them to keep them warm. This is absolutely remarkable since she has not eaten for months and undoubtedly hungry. Sometime in April, she will punch a hole through the snow of her den to let in cold outside air so the cubs begin to toughen up. In May she will take her babies out and lead them down to the water, where the seal pups are just beginning to be born. She can finally eat and feed her own babies. She, herself, must fatten up a lot in order to feed her cubs through the lean summer.

When the plane landed and we were hustled through the tiny airport and onto the waiting school buses to take us to the Tundra Buggies. There was a rifle mounted above the school bus driver. Once at the Tundra Buggies, we exited the school bus, took one step down onto the ground and immediately stepped up a through what reminded me of a cattle chute. There was a set of wooden steps with a wooden wall on either side. The steps lead up to a deck where we could walk directly onto the viewing platform of the 12' Tundra Buggy. The barricaded steps reminded me of something my brother-in-law once told us. He had been working in the Arctic. When a group of men entered the bunkhouse one evening the last fellow to enter didn't make it. A polar bear had snatched him as he was going up the steps. OK, then...

The buggy was huge. The buggy itself was twice as wide as a city bus. There were double seats on either side with large windows that opened for good picture taking. The aisle was about 2 meters wide, wide enough to stand up, walk around, enjoy a coffee or hot chocolate that was served up by the driver whenever we stopped. He also served up hot soup and a variety of sandwiches. There was a bathroom in the back, too.

Everyone had to be seated while we were in motion. The roads were left over from the military presence during WWII and later as a training installation. The idea was it was it was similar to Russian terrain and a good place to train during the Cold War. Today, research scientist utilize former military facilities and roads. With the ground being boggy, the frost heaves had the roads terribly rough. The driver did not accelerate much at all. At the end of the day, the driver had Christina drive the buggy a short distance along a straight and relatively smooth section as a birthday surprise. He gave her the birthday card that everyone on the plane had signed that morning while we all sang her Happy Birthday. She later told me the five foot tires made it really hard to steer.

There are very few trees – either small shrubs or scrawny spruce trees. The spruce trees are stripped bare on the northern side due to the harsh winds. Due to the cold, the snow is not soft and fluffy but more crystallized, like sugar. When the wind blows, which is nearly all the time, it is like a sand blasting on the tree. Only the very bottom few branches survive the perimeter of the tree because those branches get covered with snow and protected from the wind.

It took us about an hour to reach the Tundra Lodge. The Lodge looks like a train sitting out in the middle of nowhere. One can rent accommodations and watch polar bears from the comfort of the sleeping car, dining car, or viewing platform. It is super expensive, costing about $6500 for a 3 night stay plus a day on either end in Winnipeg. (Northern Lights stays cost $5300 for 4 night stay + 2 nights in Winnipeg.) This is a guaranteed place to see polar bears because the smell of food from the Lodge attracts them.

Everyone was awestruck to see a huge male just waking up from behind a small shrub. He rolled around like a dog, wiggling his back into the snow and swinging his feet into the air. Even from the distance we were from him we all amazed at the size of his feet. They were the size of a large pizza! He got up and shook the snow off himself, similar to a dog out of water. It was like a small blizzard as the snow flew off.

He must have smelled a vole under the snow because he gave a pounce. Finding nothing he then sniffed the air from our direction. It gave me a weird feeling. Does he smell us?? Then I realized we were between him and the Lodge. He slowly started walking in our direction. I stopped using the zoom feature on my camera. He was filling the lens! He came directly to the back of our buggy before turning slightly to go under the buggy behind us. Everyone who was out on the viewing platform quickly went back into the buggy to get better pictures out the side windows of the buggy.

He went up to the lodge and sat on his haunches like a dog waiting for a treat. Then he stood up. He made the 5 foot tires look car size. A woman was in the lodge, looking down at the bear. The bear stood up and sniffed up at her. Had she reached out the window she could have touched him. If he had reached up he could have touched her!

He found a piece of foam insulation from between the lodge cars, snatched it away, and began chewing on it. Eating the foam insulation can be fatal. A large dune buggy looking machine came from around the Lodge and scared the bear. He dropped the insulation and ran away. A man drove beside the dropped insulation and very quickly jumped out of the buggy to retrieve it.

We had our soup and sandwiches for lunch before going to a different location. We were going across the ice and I asked the driver how deep the ice was. He said the thickness of the ice is not the problem, it is the softness of the slough beneath it. He pointed out a rough patch of ice where he said he had gone down a few days prior. Once in the mud beneath the ice, he was completely stuck. He called for another buggy to help pull him out. That buggy also went through the ice and got stuck. A third buggy was called, but after assessing the situation called for a fourth buggy. Two buggies hooked up to a single buggy in order to pull him out. Then repeated the process for the second buggy. The situation gets rather dangerous because while stuck the back of the 12-foot buggy is now only 4 feet off the ice and easily accessible to bears. Hooking up the huge tow-straps, that every buggy carries, is also dangerous because, again, you are accessible to wandering hungry bears. (Even though bears are livobors, they are nearly starving and will, therefore, eat anything.)

Our second bear was sleeping behind some shrubs and seemed completely oblivious to us. While we were having a hot chocolate, the bear awoke and was playing with a willow branch very much like a small child plays with his toes. After a while, the bear seemed to be annoyed by us watching him and he slowly wandered away. His fur insulated his body so well, that there was no half melted snow where he had been sleeping.

Off in the distance was a mother bear with two yearling cubs. We were told the cubs weighed about 100 pounds and were the size of a large German Shepard dog. They were playfully wrestling each other on their hind legs, like a boxing match. We kept our distance so as not to stress the mother out. She had to survive the lean summer while feeding these two huge babies. Her fat reserves were stretched to the limit.

Considering this is northern Canada in winter, the days are very short and it was time to head back to the Buggy Barn. Although it had been cloudy all day, the clouds disappeared late in the afternoon to give us a most spectacular sunset. The ice crystals in the air created a light column while the sun cast a pink hue to the blue ice.

From the Buggy Barn, caught another school bus into the town of Churchill. Whereas other towns may have signs warning of deer crossing on the roads, Churchill had signs cautioning to look out for bears. We were told we had an hour to browse through the 3 available gift shops before being picked up at the hotel. The bus driver dropped us at the northern most part of the street so we at least had the bitterly cold wind at our backs as we made our way through the shops and back to the hotel.

The town used to have a train service to bring supplies, groceries, heating fuel and tourists. The rail got washed out in the summer. The winter heating fuel had to be brought in by barge before Hudson's Bay froze for the winter. I asked what happens if they run out. I got a shrug and troubled look as a reply. Groceries and other supplies will be flown in. There is a debate as to whether the rail line will be repaired or not. Some feel it is not economically feasible. Others say it will be repaired because it is the life-line to the community. That said, a lot of the tour people we talked to said that as soon as this polar bear tourist season is finished, they will be heading to warmer places. They will return next season. The town used to have 5000 people, they are down to 600. My feeling is, as long as there is an airport people will continue to come for the tours. The research people will also fly in with their equipment or have it barged in, ready for winter. There will be tourist facilities and maybe the odd die-hard local to run them. There is also talk of an ice road, but the locals don't think it is viable as the frost would wreck havoc with them, making them impassable.

The plane ride back to Edmonton was festive. Everyone was still on a polar bear high. The naturalists summed up things we had seen. Things suddenly made more sense after actually seeing the bears. One of the naturalists had enlarged photos for sale of bears and birds that he had taken earlier that week. I bought a nice 5x7 of a bear walking, similar to what I had taken my own picture of earlier that day. The airline was passing out free wine and could hardly keep up with the demand while they served us a delicious hot meal. Brian Keating told the steward to hand him the bottles and he began pouring wine to whoever raised their glass. It might have been against airline protocol but it certainly made for a jovial and fast journey. We landed in Edmonton at 8:00 pm. I am sure everyone went home wondering, as I did, if this day really happened, or was it all a wonderful dream.

Italy - Rome

irenecabay — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 13:55:00 GMT

Ed and I both had flights out of Lisbon the same day – albeit to different destinations. He was returning to Canada, I was going to Rome. My flight was delayed by an hour. I kept myself amused by watching Ryanair check carry-on luggage for size. As anyone who travels regularly knows the amount and size of carry-on luggage has gotten out of hand. While most airlines turn a blind eye, Ryanair has capitalized on actually checking and ,consequently, charging people for oversized luggage. One fellow in particular was made to place his bag into the box that determines if your bag is small enough. He rammed it in the slot so hard he could not pull it out afterwards. Someone had to stand on the box while he tried, in vain, to pull it back out. He eventually did and was promptly told he had to check that bag into cargo – for a fee. It was amusing.

Once I got to Rome I shared a taxi with a family to take me to Roma Termini Colosseum hostel. The taxi wanted 40 Euro to take me to my destination. When another couple said they would share a taxi with me, I accepted. When they got out they paid the driver 15 Euro. Perfect. Only 25 Euro for me to pay. When we got to my destination, he still charged me 40 Euro. All taxi drivers are crooks. (See my blog on General Travel Tips)

That said, there was a moment of high entertainment on the ride. We had to make a left-hand turn and apparently cut off another driver. At the light, the other vehicle pulled up on the right-hand side of us and started yelling at my driver while waving his hands very animatedly with a body language indicating “WTF” – like a soccer player. My driver leans across me, in the passenger seat, and matches with his own yelling, animated arm waving and body language. It was hilarious.

The guest house was disgusting. It was not anything like the photos on the website. The dorm room was small and had a huge chest of drawers and an armoire taking up valuable space. There was one shared bathroom for 12 people. But I was only paying $25 a night, so I guess I got what I paid for. It would have to do. I was only there for 5 nights and did not want to waste time looking for new accommodations. I checked in, got a city map and ventured out.

Two interesting things about the guesthouse: #1 One had to ring the apartment to be buzzed in. However, there was only a single door that swung open onto the street and stayed open for nearly 30 seconds. To exit, one had to press a button on the wall and the door opened. Once open, anyone could enter and gain access to the many suites within the building. #2 It had the cutest little elevator. It was obviously an add-on, sandwiched between the stairs. It was about 2 feet wide and 4 feet deep. One had to open a door, then open a second set of swinging doors to enter. The outside door had to remain closed or the elevator would not move. When I exited the elevator, I had to remember to close the outside door for it to move to another floor.

The day was still young so I set off on an adventure. First of all, I wanted to verify where to catch an inexpensive shuttle bus back to the airport. I was told there were buses outside of the nearby train station. There was a huge sign that clearly noted the departure times. Satisfied, I carried on.

I had no idea what I was seeing. It was simply impressive so I took pictures. I had to do some research later to find out I had happened upon. I passed the intimidating Ministry of Finance building,

the semi-circular Piazza della Repubblica (built in 1887-1898) with the Fountain of the Naiads at its centre,

the Planetarium,

the impressive Fontana dell'Acqua Felice (Fountain of Moses) and

the 1598 San Bernardo alle Terme church.

Further along were four fountains on each corner of the street intersection, aptly called the Four Fountains.

When I got to the Quirinal Palace there was a large contingent of news reporters positioned across the street of a side door. I asked one of them what was going on and he replied that they were waiting for the Italian and Libyan presidents to emerge after some important talks. I hung around for a few minutes but grew tired of waiting. The 1583 Quirinal Palace is one of the three official residences of the Italian President. It has housed many Popes, Kings and Presidents over the centuries. At 110,500 square meters (1.2 million square feet), it is the ninth largest palace in the world. The US White House is one-twentieth of its size. It is located on the highest of the seven hills of Rome.

In the Piazza del Quirinale stands an impressive 1587 Fountain of the Dioscuri composed of two men holding horses. An obelisk rises above them. The Piazza itself is a huge open area with a balcony that looks toward St. Peter's Basilica. To the right of the balcony is a wide set of steps leading down to the hill and on towards Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain was built in 1762. While the Americas were still Cowboys and Indians, the Romans were building this! This beautiful Baroque fountain is 26.3 metres (86 ft) high and 49.15 metres (161.3 ft) wide. It was breathtaking. Palazzo Poli forms the backdrop to the fountain. Taming of the Waters is the theme of the fountain that tumbles forward into the pool. Dominating the scene is Neptune in his shell chariot being led by Tritons with hippocamps (sea horses) – one wild and one docile, depicting the moods of the sea. The water rushes around them as they climb over the rocks.

People were sitting on the steps around the pool, taking in the beauty and taking selfies. Some people were sitting on the edge of the pool while the guards blew their shrill whistles telling them to move on. About 3000 Euros are thrown into the fountain pool each day. The estimated 1.2 million Euro is used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy. The fountain was so beautiful that I returned later that evening to see it lit up. It was a very romantic spot and I wished Ed were there with me.

The fountain is in a small square. The shops near the square sold cheap souvenirs, to expensive glassware,

to the ever-popular ice cream shop.

Around the corner, I came upon one of the many icons of the Virgin Mary mounted high on an exterior wall and lit with a small light. In former times these small lights were the only street lights available on the streets of Rome.

Walking back to the guest house I came upon the Column of the Immaculate Conception before the famous Spanish Steps. Built in 1725 these 135 steps link Piazza di Spagna with the Piazza Trinita dei Monti, dominated by Trinata dei Monti church at the top. The steps are very wide and break off into separate directions once it reaches the curved balcony of the higher plaza. The steps have been a popular gathering and resting spot since the 1800's. Dickens reported liking it there. Keats enjoyed the spot so much he took an apartment overlooking the steps. He died there and the apartment is now a museum dedicated to the Romantics.

At the foot of the Steps is a fountain of a sinking boat, the Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Ugly Boat).

There were throngs of people sitting on the steps enjoying the cool evening air and taking in the atmosphere. Many munched on roasted chestnuts from vendors positioned nearby. I bought myself a bag also. I ended up passing the Spanish Steps many times over the next few days. It did not matter whether it was day or night, there were scores of people sitting on the steps.

I got back to the guest house very tired but exhilarated with my first day in Rome. I found the streets and architecture nothing like I was expecting. Every street has buildings at least 6 stories tall causing the streets to be in shadow.

Most are box-like but still beautiful.

Many buildings had elaborate doorways with an intricate crest above.

Many buildings had massive doors with fancy door stoppers at their base.

Interspersed, are ancient churches and other structures of antiquity.

Every now and then I came upon Roman ruins. On nearly every street corner, manhole cover, fountain, and monument was the 80 BC emblem “SPQR” (Senātus Populusque Rōmānus) - The Senate and People of Rome, IE, democracy.

There are cafes everywhere. Many spill out onto the street, some are tucked into alleyways, all are inviting and have the most delicious food. I never had a bad meal, they were all exceptionally delicious. The beer is refreshing.

The shopping district has the most attractive window displays that I have ever seen. The fashions were definitely a cut above anything I have ever seen, also.

Parking is obviously at a premium as they park wherever they can find an empty spot, whether it is almost blocking an intersection, behind a dumpster, or rammed in sideways.

The metro proved to be an excellent way to get around the city, but it is crowded. Edmonton commuters who get in and stand in the doorway would have a difficult time here. Anyone thinking they are going to hog a spot on this metro is unceremoniously shoved back to make room for more. It was not uncommon to have to wait for the next train as the one you were trying to board was packed. One morning I was buying my ticket at the machine when a woman was begging for change to buy her own ticket. Something told me to give her the money. She thanked me and told me to get on my train quickly as there was a strike about to take place and this was the last train of the morning. We both ran to the train and jumped on. Sure enough, when we got to our destination, there were guards blocking any more passengers from getting on. The strike only lasted a half day, and by evening everything was running smoothly again.

Although the streets are hilly, it was easy to walk everywhere. However, walking is not for the faint of heart. I typically walked 12-18 km per day. The days were hot and the evenings slightly cooler. Crossing the streets was usually a common sense affair if no cars are coming cross. However, it was definitely a pedestrian beware scenario and do not have the right of way. Cars did not slow down, let alone stop, if one was in the midst of crossing.

As with most metro stations, the homeless hang out in droves. They slept in sleeping bags around the metro entrances and used the stairwells as their toilet. What a stench! I wondered if the city would not be wise to set up porta-potties for them to use. The toilets in the station were pay-toilets.

Rome had Share and Go cars that were electric. I saw many plugged into charging stations.

On my second day, I caught the metro to the Colosseum. Exiting the metro station, the Colosseum completely blocked the sunshine. Wow! It took me a moment to take it all in. I was not expecting it to be directly across the street. I was expecting to see it off in the distance, across a park. But here it was, like a prehistoric skyscraper - with streetlights.

The queue to enter was exactly where spectators would have entered 2000 years ago.

I got my audio guide and climbed the steps into the bowels of the beast. The first look at the interior is breathtaking. It was huge! Of course, I knew it was huge from seeing the outside, but somehow the inside seemed bigger. Possibly because of the tiered seating all focused on the sub-terrarium hypogeum at its centre.

The name of the Colosseum derived from the immense statue of Nero - called the colossus after the Colossus of Rhodes - that stood nearby. When the statue fell (or was torn down) the name 'Colosseum' stuck with the amphitheatre.

To satisfy the public's enthusiasm for games and spectacles, construction began in 72 AD and was completed in 80. It is the largest structure surviving from ancient Rome. It measures 186 meters long by 156 meters wide, and although it appears to be circular is really an oval shape. The outer wall, 57 meters in height was built of travertine marble held together by iron clamps instead of mortar, which probably accounts for its longevity. It was damaged by several earthquakes and its entire south side collapsed in the quake of 1349. The fallen stone was used to construct other buildings throughout Rome.

The entire interior was lavishly decorated, but only a few fragments survive to hint at what it must have looked like in the first centuries.

It could hold 50,000-80,000 spectators. There was assigned seating and with 80 entry arches, internal passages and staircases, people could enter and be seated within a few minutes.

It had three tiers. The big shots sat on the lowest level, the wealthy in the middle level, and plebs in the third level. Women were allowed in the added-on 4^th level cheap seats. A broad terrace in front of the tiers was reserved for emperors, senators, VIPs, and Vestal Virgins. Senators names can still be seen carved in the stones. The upper level had supports for 240 masts that held canvas awnings to shade the people. The lower levels had a more permanent roof which added more protection from the elements.

The arena floor was 83 by 48 meters. It had a wooden floor covered with sand. According to accounts of the period, the arena was sometimes filled with water for mock sea battles. The floor covered an elaborate underground labyrinth called the Hypogeum.

The Hypogeum is a two-level subterranean network of tunnels connecting training rooms for gladiators, cages for exotic wild animals, and store-rooms that were hidden underneath the floor. Some tunnels connected to points outside of the Colosseum, as well. Elaborate machines lifted scenery and caged animals to the arena, as if by magic. The building of the hypogeum put an end to the practice of flooding the arena.

Shows in the amphitheatre were free of charge to the public on occasions of festivals or to celebrate special events, military victories, coronations, and anniversaries. When the Amphitheatre was inaugurated, the celebration lasted 100 days. Hunting shows, complete with natural props to make it realistic, and capital punishment by exposure to animals were the morning entertainment. One celebration involved 10,000 domestic and exotic animals. (The meat was distributed free to the people.) Mid-day executions were by other methods. The gladiatorial games took place in the afternoon. That same celebration involved 11,000 gladiators.

The gladiatorial games began as a demonstration of military might. Many gladiators were prisoners of war, slaves, or criminals condemned to death. Gladiator schools trained men to fight well to make the fights more entertaining. Therefore, promoters did not want to see them needlessly killed. The men were armoured equally to provide a fair fight. The defeated man could ask for mercy or death, which was decided by the Emperor. A good battle could warrant clemency for a criminal. Popular gladiators names are still seen scratched into the passageways. Some gladiators were hired as bodyguards by Senators.

Death by burning gained popularity when the condemned men wore tunics impregnated with flammable substances. Pantomimes were held with a mythological theme. When the dancing commenced the clothing was set alight causing the dance to be transformed into dramatic contortions. Come on, kids! Let's go to the Colosseum and have some fun tonight!

The bronze cross at one end of the arena commemorates the Christian martyrs who were believed to have died here during the Roman Imperial period. In fact, there is little evidence that the arena was used for this, and the first mention of it as a place of Christian martyrdom was not until the 16th century.

It took a few hours to explore the Colosseum. There were hundreds of steep and slippery steps. There was something interesting to see or read about at every turn. I cannot give words to walking the same passages as those 2000 years ago. To envision the wonders and horrors those spectators witnessed. To walk through the same grand arches that ancient Emperors entered. I could have spent more time, examining every detail. However, I had a long list of things to see in this ancient city so I made my way out.

Between the Colosseum and the Roman Forum stood the Arch of Constantine. In front of the Arch is the foundation of the pedestal that held the 30-metre bronze statue of the Colossus of Nero. The statue has disappeared. Theories as to its demise vary. One theory is it was destroyed during the sack of Rome in 410, another says it was toppled during an earthquake and the metal was scavenged.

Walking alongside the Temple of Venus and Rome, the queue to enter the Roman Forum was very long and took over a half hour to finally enter. The Temple of Venus and Rome is thought to be the largest temple in ancient Rome. Its position opposite the Colosseum has it in a good position for a public address platform. The beautiful exposed arch creates a majestic backdrop.

The guidebook said the Roman Forum was “badly labelled and leaves you drained and confused”. It was true. However, there is a lot to be said for the collection of impressive ruins that remain. A bit of imagination can transport you back to the grandiose days when Julius Caesar, himself, walked these paving stones.

The first thing past the gate was the Arch of Titus, which is said to be the inspiration for the Arch de Triomphe in Paris.

Immediately to the right is the Basilica of Maxentius. It was the largest building in the Forum. Most of the structure fell down during an earthquake. What remains are three massive domed rooms with coffered ceilings. The base of the seat where the Emperor presided over legal hearings is still visible.

Further along was the Temple of Romulus with its original bronze doors set between porphyry columns. It was built to honour Emperor Maxentius's son who died as a child. The locks on the doors still work.

The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was also built to impress. It stands on a platform with a wide staircase leading up to it. It ten 17 metre monolithic columns topped with a rich frieze.

Past the Basilica Aemilia and Roman Senate House, I came to the white marble Arch of Septimius Severus. It is 23 metres high, 25 metres wide and nearly 12 metres deep.

Nearby was the Temple of Saturn, or rather, the remains of the front porch of the Temple. These eight surviving granite columns are one of the most iconic images of ancient Roman architecture. They rest on a travertine podium and stand 9 metres high.

Backtracking on the Via Sacra (the main street of ancient Rome that saw many triumphal marches) I peeked in at the Temple of Divine Julius. All that remains is a semi-circular niche that marks the funeral pyre of Julius Caesar. People still leave flowers.

I walked past the Temple of Castor and Pollux (the 'twins' of Gemini - which I am) and

onto the House of the Vestals. There were always six Vestal Virgins. Chosen by the Emperor between the ages of six and ten years, they served the chief priest for 30 years, learning sacred rites for the first ten years, performing the rites for another ten and finally teaching them for the remaining ten. They were to remain chaste and tend to the eternal flame and safeguard the sacred objects in the Temple of Vesta. They enjoyed privileges denied t their women. After their term, they were free to leave and marry. The Temple is all but gone. There are a series of statues that flank an expanse of grass.

I was indeed getting tired and confused by the Forum. I wanted to go to the top of Palatine Hill for the bird's eye view. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum. Excavations show that people lived on this hill since the 10^th century BC.

According to Roman mythology, the Hill is the location of the cave where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf Lupa and suckled them to keep them alive. Romulus founded Rome. It later became the exclusive domain of Roman emperors.

Going back down the stairs from the lookout platform, I past cave-like openings cut into the hill, past huge arches that I took to be remnants of an aqueduct, then along a path of towering pines until I came to the Palace of Domitian. It is still part of Palatine Hill. There were massive arches that seemingly were just arches, and never part of a building. Later research has me to understand that the Arches of Severus were built as a way to broaden the hill and create a support for an extension to the Imperial Palace.

I wandered through the Garden, which looked like a smaller version of the Roman Circus, but was too small to hold chariot races.

A modern artist erected some funky structures in the middle of the gardens. By themselves, they would be interesting pieces of art, but set in this ancient Roman setting was a bit disconcerting.

However, I did find the cold drink machine tucked under one of the arches a bit ironic.

I left the Forum area and walked to the Circus Maximus. From this angle, I could see how someone in the Arches of Severus would have had a great view of the Circus.

Circus Maximus was an ancient chariot racing stadium. It sits in a depression causing the banks to be natural bleachers for as many as 150,000 spectators. It is 621 metres long and 118 metres wide. I walked along the now public park and carried on my exploration of Rome.

I was intrigued with the steps to the Capitoline Museums. I went to the top and admired the statues out front, but did not go into the museum.

I happily wandered the streets until I got to the Pantheon. I was tired and hungry by this point and rather than eat in the overpriced square looking at the face of the church, I found a lovely bar on the backside. It was quiet, the food was excellent, as was the service, and the prices were cheap!

The Pantheon has strict rules about ladies being discretely dressed – knees and shoulders must be covered! Initially built as a temple (Pantheon is Greek for “honour all Gods”) in 126 AD, it was converted to a church in 609. 16 massive Corinthian columns support the portico. Each granite column is 12 metres tall, 1.5 metres in diameter, and weighs 60 tons.

The dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It is an engineering marvel. Modern scholars are still not sure how they built it. The bottom of the dome is 6.4 metres thick but only 1.2 metres around the oculus. The materials used to build it vary. At its thickest point, travertine was used. Higher up, terracotta tiles form the aggregate. At the very top, pumis and other porous stones were used. The higher it got the lighter the cement. Coffering the cement also lightened the weight.

The height of the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43 metres. Imagine a 43-metre ball fitting inside. The 9-metre oculus and the 7.3-metre bronze entry doors (that were once covered in gold) are the only source of natural light.

The centre of the dome, the Oculus, is open to the elements. Yes, rain falls inside. However, the centre of the floor is 30 centimetres higher than the outside edge. Water disappears into invisible channels (I looked but could not see them). The floor has geometric patterns of red marble from Egypt, white marble blotched with blue from Asia Minor, red-veined yellow marble from Algeria.

The interior is perfectly round. Niches carved into the thick walls are flanked by twin pillars and are dedicated to Christian themes. The tomb of the 16th-century painter Raphael is in one of the niches. The inscription says: “Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he died, feared that she herself would die.”

As with so many of the sights around Rome, there are no earthly words to express the grandeur seen or the emotions felt. It is similar to the Egyptian pyramids, no matter how many pictures you have seen or how many documentaries you have watched, when you actually see it the pictures and the documentaries did not do it justice.

It was getting to be late afternoon, but the Piazza Navona was close by so I decided to check it out. It is a large open square surrounded by graceful mansions.

It was packed with pavement cafes and street artists. The dramatic Fountain of the Four Rivers with an Egyptian obelisk sits in the middle of the Piazza. It depicts the four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority has spread. The Nile god has his head obscured with a cloth meaning no one knew the Nile's origin. But he looks like he is shy or playing peek-a-boo.

At the south end of the Piazza stands the Moor Fountain. It shows Neptune wrestling with a dolphin. He is surrounded by other whimsical characters who wrestle with their own sea creatures.

I made my way back to the guest house, past Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Ahhhh, Rome.....

Thursday morning I was up like a shot and headed to St. Peter's Basilica. I took the metro as I did not want to get lost. I knew it was going to be a full day, plus I wanted to see as much of the Basilica that I could before my 12:30 time slot to see the Vatican Museum. The metro in Rome has many exits from the trains and I was not sure which exit to take. I spotted a nun and followed her. The metro stops about a 10-minute walk from St. Peter's and every foot of it was littered with touts trying to sell entrance tickets to the Vatican. They also tried to veer me off the straight route to St. Peter's Square.

I entered through the colonnade. The Square is bordered on two sides by semi-circular colonnades, which symbolize the outstretched arms of the church embracing the world. The colonnades were built in 1660 and consist of four rows of columns totalling 284. Each column is 20 meters high and 1.6 meters wide. There are 140 statues standing on top of the colonnades depicting popes, martyrs, and other religious figures. The columns created a wonderful shade as they gently curved away into the distance.

At the centre of the square is an Egyptian obelisk standing 25.5 metres tall – 41 metres if you include the pedestal it stands on.

A fountain was installed to the right of the obelisk. To maintain symmetry Bernini installed an identical fountain to the left.

The Square is huge! It covers about 11.6 acres. When the Pope is addressing the people, such as Easter morning, 400,000 people cram into this space. I saw a long, long, long queue of people and asked someone if this was the queue to enter the church. Yup! I had to walk to the opposite side of the Square to position myself in this human snake winding along the perimeter of the Square. The 45-minute wait went quickly. Everyone was friendly and eager to chat. We saved each other's spots in the queue when someone wanted to take some pictures and offered to take pictures of you with the Basilica in the background. I was told to arrive early to avoid the worst lines. I thought I had arrived too late already. However, later in the afternoon, the queue was sent through a maze-like one sees in airports.

Everyone had to pass through security and metal detectors to enter the church. Huge signs reminded people to dress discretely. No food, drink, or backpacks were allowed.

St. Peter's Basilica was built 1506-1626. It is 220 metres long, 150 metres wide, and 136.6 metres high. Even the portico is elaborate. The ceiling has fancy decorations. The marble floors have geometric designs. The doors have arches and are flanked by pillars. The doors have religious scenes carved into them. One door shows St. Peter being crucified upside down.

Stepping into the nave leaves one stunned by the beauty. The high domed ceiling gleams golden. There are high arched alcoves leading off to various magnificent monuments.

Each column has bas-reliefs of cherubs holding reliefs of religious figures. The surface area is 15,160 square metres and can accommodate 60,000 visitors.

Attention is drawn to the apse. The huge bronze canopy that covers the papal altar dominates the area. It stands 20 metres high. The columns are spiral. The altar is only used by the Pope.

In front of the canopy is a circular marble railing with a set of steps leading down to the presumed grave of St. Peter. It is encircled by 95 bronze oil lamps. No one is allowed into the area, not even from the basement crypt.

Directly above is the majestic dome. It is 135.7 metres to the top and has a diameter of 42.5 metres. There are 16 colourful ribs that are supported by four massive pillars. Light enters through the 17-metre lantern and sixteen large windows below the cornice. I climbed to the dome the next day. More on that later.

Behind the canopy, against the apse wall, was St. Peter's Throne. Tradition says Saint Peter, the first Pope, used this oak chair. It is enclosed in a gilt bronze casing and supported by four church fathers. Above the throne is a large alabaster window shining a golden light.

I made a bee-line for the Pieta, off to the right. It is the most famous monument in St. Peter's. It is a marble statue of a very young Mary holding the dead body of her son, Jesus. It was created in 1500 by Michelangelo when he was only 25 years old. It is the only work of Michelangelo that bears his signature. He etched his name on the ribbon that runs across Mary's chest. It sits behind bulletproof glass because some fool damaged it with a hammer in 1972. (That also explains why we go through x-ray machines to enter.) It is a beautiful and touching piece of art. The drapes on the fabric look as soft as if it were real fabric. Mary's face looks sad yet resigned to her son's lot in this life.

There was a mass going on when I arrived and the apse was barricaded off just in front of the seated statue of St. Peter. The bronze St. Peter is seated and appears to be giving a blessing. Centuries of pilgrims touching his right foot has completely worn his toes off. The toes on the left foot are not looking so good either.

There was one statue that had me completely captivated. St. Veronica supposedly felt pity for Jesus as he carried his cross. She wiped his forehead with her veil. The statue gives no hint of this story. Rather, she looks like she is standing in a hurricane and holding her robes from flying off her. The statue is 5 metres tall.

I wandered through the church marvelling at the magnificent monuments and pictures. All of the pictures were actually mosaics made from such delicate pieces I did not notice it was not a painted picture until I read the description posted below.

The monuments were larger than life size. The detail in the sculpting made them look alive. The white marble gleamed.

One monument had two angels grieving by the tomb door. It was very touching.

The marble floor of the Basilica has colourful geometric patterns.

There are many Pope's Coats of Arms inlaid in the floor.

As one enters the Basilica one walks over a large red porphyry disc. Most people walk in without even noticing it. This red disc is where Charlemagne was crowned Emperor on Christmas night in 800 AD. The disc was 500 years old at the time. We absently walk across where Charlemagne once kneeled.

Every so often there was a fancy air grate with the papal insignia at the centre. These air grates allowed ventilation to the crypt below.

I went into the crypt where various saints and nobility have their tombs. There are also chapels dedicated to some of them. It had a low ceiling and many arches. Each arch seemed to have a sarcophagus of some sort. Some were very plain, others fancy.

I took a tour of the Treasury which contains church ornaments, statues, papal mitres and lots of gifts from nobility. It had the most interesting audio guide. Rather than key in a number to hear about the object, I was handed a postcard map of the treasury and an electronic sensor. All I had to do was touch the sensor to the item I wanted to hear about. The Basilica was high tech!

Most Catholic Churches have art that depicts the tragedy and sacrifice of its martyrs, and usually quite gruesome. All of the art in the Basilica seemed to show the glory of God and His magnificence. It was rather cheerful. I was so taken with the Basilica that I returned after my Vatican Museum tour, then again the next day, and the next, as well. I obviously could not get enough of it.

I had my time slot to see the Vatican Museum and hurried off along the Vatican wall until I came to the entrance. I was glad to have an advance ticket, as the queue was very long for those hoping to enter at the last moment.

The museums contain roughly 70,000 works of art collected by the popes throughout the centuries. Only 20,000 pieces are on display in its 54 galleries. There is a LOT to see! I knew I was in for a good time when, upon entry, I came to the impressive spiral Bramante Staircase.

It was a maze of long galleries jam-packed with statues, vases, beautiful ceilings, and decorative floors.

One gallery is dedicated to tapestries.

other gallery is dedicated to maps indicating the spread of Christianity.

Another gallery is dedicated to the greatest masterpieces of the art world, including the “Transfiguration” by Raphael and “St. Jerome in the Wilderness” by da Vinci.

Every nook and cranny had something to see. It was definitely sensory overload!

Even the courtyard was not without its wonders. The famous Pine Cone Fountain stands against a wall.

The contemporary golden Sphere within a Sphere sat more in the centre of the courtyard.

Within the museum is a suite of four rooms that was once part of the papal apartments known as the Raphael Rooms. Their claim to fame is that they were decorated by Raphael and his students. The rooms are so cleverly painted that it looks like there are marble statues lining the walls.

There are huge frescoes painted above and filling the arches. Even to the untrained eye, it is easy to detect Raphael's work over his students. The most famous fresco is 'The School of Athens'. It depicts the distinct branches of knowledge by paying homage to the various masters in their field. Portrayed are Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Zoaster, and Ptolemy. Da Vinci and Michelangelo are also portrayed. It is rumoured that Raphael peeked in at the Sistine Chapel and was so impressed that he felt compelled to add Michelangelo to his own masterpiece. His own self-portrait is tucked in as well.

Going from the Raphael Rooms to the Sistine Chapel took me through a gallery of contemporary art. Although it contained pieces like Rodin's 'The Thinker',

It was mostly, what I considered, crappy art. In comparison to the intricate detail of artistry I had just walked through for the past 4 hours, this was horrible. (My apologies to those who think it is wonderful – I didn't.) The ceiling in one area was whimsical with cherubs seemingly at play.

The hall to the Sistine Chapel did not prepare me for what is ahead. First of all, a guard is telling people to keep moving, no pictures, keep moving, no pictures. Once inside, the chapel is not as big as I had imagined. It is 40.2 metres long, 13.4 metres wide, and 20.7 metres high; rather long and skinny. Of course, the first thing I saw was the famous ceiling and since you can't walk while looking straight up, that is why the guards tell you to keep moving.

I won't go into detail over the ceiling as, I am sure, everyone has seen pictures of it and is quite familiar with the famous “Creation of Adam”.

Every inch of space has a fresco. I really did not know where to look first. I could not focus on any one piece for more than a few seconds. It was so busy it drew my attention in 5 directions at once. Which is why I went through twice. I was a bit more prepared the second time. On the second time through I had learned to find a spot in the middle of the chapel and stay put. The guards didn't seem to bother people in the middle as much as the sides.

The walls are painted look like drapes hanging. It took me a moment to realize they were not drapes.

An interesting fact is that not everyone knew God was supposed to be God. It was such a new and shocking way of depicting God that a bishop once wrote, “ Among the most important figures is that of an old man, in the middle of the ceiling, who is represented in the act of flying through the air”. Michelangelo made it up as he went along. He considered himself a sculptor, not a painter. He vehemently objected to the job, thinking he was being set up to fail by his enemies. He was in an awkward situation. He could not refuse the Pope's request. He was a nervous wreck. He painted himself holding his head in agony on the wall painted with the Last Judgment. He got his revenge by painting one of his loudest critics with donkey ears. He did not paint on his back, as legend has it. He painted standing up.

The blue of the sky in the Last Judgment is more vivid blue than the ceiling. The ceiling was painted first and Michelangelo had to pay for his own paint. Even at the astronomical price of 2 million dollars (today's conversion), he used paint that was at hand. The later Last Judgment was paid for by the church and they had him incorporate lapis lazuli into the blue, hence the vividness.

I made my way out of the Sistine Chapel, through the Patio of St Gregory the Illuminator, and found myself back at St. Peter's Basilica. Fantastic! I looked around the Basilica some more, taking in what I had missed the first time and admiring some of my favourite parts again.

It was fairly late by the time I headed back to the guest house. I was tired and hungry. I came upon Hostaria Vincenzo Ristorante a Roma a short walk from the guest house. It looked inviting with its outdoor seating. I just wanted some food before calling it a night. I ordered pasta with a mushroom sauce. It was delicious. The owner treated me like I was their favourite customer. I ended up eating there every night until I left.

It was a perfect day!

Friday morning I decided to go back to the Basilica. I realized I had missed some things after reading the guidebook the night before. I got there earlier and hence the queue was much shorter, only 20 minutes this time.

I bought a ticket to go up to the dome. There 320 steps to the roof level. After all the walking I had been doing, it did not seem so bad. I entered the gallery inside the dome. There were mosaics running along the entire circumference.

From the floor below, they looked small when they were actually huge.

We could not walk completely around, as part was gated off. However, I did get an excellent view of the apse, main altar, and transept from above.

The climb to the top of the dome proceeds through progressively narrower and steeper stairs. The outside curvature of the dome makes the inside walls curve in as well, so I was walking leaning to one side. It is lit by faint bulbs and the odd ray of sunshine and fresh air from the occasional slit. This is not for the claustrophobic!

The view from the top of the dome is amazing. I got an excellent picture of St. Peter's Square.

I also got a nice bird's eye view of the Vatican Gardens.

I also got a nice picture of a Rabbi and taking a picture of a Monk at this Catholic church.

The staircase down emptied onto the roof, where we could see the lantern of a smaller dome.

We were behind the statues that grace the colonnade. At 3.2 metres high, they are much bigger than I had imagined when viewing them from the Square.

I had a cappuccino and pastry in the roof-top cafe before returning to ground level. I looked through the Basilica yet again before heading to Castel Sant' Angelo.

Castel Sant' Angelo was built in 12 AD by Emperor Hadrian as a monumental tomb for himself and his family. It is located in a direct line from St. Peter's to the River Tiber and the Sant' Angelo Bridge. The mausoleum proved to be an excellent foundation for a grand castle. The finished product is a massive round building with 5 levels. It originally was faced with marble, which has been scavenged away, leaving huge poxed stones.

Fortifications of walls, towers, and bastions were added over the years, converting it into an unassailable military fortress. It has also served as a prison and papal residence – sometimes at the same time.

In the 14^th century the castle was connected to St. Peter's Basilica with a covered, fortified, secret corridor called Passetto di Borgo in case the Pope needed to make a quick and safe get-away from marauding enemies. It was used on two occasions to save two different Pope's lives. One occasion left three-quarters of the Swiss Guard dead covering the Pope's escape.

After entering, I passed through the mill-room, peeked through the Passetto di Borgo, was amazed at the catapult and cannon balls still standing on a bastion,

walked along the fortified walls,

past the gun workshop,

and guard's room

until I entered a long staircase with a gentle incline.

This was part of the fortification. If someone could make it past the moat, the bridge, and the guards they thought they had free access to the castle. Wrong! There were trapdoors built into the ramp-like staircase, so cleverly disguised they would never have seen them.

Carrying on, I walked through the restaurant laid out on an outer wall. Some tables were tucked into alcoves that were clearly defence positions at one time.

The uppermost levels were the actual castle that was occupied by many a Pope. They were all very elaborately decorated, with original furniture and paintings still gracing the walls.

Each level had open courtyards within the walls and thereby still offering protection.

The very top level had really good views of Rome, Sant' Angelo Bridge. and a fantastic view of St. Peter's Basilica. (You can see the secret passageway on the left of the picture.)

The uppermost level also had the statue of Archangel Michael sheathing his sword. Legend has it that during a severe plague a vision of the archangel was seen sheathing his sword. The plague ended soon afterwards. A chapel was erected on the spot and the Castle renamed 'Castle of the Angel Saint.

I made my way back down through the wide circular ramp that was initially built to carry the Emperor Hadrian's remains to his tomb. It was wide enough and easily sloped for the carriage and horses.

There has been someone occupying the castle, continuously since its inception which is why it is in such terrific condition. It was decommissioned in 1901 and converted to a museum.

Upon leaving the Castle, I walked along the river until I came to Piazza del Popolo. It is a large square where public executions used to take place. Now, the only executions are the ones wished upon politicians by the protesters who favour the square for demonstrations. There is an obelisk in the centre and a Neptune Fountain on one side of the square and another fountain on the opposite side. Steps lead up to Pincian Hill and its beautiful lookout.

Before the day was over, I booked another Vatican Museum ticket so I could see the things I felt I had missed or not paid significant attention to before. I had to print this ticket, rather than use my phone. It took me a while to find a shop who could print it out for me. I went back to Hostaria Vincenzo Ristorante a Roma then called it a night.

On Saturday, I returned to the Vatican Museum. It was packed like sardines. There were so many people that I got shuffled along with the crowd, not being able to see anything besides someone's head beside me. There was no way I could get to either wall to see the exhibits. Thankfully, I had a good look at them before. The exhibits that I really wanted to see were not that busy. Amazing!

I passed through St. Peter's Basilica, yet again. This time there was no mass going on and the barricades were removed, which allowed me to get closer to the items in the apse. I was really having a lucky day!

I walked along the river, in the opposite direction from the day before and came to the Trastevere district.

I was having a good time just getting lost in the atmosphere. The streets were narrow and the walls of the buildings were covered with vines.

Shops were simple yet inviting.

Some shops were creepy.

Restaurants sprung up at every turn.

Some displaying a menu sampling.

Wine corks were wedged between the cobblestones.

I came upon a street market full of local artists.

Santa Maria Maggiore basilica was not far from where I was staying and I had delayed seeing it because I felt I could always just catch it on my way to or from somewhere. Since this was my last night in Rome, I figured I had best see it. The afternoon was pleasant, I had plenty of time, so I decided to walk. I got lost, again. But getting lost in Rome is never boring.

I came to Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II. How on earth did I miss this the other day? The Capitoline Museums is right around the corner! This huge, huge white marble monument was built as a tribute to the first king of Italy. It is 120 metres wide and 70 metres high. The winged victories on the roof add another 10 metres. Dozens of steps make their way up to a massive colonnade of 15-metre columns.

At the centre of the monument is the colossal bronze statue of Victor Emmanuel II on his horse. It weighs 50 tons and is 12 metres long. It rests on a pedestal decorated with intricate reliefs.

At the foot of the statue is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guarded day and night by alternate branches of the military.

There is a museum inside, but I did not go in. There was one statue out front that caught my eye. I don't know the meaning behind it, but there was a lady (angel?) kissing an apparently dead man as he was slung over the shoulder of another man in chains.

I could hear music and singing so I walked to the side of the patio to see where it was coming from. The street was blocked off and there was a festival going on. Perfect! It was not out of my way to my destination, so I thought I may as well check it out. This day was getting better and better!

I walked past the Santa Maria de Loreto church, which is on the very edge of ancient Roman ruins.

The blocked off street ran alongside the Roman Forum and directly to the Colosseum. I ambled my way along telling myself that life does not get better than this.

There was a street band playing some lovely music so I stopped to listen. They were sitting on the edge of the Roman Forum. An old man was dancing in time to the music. He was incredible! It was almost like his legs had a mind of their own. He danced through every song, whether it was upbeat or a waltz. The sun was setting on the Forum. The musicians lounging in their chairs, strumming their instruments like they were an extension of themselves, the old man danced. Life does NOT get better than this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGx-7zTdHzY

I bought their CD and carried on. The sun was now low in the sky and it cast a wonderful glow on the Colosseum. I could not pass up the unique photo opportunity.

Finally, I realized if I was going to get to Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, I had best hurry up. But not too fast....

I arrived at the basilica and was thoroughly impressed, but could not figure out where the door was. Someone told me this was the back of the church. Wow! If this was the back side, then the front and interior must be amazing. I went around to the front (which was actually less impressive than the back) to find that they were not letting any more tourists in for the evening. Darn.

I made my way back to the guesthouse, passing the train station. I popped into the station and noted where the bag storage was located. Back at the guesthouse, I found a new guest in the bunk across from me. I was simply going to grab a sweater and head out for dinner when Patricia struck up a conversation with me. We soon discovered we had a lot in common and as this was her first night in Rome and my last, we decided to go out for dinner together. I filled her in on things to see and do. We shared information about where we were from, former occupations, etc. We exchanged emails. I think we would have had a great time touring Rome together, but alas, we crossed paths too late.

We had agreed to go to Santa Maria Maggiore together in the morning. I told her my plan of storing my bag at the train station, going to the basilica, then retrieving my bag before catching the shuttle bus to the airport. When I awoke, she was sound asleep, so I left her a note and departed.

I did not have a lot of time to tour the basilica as Sunday mass was about to commence. The first church on this site was built in 432 AD. The church we see today was completed in 1743 and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The bronze entrance door displays episodes from the life of the Mary.

The interior of the church had a rather simple layout; but its all in the details. It has a long nave lined with pillars. The coffered ceiling is gilded gold.

The floor's mosaic is so intricate it looks like a carpet.

There are mosaics all along the length of the church depicting Bible stories. The mosaics come to a climax in the huge triumphal arch in the apse.

There were beautiful side chapels. One of the chapels had a mass going on for the priests who were about to conduct the Sunday Service.

The other chapel held the Holy Sacrament. Four life-size gold-leafed bronze angels hold up the ciborium (the container that holds the Host).

There were beautiful pictures held aloft by angels, as well as beautiful statues.

There were numerous confessionals with signs posted on the front as to the different languages of the priests as well as the times that particular priest was available.

I saw some priests waiting quietly in their confessional – with their cell phone glowing blue.

There was a gift shop off to the side that also leads to the sacristy. The marble floor leading to this area was worn into a huge dip.

There was an announcement that unless you were staying for mass, you must leave. Fair enough. As I was about to exit a procession of 20 priests, plus a bishop, were coming out of the sacristy. The organ came to life. The choir began to sing. The incense was smoking the place up. I stood there, entranced. The organ seemed to vibrate my insides. The choir gave me chills. I watched the procession make their way to the front of the church, then quietly slipped out the door. Life really does NOT get better than THIS! https://youtu.be/us3KFNNY0Vg

A comedic moment: A piece of incense fell out of the thurible. The priest looked to another in shock. The second priest almost imperceptibly jerked his head to the side. The first priest quickly kicked the smouldering lump to a column base and kept walking.

I walked, smiling, back to the train station, retrieved my bag, and headed to the shuttle bus. My life-long dream of visiting Rome had come to fruition. I will forever hold those wonderful, perfect days in my heart. Life is beautiful!

Portugal - Zambujeira do Mar

irenecabay — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 08:10:00 GMT

On our return to Portugal, we stopped for one night at Zambujeira do Mar. The winding and hilly road brought us to the sleepy fishing village on the west coast that also has some agriculture. However, it is tourism that keeps this town alive. After we checked in to Rosa dos Ventos we went for a walk to the sea. We didn't know what to expect, but the steep cliffs were definitely not it. There were signs that said: “Walk only along the marked trails. Unstable cliffs. Danger of falling.” We walked along the boardwalk path across the sandy landscape sprinkled with orange succulents and purple heather. The path took us to an amazing lookout over the sea with the rocky cliffs going on for miles to the north. We got a close up look at one area of the cliffs, it was shale and as slick as glass. Yup, we will definitely stick to the trails!

The surfing is supposedly good here. The only beach we saw was at the bottom of a large cliff and had dozens of steps leading down the cliff face from the road above. It looked nice and sandy, but there were not many people.

We walked into the town centre and peeked into a few shops. Nothing interested us but we were getting hungry so we stopped in at a seafood restaurant. I think they were all seafood restaurants, actually. They all had seating areas outside of the building, but every one of them was glassed in. I can only imagine how windy it must get when the wind comes in off the ocean. I ordered prawns. The waiter asked me how many prawns I would like, as they were sold by weight. I said I didn't know, so he brought me a prawn to show me how big it was. It was the size of a big lobster! I ordered only one.

The town looks fairly new. There are a few older buildings, but for the most part, all the buildings are brand spanking new with perfectly painted colourful trims and perfect little yards on perfectly straight and gridded streets.

Our guesthouse had rooms surrounding a tiled square courtyard that had a fountain and two turtles. The backyard had a garden of hydrangeas.

The next day, we headed back to Lisbon to catch our respective flights. We stayed at Lisbon's Airport Guest House which was a 15 minute walk to the airport. It had a large backyard with a clothesline, an orange tree, and a persimmon tree. We were welcome to eat as much fruit as we wanted. I needed to do some laundry as I still had 5 days in Rome before returning to London for my return flight to Canada. We walked to the airport to see if it was viable to walk with luggage the next day. It was not. However, once at the airport, we caught the metro to the pastry shop and botanical gardens that I mentioned earlier.

The following morning we took a taxi to the airport where Ed returned to Canada and I caught a flight to Rome.

Spain - Malaga & Cadiz

irenecabay — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:50:00 GMT

We were driving right past Malaga on our way to spend the night in Cadiz. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga and although he had left the city, never to return, at the age of 19, they realized the importance of their native son and had a museum dedicated to him. We have never been huge fans of Picasso but thought if we stopped in at the museum we might garner some insights that would have us appreciate his art more.

This is a quote from the brochure: “Picasso's fundamental contribution to the 20^th century stems from his transformation of the work of art into an expression that vindicates absolute individual liberty in the face of conventions, rules, manifestos, and dogmas. Picasso switched from one style to another with unparalleled ease. He interpreted and played down the canons developed by the great painters of the past, and manipulated stereotypes and myths of bourgeois culture, opting to bestow dignity on quotidian anecdotes and short stories that become great visual poems in his hands. Picasso was an artist who rethought the history of painting and thus revolutionized the fundamental and previously untouchable principles of representation. He demolished once and for all the hierarchical humanistic relationships in which the representation of the human form was more important than that of the object.” “Theses themes include the sense of origin, of roots, and of family and the importance in his work of those closest to him and everyday life; the historic role that the artist played as the creator of Cubism and his invention of images which synthesize multiple formal but also conceptual viewpoints; Picasso's approach to classic genres in the history of painting, such as portraiture, still life, landscape, and the nudes, well as the profound relationship of respect, inspiration and rivalry that he maintained with the great masters of the past; and finally, his remarkable ability to discover processes and invent supports that represent innovations in the history of the visual arts.”

We came away with only one insight which was in regards to his painting the front and side of the face together. It was explained that this is how a baby sees its mother – two denominationally, either from the front or the side, because the baby is so close to the mother's face this is all it can possibly see at any one time.

At the end of the entire tour and exhibition, after seeing some of his reportedly finest works, whether sculpture or painting, it still looked like something a guy with the talent of my 2-year-old granddaughter, who was totally high on some hallucinogenic.

We disputed whether stopping was a waste of our time or an experience to ponder about as we drove to Cadiz.

Cadiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain and one of the oldest in western Europe. It has a wealth of attractive vistas and well-preserved historical landmarks. But we didn't see any of it. We found a nice guesthouse (Ana de Viya B&B) a block away from the beach and basically parked our asses on the beach for the entire day. We had to pay 5 \euro each for the privilege of a lounge chair, but it was near a food kiosk and toilets so it was worth it. The B&B consisted of a very small bedroom and a shared bathroom. She kindly left a tray of snacks and drinks for us in the morning before she left for work.

We were on our way back to Seville.

Gibraltar

irenecabay — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 03:23:00 GMT

We stayed in the small coastal town of San Roque, just outside of Gibraltar. There was not much to see or do, but it was lovely and quiet. Our room at Hotel Las Camelias had a view of the water. It also had a restaurant with a patio to enjoy evening drinks. We walked to the marina and admired the many yachts before coming to a wonderful Belgian restaurant, the Mytilus, where I had the best sea bass dinner ever!

The following morning we drove to Gibraltar. The Rock dominates the horizon well before one gets within 30 km. We had to cross the runway that divides British Gibraltar from Spain. The airstrip was originally a grassy horse racecourse, it was commissioned to an airstrip during WWI. The Spanish objected to its use when a plane crashed on their side of the frontier fence and the airstrip closed. In 1934 there was talk of reviving the airstrip. Between the Spanish, the British Army (which was using the space for training exercises) and the Jockey Club it remained a rarely used grass strip until WWII. It quickly became obvious that the runway needed to be properly surfaced, widened, and extended to cope with the wartime demand. In January 1942 the runway lengthening began. By July 1943 it was doubled in length. Today it still separates Spain from British Gibraltar and is used by airplanes, cars, and pedestrians. When a plane is coming in or taking off guards make sure everyone is off the tarmac. Barriers are lowered and the wait begins. If there are multiple planes taking off or landing the wait can be a couple of hours. It is a common late-for-work excuse. Today, there is a tunnel being built under the runway that should solve the traffic problem. Interestingly, there is a street sweeping regime that continually cleans the runway to prevent the massive plane engines from sucking in any debris. A stray plastic bag or a fallen bolt could prove deadly should the engine suck it in.

We parked near the Cable Car and took a ride up the 673 meters to the Ape's Den. It is called the Ape's Den because there are scores of barbary macaque waiting for handouts when the cable car stops. They are a wild, tailless monkey believed to have been brought from Africa centuries ago. There is documentation as early as the 1600's which speaks of them being a nuisance. Despite being cautioned repeatedly by the cable car attendant that the monkeys are wild and not to get too close to them, people were trying to pet them. We went into the gift/coffee shop for a moment and there were signs warning people not to take food outside. We were barely out the door when there was a skirmish with a monkey swatting a bag of potato chips out of a woman's hand, ripping her handbag in the process, and devouring the chips. Her baby monkey was screaming and screeching nearby because the mother monkey was not sharing. They may look cute and cuddly, and almost human looking, but they are not. They have long sharp teeth and nasty fingernails.

We took a few shots of the Rock peak behind us then proceeded to St. Michael's Cave. It is a limestone cave with such large and beautiful stalactites and stalagmites that it is also called St. Michael's Cathedral. Because of its natural acoustic properties, it was converted to an auditorium. It is a regular venue for theatrical productions, all genre of musical concerts, and even beauty pageants. We wandered around awed at the size and beauty of the natural formations.

We continued our downhill walk admiring the view from our great height and wondered about some large rings pounded into the cliff face. We think they may have been to secure the cannons that were brought up from sliding back down the hill.

There were curious yield signs with rabbits, a praying mantis, butterfly, and other creatures on the face of the sign.

We came to the Great Siege Tunnels. Everyone has heard the line “Solid as the Rock of Gibraltar”, we found out why.

A siege is when soldiers try to capture a strongly defended town or fortress by surrounding it. The attacking forces hope that by cutting off food, supplies and reinforcement the defenders will eventually surrender. This has happened many times to Gibraltar, but the 14^th siege that began in 1779 and lasted 3 years, 7 months and 12 days is known as the Great Siege.

There was a huge gap in Gibraltar's defenses, and until it was fixed, Spanish forces would continue to advance using the cliff to shelter themselves from bombardment from the existing fortifications. A tunnel was excavated during the siege, initially as a way of getting a cannon onto a large natural projection on the cliff face, known as the Notch, to protect the gap.

To build the tunnel they bored holes into the rock and used large chisels (called jumpers) to split the rock or pack it with gunpowder to blow chunks off. They often used natural fault lines that minimized stress fractures in the rock, resulting in a stable tunnel 200 years after it was made. In comparison, the mechanical drilling, nitro-glycerine, and straight line tunneling used in WWII has contributed to rapid decay of the tunnel that was built later.

On May 25, 1782 work began. In 5 weeks they had dug an 8 foot square tunnel 82 feet into the rock. At the end of 6 weeks a hole was made to the outside. Whether by accident, to vent the tunnel to outside air, or to dispose of digging material is unknown, either way, the hole in the rock face was an excellent place for a cannon. Realizing this was better than one cannon on the top, they began to mount a series of cannons along the length of the tunnel itself. When the siege ended in February 1783 the tunnel was 370 feet long with four guns mounted in six embrasures.

The first opening in cliff face did not allow for the recoil of the cannon so the tunnel had to be enlarged. This is the only cannon in the actual tunnel and not a cave. These cannons were heavy and when they recoiled they had ropes looped through huge rings to pull them back into firing position. The rings were affixed with a 30cm spike drilled into the rock and held in with molten lead.

The siege ended before the Notch was reached, but tunnelling continued. Instead of placing a single gun on top of the Notch they hollowed out a space beneath it and installed an entire gun battery. The large, high ceiling chamber with openings for 7 guns was named St. George's Hall.

Artillerymen found a way to use ropes hung like curtains (called mantlets) to protect themselves from shrapnel and small arms fire, and shield them from view as they reloaded the gun. The mantlets also helped to reduce sparks and smoke from blowing back into the openings when the cannon was fired.

Interesting tidbit: On 13 September 1782 the Spanish and French launched 10 heavily armoured ships to pound Gibraltars weakest defenses, hoping to create a breach for 300 specially designed boats to land. It was common knowledge that a spectacular attack would soon take place and around 80,000 spectators gathered. The Spanish even built a grandstand for dignitaries. At the end of the day, the British took 357 men prisoner with another 1473 Spanish and French killed, wounded, or missing. I suspect the home team spectators went home disappointed.

As time when on, the old cannons were upgraded with newer ones. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Gibraltar was never directly threatened for the rest of the century. However, the British continued to improve the fortifications, including the addition of another 12 km of tunnels.

No significant alterations to the tunnel were made until WWII, when attacks from the air, rather than land, were the new threat. The Great Siege Tunnels were extended in two directions during the war, with a long straight extension called the Holy Land Tunnel - so named because it points in the direction of Jerusalem. Built with Canadian diamond drilling ingenuity it continued through to the east side of The Rock. The aim was to provide facilities for a garrison of 16,000 men to live inside the Rock for up to a year. Designs for storing food, water, disposing of waste, laundry facilities, and a hospital were made. Massive generators were installed to power searchlights scanning the skies. There are a total of 48 km of tunnels inside the Rock.

We were getting rather tired leaving when we left the tunnels so we carried on the downward trail that lead back to the town. We walked past the Lime Kiln dating that is the last remaining kiln from the 19^th century. It was used to produce lime for white-washing buildings, paint cisterns to prevent bacteria and to pour over dead bodies to prevent the spread of plague. Also used to heat cannon balls.

Just past the Lime Kiln was the City Under Siege. It was a small exhibition that consists of the original buildings from the 1700's. Mannequin characters help the exhibit come to life. It was here we learned about the logistics to survive a siege. Stone channels collected rain water and channelled it into underground cisterns sustaining a population of 7000 for 3 years. To preserve the stocks of flour the General stopped his soldiers from powdering their hair. The high prices that could be charged for even small quantities of poor quality food tempted ships from North Africa to smuggle supplies past the enemy. Civilians often survived on little more than grass, seaweed and wild onions. Small gardens were a valuable thing. A cabbage could cost over two days pay. The head and feet of a sheep sold for 3 weeks wages! Sieges were often long and boring. Many soldiers passed the time by carving graffiti on the walls, recording a unique record of their time – literally carved into stone.

To prevent the enemy from using landmarks, many towers and steeples were demolished. Paving slabs were lifted and roads plowed in case a cannon ball hit, causing the ball to sink into the earth rather than ricochet about the streets.

We carried on down the Rock, stopping briefly at the 8^th century Moorish Tower of Homage. We were very tired by this time and barely peeked inside. Notably, its picture is on the Gibraltar five-pound banknote.

We got back to the car and headed back to San Roque where we found a quaint market and stocked up on some breakfast fixings (bread, butter, parma-ham, tomato, cucumber, cheese).

We left for a brief stop in Malaga before heading to Cadiz for the night.

Spain - Granada

irenecabay — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 11:57:00 GMT

We arrived in Granada and had a heck of a time finding a place to park, again. We ended up about a 10-minute walk from Hostel Lima. This had to be one of the nicest places we stayed on this entire trip. It was spacious and very decadent in its decor. We even had a chandelier.

We simply wandered around the first day. We were looking for a specific restaurant, which we did not find, but wound up finding a very nice place to eat very near the souq. That's right, there is a souq in Granada that has survived since Moorish times. It is squeezed into a labyrinth of streets and alleyways and sells a jumble of items, most predominantly stained-glass lamps.

After lunch, we decided to head to a hill that was supposed to have a spectacular view. We strolled along a wide street where no one seemed to be in a hurry. We came upon a street market but didn't buy anything. We continued walking until we came to a wide park-like area along a creek. There was a group of fellows playing Swing music. They were incredible! I immediately bought a CD. Since there was an outdoor cafe directly in front of the musicians, we decided to have a beer while continuing to listen and watch them play. They looked like a bunch of fellows that found each other in the park and decided to play together – which, their skill, was highly unlikely. They played the flute, sax, 2 violins, 2 guitars, and a fellow used the box he sat on as a drum. They were just having so much fun. I was so enamoured with their music I bought a second CD. The same one, but I just wanted to give them more money. After about a half hour, they packed up and disappeared. I still have the CDs though!

We finally made it to the hilltop. There was a nice restaurant and we decided to have another beer. I must mention here that I typically do not drink beer, certainly not Canadian or American beer. In Europe, the beer is made in micro-breweries, is fresh, had no preservatives, has no carbon bubbles, and is refreshing as well as full of vitamins and minerals. It is like a shot of multi-vitamins. And it tastes SO much better. It was the perfect pick-me-up on hot days full of walking.

We took a few pictures of the Alhambra across the valley before making our way back down the hill to return to our guesthouse. We were not sure of where we were going, exactly. We only knew that we were near the Cathedral and we navigated by sight of the steeple. We went down steep steps in residential areas, spotted pretty cafes tucked in between buildings,

walked along amazing cobble-stoned streets, and generally just enjoyed not knowing where we were. When we got to the commercial part of town we saw dozens of hams hanging over customers sitting at a bar,

street lights that mimicked the stained-glass lanterns in the souq,

street posts that had pomegranate toppers,

cobble-stones designed to look like pomegranate,

a bronze sculpture of Queen Isabella the Catholic and Christopher Columbus at a round-about and a bronze strip inlaid in the sidewalk that said the name of the street.

In the grocery store, we saw 5-litre bottles of olive oil for the Canadian equivalent of $36. Considering Spain produces 44% of the world's olive oil, it was a damn good price.

Our host told me that unless I bought an advance ticket for Alhambra I would have to be in a queue for tickets by at least 6:00 am! He assured me he would arrange a taxi at that hour the next morning. Ed chose not to come.

True to his word, the host called a taxi for me at 5:30. The taxi driver spoke a bit of English while I spoke a bit of Spanish but the conversation was getting more detailed than either of us had the capability of carrying on. He pulled out his cell phone and brought up Google translate. It provided us to carry on a decent conversation, although a bit slow waiting for the translation. He agreed with me that traffic lights should be equipped with motion sensors so that when no one is coming (as at 5:30 in the morning) he would not have to stop and wait for a light. He also confirmed that being at the gates by 7:00 would be too late for a ticket.

There were already about 30 people in the queue. I was very glad I brought my jacket, scarf, and hat, as it was very chilly. Even by Canadian standards, sitting on a cement curb at 12 degrees Celsius can get cold. I was also glad I brought some bread, ham, and cheese. It was like the Camino, all over again. At 8:00 the gates opened but they would only let a few people in at one time, those with advance tickets took priority.

A bit of history: Alhambra is some of the best preserved Islamic architecture in Spain. It was palace and fortress originally constructed in 889 and rebuilt in 1333. Each ruler who lived in the complex extended on the previous owner but all kept the theme of “paradise on earth”. Moorish poets described it as a pearl set in emeralds, an allusion to the colour of the buildings and the woods around them.

After the Christian conquest, it was the site of the Royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was here that Christopher Columbus received the royal endorsement for his expedition. Neglect allowed it to fall into disrepair for centuries. Napoleon damaged the side as an act of retaliation. Thankfully, it has persevered for us to enjoy today.

My tour began in the Generalife, a garden area attached to the Alhambra. Being a botanical lover, this was heaven to me. There were long slender pools flanked by square myrtle hedges. Towering walls of cyprus stood as erect as guards overlooking the pools. Benches along the cyprus welcomed one to sit, relax, meditate, and absorb the beauty.

Arches cut through the cyprus allowed one to pass to yet another garden.

Myrtle hedges cradled roses bushes of every colour.

The sound of cascading water caressed the ears as sprays of water danced from delicate fountains.

The sights, sounds, and smells of the gardens made one want to weep with joy. It was no wonder it became a place of rest for the Muslim Kings when they needed a break from the tedium of official life.

The Palace of the Generalife had a long reflecting pool with single spout fountains along the length. Myrtle hedges flanked the pool with flowers of every colour flanking the hedges. We walked along the path beside the open archways that held a view of the Alhambra across the ravine. Another garden at the Palace had islands of myrtles enclosing the rosebushes. Fountains danced on the water surrounding them.

The gently winding Waterfall Staircase took me down to yet another garden.

From there I walked under an archway of oleander to a path lined with towering cedars then along another path flanked with groomed cyprus. On the one side of these cyprus was a huge rose garden and an archaeological site. I finally reached the small village of Alhambra. It had a few tourist shops.

The original Mosque baths were across the street. It was here that the faithful would cleanse themselves prior to prayer. It was also used to socialize. The distinguishing feature was the star-shaped holes in the ceiling, to let heat escape. The building still held a dignity with its arches and pillars made of brick.

I passed through the Puerto del Vino (Wine Gate)

and made my way to the Alcazaba Tower – the Watch Tower. It is 16 meters square and 27 meters high. Considering it is built on a hill, the view was spectacular.

It also offered a good view of the original barracks below. There is still a bell that used to warn people of attack. It is said if a single woman strikes the bell she will be wed within the year.

I took a different path down to the main plaza, near the Wine Gate. It had me walking along the fortress walls. It was like another garden. There were huge trees, flowers, and fountains. An old man was tending to some grape vines. It was shady and peaceful.

A part of the outside wall was built with a rounded top. It made me wonder if that was for looks or to keep someone from gaining a foothold should they try to climb up.

Next, I went to Palacio de Carlos V. Built in 1526 by Charles V, who wished to have his residence close to the Alhambra palaces, this building has never been a home to a monarch and has stood roofless until 1957. It is a huge building (63 meters square and 17 metres high) with a pillowed stonework. It has large bronze rings affixed to the stones to tie horses.

Inside, it has contains an inner circular patio with two levels. Two grand staircases lead to the upper level. It was a vast empty space with the columns and sunshine creating their own beauty.

I had a 12:30 time slot to see Palacio Nazaries – the Royal Complex. This was the old Islamic palace and there is no messing around when it comes to security. A guard with a muzzled dog stood watch as people showed their tickets. A sign clearly indicated the rules: No touching. No smoking. No food or drinks. No flash photography. No selfie sticks. Kids must be supervised. No strollers. No rucksacks. No pets. And it is slippery. Between the dog and the sign, I think it was quite clear not to break any rules.

We were guided from one gorgeous room to another. Every room had intricate plastered walls

and outrageously detailed ceilings, floors, and doors.

Some rooms had fountains that served to cool the room, then drained into the reflecting pool in the courtyard.

The most beautiful courtyard was the Court of the Myrtles. The pool acted as a perfect mirror for the delicate arches of the Arab Palace.

These pools helped to cool the palace but were also a symbol of power as water was usually in short supply. To keep the pools filled was difficult and expensive. Speaking of water, this medieval palace also had a bathroom with running water (cold and hot) as well as pressurized water for showering. As with most of the rooms, they were open to the elements to allow light and air in.

The Court of the Lions is an oblong courtyard surrounded by 124 white marble columns. At the centre of the courtyard is an alabaster basin supported by 12 marble lions. Each hour one lion would spout water from its mouth, much to the amazement of those who saw it. This was ingenious for its time, as well as another show of power.

While every room was elaborately detailed in its decoration, the rooms and gardens were actually open and airy. There were hundreds of people wandering through, but even still, it felt spacious. It must have been heavenly in its day.

I had been walking around for over 6 hours, but still had to go back to Generalife for one last sigh. I had a quick bite to eat at an on-site restaurant before heading back down into the city.

Initially, I was going to take a bus back down, but when I saw the lovely forested street leading downhill I decided to walk.

The street took me past the Gate of Justice with its huge fountain, then onto a path leading through a park. I came upon a statue of Washington Irving.

Further on, I came to a huge archway that brought me to the same street that Ed and I had wandered down the day before.

I went back to the guesthouse where I found Ed and we went out for an early dinner/late lunch.

After eating, we decided to check out the Granada Cathedral. I was quite tired and we had been to so many cathedrals, we rather hurried through. The thing that did strike me was the sparkling white columns. The way the sun shone in made them absolutely dazzling. The checkered floor was also interesting.

The next day we headed for Gibraltar, with a stop in Malaga.

Spain - Jaen

irenecabay — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 09:40:00 GMT

We stopped at St. Catherine's Castle, an 8^th century Moorish fortress. It changed hands many times over the years, with the Christians and Napoleonic French enlarging and reinforcing various aspects of the fortress during their occupation. It still sits majestically at the top of a large rocky outcrop overlooking the town of Jaen, with sweeping views of the countryside. There are olive groves as far as the eye can see. There is a hotel cleverly built to look like an extension of the Castle.

It is sort of shaped like a ship, with the bow part being a pentagonal shaped Watch Tower. It was from this tower that signals were sent, via mirrors and smoke, to other defensive towers. Near the tower were underground granaries, which were converted to jail cells during the French occupation. The stern holds the Keep and Tower of Ladies, which has a barrel vaulted ceiling and lancet windows. The middle part has the stables. We couldn't make out the unique indoor toilets – which were practically unheard of in medieval times. The waste went through the wall and dropped 35 meters below.

There were 3 water reservoirs at one time, that held rain water directed from roofs. One got blown up after its abandonment during the War of Independence. The French poisoned another in 1812. The third was also doomed by the French when they filled it with debris.

This particular Spanish province has over 400 castles, towers, and turrets, having the highest concentration of defensive systems in all of Spain.

Outside of the castle walls, a steep narrow path leads to the Cross. It occupies the highest point of the outcrop, in front of the Watch Tower. Fernando III ordered it during the Christian conquest. It is the only spot on the hill that has a view of the cathedral below.

We carried on, as we were anxious to get to Granada.

Spain - Cordoba

irenecabay — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 09:42:00 GMT

On our way from Seville to Cordoba we stopped at the small town of Carmona for lunch. We parked behind a church and wandered around a bit. We found a lot of abandoned churches. We had our lunch in the plaza then carried on to Cordoba.

As with Seville, we stayed in a hotel outside of Cordoba. We checked into Hotel La Lancha in the village of Alcolea. We arrived early so drove back to Cordoba to scout out where we wanted to be the next day.

We quickly found the old city and parked the car in a parkade built around Roman ruins. We walked out of the old city to the river. We came across an old water mill that was built to bring water to the Palace gardens, but Isabella didn't like the squeaking noise so it was torn down. What we see today is a reconstruction.

The Guadalquivir river is wide enough for small islands that used to have flour mills. They used the current of the passing water to turn the mills. Today, they are inhabited by birds.

From the watermill, it was a short walk to the Roman Bridge. The bridge, too, is mostly a reconstruction. However, the 19^th century cobbled paving does give it a Roman feel. It is close to the great Mosque and ends at the Calahorra Tower on the south side. The bridge has 16 arches and abutment protections. We watched fish swimming about, never being swept along by the current, for a long time. Halfway along the bridge was a small shrine to St. Raphael. We were more taken by a musician playing some mean blues on his harmonica. We listened to him for a long time, then bought a couple of CDs from him.

The Calahorra Tower was about to close so we returned to the north bank and entered the old city through Arco del Triunfo. It was getting late so we made a mental note of the entrance to the Mosque-Cathedral before finding a nice restaurant to have dinner.

El Olivo restaurant was amazing! It was a tiny courtyard in the back of a gift shop, surrounded by rooms for rent on the second floor. It was all white with royal tablecloths. The chairs were delicate wrought iron painted white and adding to the ambience. There were flower pots bursting with flowers attached to every wall. It was beautiful. While we were enjoying our dinner, we were told that the flamenco dancer would be starting in an hour. How could we leave? We had another beer and waited.

A male guitarist, another man and a woman came onto the small stage. While the guitarist played the man and woman accompanied him by clapping a beat. They didn't sing but made sounds that also added to the guitar music. After a couple of songs in this manner, the woman got up and danced am aggressive flamenco while the guitar played and the other man clapped and sang. It was the perfect evening. The lights were low, the music passionate, the dancing fierce, and the surroundings enchanting. Life doesn't get much better than this!

The next day we returned before the Mosque-Cathedral was open to visitors so we wandered through the old city. Cordoba is famous for its flower-filled alleys. We were late in the season but still found lots of flowers spilling out of pots attached to the walls. There were courtyards lush with potted plants, flowering and non-flowering.

We came upon a curious shrine affixed to the outside of the Cathedral wall. It had several steps going up to a small shine with another set of steps leading down.

We walked through Plaza de las Tendillas which serves as a connector for the main commercial avenues.

We walked through Plaza de la Corredera which has an elaborate history as a site of public spectacles, including bullfights and Inquisition burnings. Nowadays it's ringed by balconied apartments and is home to an assortment of cafes and restaurants. It also hosts a busy morning food market selling all kinds of fresh produce. We caught them packing up their wares. With the plaza being boxed in on all sides by apartments, the mid-day heat must be stifling.

We came across the Roman temple of Cordoba which was discovered in the 1950s during the expansion of City Hall. That explains why a modern building was incorporated into the ruins.

There were funny signs with a picture of a dog near drainage grates that said “pipi aqui”. Pee here. Too funny!

We also saw a sculpture of a famous sculptor – Juan de Mesa. The details on this sculpture were exquisite.

Along the river, the street was blocked off for a festival. There were kids riding bikes and skateboards. There were vendors selling their wares. It was nice to see that there were water fountains on the sidewalks. How clever in a hot climate!

We had killed enough time for the Mosque-Cathedral to be open. We bought our tickets in the Orange Tree Courtyard. As the name indicates, this courtyard is full of orange trees. Although the entire courtyard is covered in cobblestones, there is an opening for each tree, similar to trees planted on modern streets. There was a central well that had water pouring into irrigation channels running to every tree.

Entering the Mosque-Cathedral had us stop dead in our tracks. We were greeted by a forest of columns, arches, and domes. There are 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble and granite. The alternating red and white brick and stone over the arches created a hypnotic effect. There were elaborate double arches to help support the higher ceilings. It was a forest of aches, so simple, yet so amazing. We simply wandered around gawking like kids.

On the east side of the building was the Mihrab, the prayer niche that faces Mecca. The arches became heavier and more elaborate as we got closer.

The Mihrab itself had gold mosaic on the walls – 1600 kilos of gold! If we had not read that detail we would never have guessed. It was shiny but very simple in its design.

The shell-shaped ceiling is carved from a single block of marble.

At the centre of the mosque is the cathedral. The Mosque dates back to the 8^th century. When the Christians captured Cordoba in the 13^th century they began to use it as a church. In the 16^th century, they added the cathedral. When it was finished the King admitted that they had ruined a beautiful building. It is your typical cathedral with an opulent main altar, intricately carved choir, huge organ, and high Gothic ceilings. In comparison, I preferred the Mosque part. It was open and simple, despite the 1600 kilos of gold. The cathedral part had a busyness to it that was distracting.

We passed a museum of the Inquisition and had a tour. It was the most gruesome and horrible display of Christian righteousness I had ever seen. Torture devices were on display with placards stating exactly how the device was used and the exact kind of pain and suffering the victim experienced. I hurried through as it was very disturbing.

We went back to the Calahorra Tower for a tour. It was originally a fortified gate built by the Moors. Enrique II added the round tower, connecting the outer arches of the gate. It was used as a prison and a school before becoming the museum it is now. This fascinating museum had audio-visual presentations which depict how life was in Cordoba around the 10th century when Christianity, Muslim and Judaism lived side by side. Student: “But what, then, is the best society?” Averroes: “One where each woman, each child and each man has all the means to develop their God-given potential.” Wow! Wise words from the 12^th century.

We learned, with the help of a diorama, that agricultural and irrigation methods of the Muslims were an improvement over the Roman system of terracing and aqueducts. Muslims put in vents and locks to regulate the evacuation and accumulation of silt. There was a display of medieval surgical tools developed by the Muslims.

There was a model of the Mosque before it became a Cathedral. It was interesting to see it wide open. There were lots of dioramas depicting life in Cordoba throughout the years. They were very well done and life-like.

We went to the top of the tower and had a fantastic view of the Roman Bridge.

We stopped for dinner at Taberna Restaurante El Olivo and ate under the olive tree. Sweet. The restaurant was outside the old city walls, beside the moat.

While we were eating I noticed one of the doorways into the old city was wider on the bottom than the top. After dinner, we went for a closer look, and sure enough, we could see where carts had scrapped the lower level of the stone away.

It was time to head to Granada.

Spain - Seville

irenecabay — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 00:15:00 GMT

After leaving Monsaraz on our private blueberry trail of a road, we crossed the border into Spain.

Rather than stay in busy Seville, we booked the Hotel Lince in nearby Aznalcázar. It was a sleepy little town surrounded by olive and orange groves. The room was spacious and nice. It was a short walk to a quiet bar and a beer.

The next day we drove the 25 minutes back to Seville and found some underground parking near the old city. We came up from the parkade only to discover we were very near Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza - bull arena. We wandered in to discover they were giving a tour in a few minutes. Built in 1749, this bullring is considered to be one of the finest in Spain and one of the most important in the world. Although bullfighting is losing popularity with the younger generation, the 12,500 seats still sell out. We were given a tour of the outer circle of the arena that houses a museum that traces the history of bullfighting from the 18^th century to today. There were paintings of bullfights, bull's heads mounted, and matador's suits. Even the wall tiles had bulls heads painted on them.

Further along was where the bulls were brought in and kept in stalls until their fateful event. The area that held the picador's horses had horse head rings on the walls to hold the horses. The entire area was spotlessly clean. One would never know that livestock comes and goes from here – alive and dead.

Just before the main entrance to the arena was the chapel where matadors pray before entering the ring. It is said that no one feels more alive than a matador facing death. There was an earthen water jug in the corner of the chapel. I don't remember the significance, but it was important.

We entered the main arena through the same gates as the bulls. The circular arena is quite large and is covered in sand. There are two rows of bleachers all around. The centre of the arena is slightly higher than the outer edge giving the matador an advantage to sprint downhill to get behind a barricade before the bull crashes into it.

The top set of bleachers are covered. The most expensive seats are on the shady side of the arena. The Spanish Royal Family sits over the Prince's Gate – a beautiful 16^th century iron gate that was originally from a convent. After an outstanding performance (very, very rare) the bullfighter is to be carried through these gates on the audience's shoulders.

One evening, back in Aznalcazar at the bar, some old men were flipping through TV channels and lining up their chairs to watch the bullfight on TV. We had just ordered our beer and these old guys looked like they were getting ready to watch Babe Ruth hit a home run. We were curious, so we watched too. The old men were proper armchair quarterbacks. Although we could not understand them, it was obvious by their gestures and tones of voice they were critiquing the event. When the first bull caught his horn in the dirt, did a flip, and broke his horn off the old men were beside themselves with chatter and arm waving. The bullfight was quite as gruesome as we had anticipated, but none the less not something I care to watch again.

The bull comes out snorting mad. They must do something to it when raising it so that it is so mad. The matador must be a crazy person to stand in front of it and tease it with his pinkish cape. Every now and then, the bull decides to go after the picador and his horse. I have the utmost respect for the picador's horse. It has padding, like armour, all over its body; but even at that, it allows itself to be pushed, prodded, and attacked by the bull all the while standing its ground. Amazing.

The matador does not tease the bull very long before the banderilleros come out with two long barbs which they stab into the bull and quickly run away. Now the bull is mad as hell. These barbs are like a fish hook, they go in but not out. The bull is bleeding all the way down its shoulders while the matador changes to his red cape and teases the bull more. Even at this stage, with the bull weakened by blood loss, there is no way you would get me in front of that animal. But this is where the matador shows off. He turns his back on the bull. He drops to his knees while waving the cape in front of the bull. Finally, when the bull's tongue is hanging out and half his blood is soaking into the ground, the matador takes his sword and stabs it into the bull's heart. A team of horses come out and pull the bull off the arena. If half the audience petitions the President by waving their handkerchiefs, the matador is presented with the bull's ear. Then the whole thing starts again with a new bull. The matador will fight 3 bulls in a night.

After the bullring, we walked through the vine-covered archway of the metro,

past a fountain with a bronze lady lazily reclined and looking down at the passing water,

along the Avenida de la Constitucion, being careful of the tram that ran back and forth

and made our way to the Seville Cathedral.

The Cathedral was originally built in 1172-1198 as a mosque. Shortly after Ferdinand III's conquest it was razed and a cathedral was built on the same large foundation. The internal space was divided into chapels to more suit Christian worship practices. It took 100 years to build. Construction began in 1401 and lasted until 1506. It is said that the church elders stated, “Let us build a church so beautiful and so magnificent that those who see it finished will think we were mad.” At 11,520 square meters, it is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and either the second or third largest church in the world. If based on volume (height plus square footage), it surpasses them all. Its central nave rises to 42 meters and has 80 side chapels. It has 15 doors to enter.

We entered through the south Door of the Prince which was decorated with intricately carved dragons and gargoyles. The bronze El Girladillo weather vane stands outside the door. This is a replica of the statue that stands on top of the cathedral's bell tower, La Giralda. More on that later.

We entered through the gift shop, paid our fee, then entered the cathedral itself. It took our breath away. It was huge, spacious and incredibly beautiful. The wide pillars rose up to the Gothic ceiling. The domes had carvings of presumably saints and angels. There were massive paintings on some walls. There were beautiful tombs of important clergy and kings. Even the floors had beautiful geometric patterns. That said, there was an overall simplicity and restraint in decoration.

We quickly made our way over to Christopher Columbus' tomb. The tomb is held aloft by four bearers representing the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Navarra. While other cities claim to hold the remains of Cristobal Colon, recent DNA tests have proven these remains to be true.

Attention is drawn to the Great Chapel that is protected behind huge wrought iron gates that rise at least 30 meters high. The altarpiece itself is 30 meters high and 20 meters wide. It is comprised of 45 carved scenes and 200 figures of saints from the life of Christ and is covered with “staggering amounts of gold” - no amount was actually given. The elders must have indeed been mad.

Opposite the great chapel was the choir. It had elaborately carved 15^th century choir stalls.

The massive organ is coupled to the structure of the choir stalls.

Near the Great Chapel and Choir is the Silver Altar. As the name indicated, it is entirely made of silver. Much of the original silver was used to pay for the expenses of the War of Independence. It has statues on either side of a very large chalice looking structure.

The Chapter House has a magnificent domed ceiling that is mirrored in the marble decoration of the floor. There are lots of delicate alter pieces on display.

Ed was getting tired but I decided to go up to the top of the bell tower, La Giralda. It is 105 meters high and has a square base of 13 meters long per side. It is the former minaret of the original mosque. It was built to resemble the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, Morocco. It was converted to a bell tower after the conquest. It is one of the most important symbols in Seville. Rather than steps to the top, there is a ramp to walk up the 35 segments. It was designed wide and tall enough for a man on horseback to ride to the top. To reach the bells, I had to walk up a mere 17 steps.

At intervals along the ramp were small, gated side rooms that acted as mini-museums. There was the original bell on display, as well as the original door knockers from the 1100's. I was amazed at how many bells were at the top. There were dozens of various sizes mounted between every archway. They were all connected to mechanical gears that suggested they play in harmony with each other. What a lovely sound they must make!

A bird's eye view gave me a good indication as to the size of the Cathedral.

Before exiting the cathedral completely, we had a small walk in the Patio of Oranges.

At one of the doors, the Camino de Santiago shell was embedded into the cement. I quickly spotted a yellow arrow while tears welled up in my eyes. Oh, how I long to do the Camino again.....

We wandered the streets and alleys of old Seville, stopping for a coffee, beer, or snack whenever the mood hit us.

Overall, Seville was a great place to wander and get lost. Everywhere we turned was a beautiful building, a statue dedicated to someone or something, an outdoor cafe with a mist of water to keep the customers cool from the heat, spacious plazas, weird and wonderful street art, posters of matadors, and interesting shops selling flamenco dresses, delicate fans, and children's flamenco shoes.

Many streets and plazas were covered with canvas creating shade.

There was bougainvillea bunched up along a boulevard to look like proper trees.

There were huge trees to rest under, with roots so large we could sit on them.

There were old tile signs still affixed to walls of long-forgotten businesses.

There were churches all over the place. (I read somewhere that there are over 30 churches in Old Seville. I have not been able to verify this.) We happened upon the Metropol Parasol – a large wooden structure that resembles giant mushrooms.

There were many religious shops selling priest's robes and religious paraphernalia. It was curious that many shops had a figurine that resembled the Ku Klux Klan. We asked about that and were told that the anti-Catholic KKK basically stole the conical hood idea in mockery of the original meaning. It is part of the uniform of certain religious brotherhoods as a symbol of the Catholic penitent. Only members of the brotherhood are allowed to wear them during solemn processions. Different coloured hoods mean different penances.

We happened upon a beautiful courtyard tucked away off the busy Avenida de la Constitucion. We passed through a corridor to enter. The buildings were semicircular, cradling a fountain at the centre of the courtyard. It was sparkling white and shockingly quiet for being so close to the main thoroughfare. The Sunday Market shops sold collector's items of money, stamps, and military insignia.

The following day we returned to explore Real Alcazar. It is the Royal Palace in Seville and originally developed by Moorish kings. The upper levels are still used as the official residence by the royal family, making it the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.

The palace was a maze of beautiful rooms, fountains, and courtyards. It was not hard to see that this was built and decorated for royalty. Everywhere we looked were delicate carvings and archways. Even the cobble-stoned pathways were elaborately placed. Ed found a maze garden with cedars creating the pathways. It reminded me of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire tri-wizard scene. We spent most of the day simply wandering through the gorgeous palace and around the magnificent grounds. It was beyond anything we had ever seen before.

Outside the walls of Real Alcazar was another park that blended beautifully with the Alcazar grounds. It was in Jardin de Murillo that we saw a monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus. It has two columns rising up to hold a lion with its paw on a globe, symbolizing the Spanish empire. The two columns are connected midway up by a caravel – a Spanish sailing ship – with the names of Isabel on one side and Fernando on the other. The pedestal has a relief portrait of Columbus in a medallion.

We stopped for lunch at Mirador San Fernando Restaurante. The service was superb. We discovered at the end of our meal that the owner, Javier, himself had served us. No wonder it was so good. We were brought our butter in a small pail.

We walked past the old tobacco factory that opened in 1758. The original tile sign still graces the wall. At its opening, it employed 1000 men, 200 horses and 170 mills to grind the Virginian tobacco into snuff. Spain was the only manufacturer of snuff for centuries. Another 700 men were employed to make cigars. At its peak production years of the 1880's, it employed 6000 workers.

When the tobacco operations moved to a different neighbourhood in 1950, it was decided the historical building should be used as the headquarters of the University of Seville. We walked in with a group of people and had a quick peek. We walked through a gallery full of marble statues and busts then through a courtyard.

We were not sure we were supposed to be there so we made our way out of the first exit we saw. On our return walk on the backside of the old factory, we saw it used to have a moat.

We walked to Maria Luisa Park to check out the Plaza de Espania. It was built in 1928 for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and covers nearly 46,000 square metres. It is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous bridges. Each end of the half-circle of buildings has a tower. At the centre is a huge circular fountain.

By the walls of the plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain. The buildings consist of Government departments.

There were boats giving rides along the moat. Kids were playing in the mist of the fountain. People were taking selfies in the tiled alcoves.

Vendors were selling lacy fans and castanets in the shade of the centre building. People were wandering along the wide deck of the second floor of the buildings.

There was a lady dancing flamenco while a guitarist plucked out the beat. Every detail of the place was beautiful. The railings and spindles were either beautifully tiled or carved.

The paving stones had geometric designs. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. We were so taken with it that we went back the next day.

When we returned the next day, we took a stroll through Maria Luisa Park. We came to Glorieta de Becquer monument. It encircles a Cyprus tree. The main figure is the poet Becquer which rises above the others. The second group of figures three female figures seated on a bench (made of a single piece of marble) symbolizing three states of love – illusioned love, possessed love and lost love – based on a poem composed by Becquer himself. There are two figures in bronze that represent wounded love, a lying figure with broken wings, and the love that hurts, a young Cupid. Not surprisingly, it is a popular place for lovers.

It was time to head for Cordoba.

A note about Spanish roads: The locals drive like maniacs, but then again they know where they are going and are used to the hills and curves. The highways are typically lined with towering trees, even if there are fields behind them. Storks nest on power poles and on highway signs. Near the coast, the signs are in Spanish and Arabic.

There are miles and miles and miles of olive groves.

The boulevards between divided highways typically have flowering oleanders.

Driving in the cities is a nightmare with their winding, hilly, narrow, and one-way streets. At times it is a wonder how cars and people can occupy the same street as there are only inches to spare between the car and a wall.

Street parking is impossible to find, and underground parking nearly as hard. Once found it was always questionable if there are any parking stalls open. The car parks are also very narrow, sometimes being built around Roman ruins. Cars parked on the street have only inches between them. We have no idea how they get in or out. If there is a space of a couple of feet between the cars, a motorcycle squeezes in.

Portugal - Monsaraz

irenecabay — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 08:02:00 GMT

Due to its geographical location, this hilltop has been occupied by different people since pre-historical time. Recorded history has the Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, Mozarabs, Jews, and Christians here successively, as well. It reminded me of the Moorish Castle in Sintra, only in much better condition, but as with Sintra, part of the walls were incorporated into the cliffs.

We wandered around the entire castle, which was not very large. We got our first glimpse of a bull arena, which is obviously still used because there is a beer stand on one end.

We walked along the wall of the arena then back down into the town part of the fortress. There are shops, a couple of restaurants, and a few homes. We saw our first pomegranate tree. Pomegranates are so expensive at home that we drooled at the sight of an entire tree laden with fruit.

The Templar Tavern was closed, much to Ed's dismay, so we ate at a little cafe located on the fortress wall.

We could see for miles and miles and it was easy to see why this has been a strategic location for eons. It was a fun and relaxing visit but it was time to hit the road again.

The GPS on my phone said to take a certain road, so we did. It was a very picturesque road but got progressively narrower and more crooked. We did not see one other vehicle for the 2 hours we were on it. We saw a few farms and there were miles and miles of olive groves and cork trees, but we did not see a single person. We passed a couple towns, and even there we did not see anyone. We passed an abandoned town and crossed its lovely, old stone bridge. We saw lots of stone fences overgrown with vines and prickly pear cactus. The road was basically a paved blueberry trail, and at times the pavement disappeared. All that said, it was beautiful. It was rather mountainous and heavy with the smell of pine and eucalyptus. We were grateful to see the busy highway again but sad that our leisurely drive was finished.

We crossed the border into Spain and spent the next 12 days touring through Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Gibraltar UK, Malaga, and Cadiz. There is a separate blog on that part of the trip.

Portugal - Sintra

irenecabay — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 07:54:00 GMT

Palácio Nacional de Sintra

The next day, Sunday, we left Lisbon and headed to Sintra. We found a parking spot not too far a walk along a sculpture-filled ravine park from the Palácio Nacional de Sintra in the heart of town. The plain Gothic exterior of the Palace is dominated by two 33 meter chimneys that rise out from the kitchens, that are still used when visiting dignitaries are brought to the palace. It was the most lived in royal residence, being continually used from the 15th century up until the fall of the monarchy in 1910. The Royal family vacated the Gothic palace in the 19^thcentury.

The outside of the Palace may seem plain, but the interior is anything but plain! There are massive halls with ornate carvings around the windows and doors. Wooden cabinets were intricately decorated with turtle shell and ivory.

Stone floors are a mosaic.

The Blazon Room has various coats of arms on the domed ceiling, each encircled with a gold frame. The walls of the Blazon Room are all tiled to a height of about 3 meters, depicting hunting scenes as well as whimsical characters.

Other rooms included the Swan room – with 27 wooden panels with swans in different poses painted onto the ceiling,

the Mermaid Room, the Galleon Room and the Magpie Room, which has 136 paintings of magpies on the ceiling representing the gossiping and scheming of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting.

The Manueline Hall hosted a huge dining table, a crystal chandelier that holds nearly 100 candles and a pure silver mirror over the fireplace.

The Grotto of the Baths is one gigantic alcove made entirely of decorative tiles.

The opulence of this Palace grabbed us at every turn. Every painting, tile, sculpture, and ceiling had us in awe.

The kitchen, as I mentioned, is still in use. The two chimneys are 33 meters high and basically form the conical ceiling of the kitchen. The plain white tiles run from counter top to ceiling, or in this case, where the chimney starts. One entire length of the approximately 30 meter long and 10 meter wide kitchen is oven. They look like countertops, but have ovens beneath them, so the countertop is really a stove top. A huge closet looking affair on one wall is a plate warming oven. There are stone prep tables large enough to carve an entire cow. Even the serving dishes were decorative and golden. We were gobsmacked!

Every palace has its dark side. This is the palace that King Afonso VI (1650s) was imprisoned during his later life, as he was deemed, by his brother, too unstable to rule the country. The stone tiles are worn, in a path, from the bed to the window.

I wanted to go up to the Moorish Castle, but Ed was getting tired. He also knew there would be lots of hilly walking, so they agreed to meet at a coffee shop at a certain time. Ed explored the town a bit and found a shop that had the most delicate porcelain dishes. They had what looked like ribbons and lace, but were actually also made of porcelain and were part of the dish.

Moorish Castle

The Castelo dos Mouros was constructed by the Moors in the 9th century as a fortified military observatory. It acted as a watchtower over the Atlantic coast and the northern territories, functioning as an observation post of the city of Lisbon. After the invasion of central Portugal by the Christian Crusaders in the 12th century, the importance of this viewpoint waned and the castle fell into disrepair. The castle deteriorated further after fire (from lighting) and earthquakes during the 17th and 18th centuries. The all but forgotten castle was restored during the 19th century by the Forestry Service. Later, the Ministry of Culture declared the area of special interest and work began by cleaning it up and installing electrical boxes to entice tourism. It is on a very, very high hill and does, indeed, offer a spectacular view of the region.

The road leading up to the Castle is quite long and winding. Considering how high up this hill is, the number of switchbacks are unavoidable. After purchasing the entry ticket, it is about a 5 minute walk further up the hill. It seems impossible that there should be any structure built in and on these massive boulders. Some rocks were the size of a small house. The path navigates through lots of trees and huge rocks to get to the Castle. Even within the Castle walls, there is almost a forest of trees.

The Castle Keep on one hill is connected to the Royal Tower, on another hill, by a long wall that balances on the edge of a steep cliff.

There are hundreds of winding stone steps leading up to the individual towers.

There are remnants of stone walls that were once stables and military quarters.

Granaries carved out of the rock, like small caves, used to hold cereals and legumes. One remarkable feature is the granite block cistern that still holds water and bears the stonemason's marks.

Thanks to restoration efforts, it is safe to walk the walls enter the towers. However, everything looks all of its centuries-old age. It is wonderfully ancient and primitive.

The time to reunite with Ed was drawing near, so a trip further up the hill to Pena Palace was not viable. (Pena Palace is supposed to be even more opulent than the Sintra Palace and is used for state occasions by the President and other government officials.) I caught a tuktuk back down the hill and met Ed at the coffee shop.

We had booked a rural guesthouse by a neighbouring town. When we got there, no one was around. We called and the host said he was at a birthday party and would be home shortly. We took advantage of the time and went into Ericeira for dinner. We drove back to the guesthouse. There was still no one around. It was getting dark and cold so we headed back to the ocean side town of Ericeira where we found a lovely guesthouse. Casa Branca was the home of a semi-famous poet. Her granddaughter now owns this almost palatial house and converted it to a guesthouse. We spent a quiet and comfortable night. The next morning we stopped at the grocery store nearby and bought some food for our journey to Evora.

We had to drive back toward Lisbon and over the 17,185 meter Vasco da Gama Bridge before we left the bustling city behind on our way to Evora.

Portugal - Lisbon

irenecabay — Wed, 6 Sep 2017 07:47:00 GMT

LISBON

I arrived in Lisbon the day before Ed because my flight would have arrived after his, and considering he was flying directly after coming off a night shift I didn't want him waiting for me. Also, I wanted to find the Mignac Hostel so we were not entirely lost. This turned out to be a very smart decision because it was not very easy to find. The directions the hostess gave me were perfect, except for the fact that there was no sign on the outside of the building and none of her neighbours knew anything at all about a guest house in the apartment building. A friendly, English speaking woman finally called on her own cell phone and only then did the hostess wave from the third floor window. Once it was all sorted, it was a nice place to stay.

I took the metro to the airport the next day and met Ed. We rented the car he had reserved and tried to navigate with the GPS provided in the car. It took us on a tour of the city before bringing us to the guesthouse. (We soon found out it was better to rely on Google Maps on my phone. My UK SIM card was not working so I had to buy a new one.) However, there was no place to park by our guesthouse. After dropping Ed's luggage we drove around and around to find a parking lot. We found one 3 blocks away for €30 a day. GASP!! Just the drive to the guesthouse convinced us to NOT drive. Lisbon is very hilly and has lots of one-way streets. It is horrible to navigate. So basically, we paid a fortune just to park a rental car.

Ed was absolutely knackered and wanted to take a nap. I decided to take the hop on hop off bus and scout out what we could see and do for the next few days. I saw some really nice things and decided where we would go the next day.

The next day we jumped on the bus and headed straight for the Belem district. It was the furthest away and (to me) the most spectacular. We first went to Jerónimos Monastery. It is a spectacular Gothic building that seems to go on forever. We didn't exactly plan properly and didn't realize there are amazing cloisters to be seen at the Monastery. Alas, we missed it.

Jerónimos Monastery

The Monastery was built in 1501. It was built thanks to a 5% tax on commerce from Africa and the Orient, which worked out to about 70 kilos (150 lbs) of gold per year. It probably didn't hurt that Portugal was also pillaging the Americas by this time, as well. With the influx of such riches, architects were not restricted to small-scale plans.

The Church of Santa Maria de Belem

The Church of Santa Maria de Belem is at one end of the monastery. The ornate entrance is 32 metres (105 ft) high and 12 metres (39 ft) wide. It features gables and pinnacles, with many carved figures standing under a canopy in carved niches. The thing that wowed us was the six 25-metre-high octagonal columns decorated with ornate carvings. It is rather dim in the church but the light from the high stained glass windows cast a beautiful glow on the tops of the columns and lattice looking ceiling.

There is, of course, the huge gold altar. There is also the tomb of Vasco da Gama, the navigator who found the sea link between Portugal & India. It almost seemed in homage to a man who helped funnel riches into the country.

Pasteis de Belem

After the church, we walked the short distance to the Pasteis de Belem, a pastry shop that makes the best custard pastries in Portugal, if not all of the Iberian Peninsula. We queued for several minutes to order one each from the tiny takeaway counter. We sprinkled a bit of icing sugar and cinnamon on it and ate it on the sidewalk. They were very, very good, but we didn't realize just how good. Every time we saw what we thought were the same pastries after that, we were sorely disappointed. On our return trip to Lisbon, two weeks later, we made a special trip back to the shop and actually went into their restaurant. When we were there the first time, there was a long queue waiting to get into the restaurant. We just assumed that it was a small coffee shop type affair, hence the long wait. Boy, were we wrong! The small humble appearance is just a facade. The restaurant seats 400 people – and there is a continuous line of people waiting for a seat! It appeared as though they kept buying out the neighbouring shops, kicking out the walls, and expanding their enterprise. When we exited, after our delicious lunch of quiche and two pastries each for dessert, we came out half a block down from where we entered.

Now back to the order of things. Belem Tower is just across the park and down the road from Jeronimos Monastery. The park is impressive in its own right. It has a huge fountain that has to be about 20 meters across. There are smaller fountains, as well as statues of old kings. The shrubs are cut and shaped into fancy designs. Huge trees shade benches and paths.

Belem Tower

Belem Tower was constructed from 1514-1520 under the regime of King D Manuel I in tribute to the patron saint of the city, St. Vincent. It was built as both a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon and as part of a defense system to the entrance of the Tagus river. It eventually lost strategic importance and over time served as a prison, a customs post, a telegraph station and a lighthouse. The first architect of the nearby Jeronimos Monastery participated in decorating the Belem Tower. It is 30 meters high and 12 meters wide. It was classified a UNESCO world cultural side in 1983.

We queued for about an hour in the hot sun because they only allow a certain number of people within the Tower at a time. This may seem unfair to those waiting, but once inside it is quite nice not to have hoards of people to contend with. Thankfully, we had our hats and a water bottle. The Tower is quite domineering and impressive standing solitary on the edge of the river and across a large empty park. While waiting, we could see people entering and exiting a balcony.

The massive structure absolutely dwarfed the people while the beautiful balcony seemed more akin to having a princess waiting for her knight in shining armour. It was built from limestone and almost white in colour, making any shadows accentuate the medievalness of its appearance. Its bartizan turrets cling gracefully to the corners adding to the effect.

Once inside, we were directed to head straight up the steep spiral staircase. There are 4 levels. Each level is basically one room. The rooms were smaller than I thought they would be but at the same time very elegant with a fireplace and stone benches allowing one to look out of the larger-than-I-thought windows toward the land side of the tower. The stonework and flooring were marvelous. On the second level was not only the small balcony we saw earlier but a huge balcony on the river side of the tower. It extended the entire breadth of the Tower. The sunlight shining in made the whitewashed columns dazzling. From this balcony, we could look down onto the horseshoe-shaped bastion.

The center of the bastion is open, allowing light and air into the lower level cloister. Surrounding the opening is a statue of the Virgin holding child and tall ornamental pillars that reminded me of chess pieces.

The lower level had displays and also had the old prison – with its super low ceiling so that we could not stand upright. Were people really that short in olden times?

The first three floors have ceilings made of hollow concrete slaps, to hold the heat. The fourth floor is a chapel and had rib-vaulted ceiling.

On the outside of the Tower is a deteriorating carving of a rhinoceros head. The story goes that in 1513 King Manual I gave it to Pope Leo X as a gift. However, the ship that was carrying it from India sank, but the rhinoceros was recovered and stuffed with straw. It made its way to infamy being being sculpted onto the base of a turret.

Monument to the Discoveries

It was a short walk to the Monument of the Discoveries. It stands on the northern bank of the Tagus River where ships once departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient. It celebrates the age of discovery or exploration of the 15^th and 16^th centuries. It was conceived in 1939 for the Portuguese World Exhibition. It was constructed as a temporary structure. However, in 1958 the government promoted a larger permanent structure made of steel, cement, rose-tinted stone, and limestone. It stands 52 meters high and takes the form of a bow of an early Portuguese exploration ship. 16 statues grace each side with a figure of Henry the Navigator on its front edge. The statues include monarchs, explorers, cartographers, artists, scientists, and missionaries. Each figure seems to be moving toward the front, depicting their participation in the events after Henry. It is a moving piece of history in art form. It invoked emotion, and we aren't even Portuguese!

Behind the Monument is a huge beige, black and red limestone compass rose and a medieval map of the world. It was a gift from the Republic of South Africa. It caught my eye but is so big that I could not make out what it was. It was only after I googled it and saw an aerial picture did I truly appreciate it.

It had been a long, hot day. We were tired, hungry, and thirsty. We found a beautiful hotel restaurant, the AdLib, not too far from our guesthouse. It was a bit pricey, but the food and service were excellent. The ladies bathroom was amazing! It even had private lighted makeup mirrors. We ate there a few times over the next few days.

The next day Ed was still feeling the effects of night shift and jet lag. He wanted a less hectic day. I suggested we go to Eduard VII Park. It is a huge park (26 hectares) in the center of the city, to the north of Avenida da Liberdade. It is high on a hill and we could see over the geometrically trimmed shrubs, past Marquess of Pombal Square all the way to the Tagus River. It is simply just pretty.

Marquess of Pombal Square is an important roundabout, with 5 major streets feeding into it. It has a metro station and many buses stop there. At its center is a monument to a powerful prime minister who ruled in the 1700's.

The Avenida da Liberdade is an important avenue in central Lisbon. It links Marquess of Pombal Square and Restauradores Square. It is 90 meters wide, has 10 lanes of traffic, and is over a kilometre long. It has beautiful cobblestone pedestrian lanes and gardens. It has so many huge trees it looks like a forest in the middle of the city. It is the shopping and office district of Lisbon and is also the most expensive real estate in the city. On our return trip, we happened upon a car show being held on the Avenida. Hundreds of antique cars were on display. Ed loved it!

Estufa Fria Botanical Gardens

As we were walking along from Eduard VII Park, Ed spotted something behind a hedge. He commented that it looked like some structure was down below and covered. We walked along and around the corner, and walked along even more before we came to the source of our interest. It was Estufa Fria Botanical Gardens. The reason that we couldn't see it properly is that it is down a very steep hill (a former quarry) and mostly covered with bamboo slats which protect the plants from the winter cold and the summer heat. Once inside the gardens, it was wonderfully cool despite the heat of the afternoon.

What a gem! What a fantastic way to spend a leisurely afternoon. It is 1.5 hectares of botanical lover's delight. It is multi-leveled with hidden paths winding through vines, trees, shrubs, flowers, and waterfalls. It has small bridges and stepping stones over ponds with statues and fountains gracing them. There are small caves with benches to sit, rest, and enjoy.

Outside of the enclosed gardens is a small lake with two tiny islands. One island has a small bridge leading over to it. The other island stands alone. Both islands each have a lovely statue. Ducks and geese float on the lake. We came back to here upon our return to Lisbon two weeks later, as well.

Nearby, is a children's playground with a few kiosks for food and drink. We stopped for a refreshing lemonade on our downhill trek back to Marquess of Pombal Square where we caught the metro back to Restauradores Square near to our guesthouse. It was here that we saw a very elegantly dressed lady half dancing along. But she had no earbuds or evidence of music playing. Maybe she was drunk? We don't know. Either way, she walked over to the playground, talked to some kids, then danced away. It was really weird. Everyone at the kiosk was looking at each other with a "What the hell was that" look on their faces. Maybe she was just happy...???

The Metro is quite an efficient way to get from one end of the city to the other. Some of the stations are decorated with goofy cartoon pictures.

There was an electric tram not too far from our guesthouse that could transport one up and down the steep hill rather than climb the hundreds of steps. In the 19^th century, the Santa Justa lift transported people from the Baixa district to the Largo do Carmo. It is a beautiful wrought-iron structure adorned with neo-gothic arches and geometric patterns. It is now an overpriced tourist attraction leading to a viewing platform. We did not go up.

Lisbon is a very old city and has old and new architecture. A massive earthquake in 1755, coupled with the subsequent fires and tsunami, nearly leveled the entire city. Nearly, but not totally. Some buildings did survive. Within one month it was decided, by the king and his ministers, that the worst-hit areas were to be completely razed and rebuilt – bigger, better, and more beautiful. Roads, squares, and parks were expanded and beautified. There are statues and monuments to former rulers all over the city and all elaborately decorated. Nearly every square and park have a statue or fountain or both. Today, Lisbon hosts an architectural competition for the most beautiful building. It is common to see old and new side by side, and bright colours beside drab grey. There are huge geometric designs and patterns made of cobblestone that go on for kilometers, especially on Avenida da Liberdade. There is no uniformity when it comes to Lisbon architecture, and that is what makes it so interesting. A bus ride is never boring here.

Terreiro do Paco

The next day, Saturday, we walked down to Praca do Comercio (commonly known as Terreiro do Paco). It is was the location of the Royal Ribeira Palace, the main residence of the King of Portugal until the 1755 earthquake destroyed it. It is located on the banks of the Tagus River. The symmetrical building of the square is filled with government offices regulating customs and port activities, with some lovely shops and restaurants thrown in. At the centre of the square is a bronze statue of King Jose I mounted on a horse.

Opening towards Augusta Street is the Arco du Rua, a triumphal arch that has a clock and statues of Glory, Ingenuity, and Valor on top and local heroes of antiquity on the sides. The square is also the site of the 1908 assassination of the last king of Portugal and his heir.

From there we took a tuktuk to where we thought was the Castelo de Sao Jorge. The driver dropped us off at a viewing platform then took us back down the ridiculously steep hill, where we took the Hop On bus back up. In the end, it worked out well because on our walk back down the hill we stopped at a few things the tuktuk driver passed by that struck our interest.

Castelo de Sao Jorge

Little remains from the original 7^th century hilltop walled city fortress that surrounded a castle. The current Castelo de Sao Jorge was founded by the Arabs in the 11^th century in what was then known as Al-Uxbuna. Its purpose was to house military troops, However, in case of a siege, there were also provisions for the elite.

The nearby port made international trading possible and viable. Although there were different currencies bartering in the Medina, it was all based on silver and copper. To balance the bartering field, it was the weight of the metal that determined the value, giving rise to splitting coins into halves, quarters, eighths and even sixteenths. Trade brings people and people brings greed. It was a period rife with turmoil as local and newly arrived foreign principalities jostled for position and power - at home and abroad. The Arabs were ousted in the 13^th century.

During the 14^th century, the city outside of the walls was growing fast, but residents within the walls were restricted by the walls themselves. They made modifications, expansions, and additions such as administration buildings, stables, a hospital, a church, and hostels. They even revived the forgotten sewer system left by the Romans and Arabs. During the affluent world colonization of the 16^th century, still restricted by the outer walls, they turned to beatification. They jazzed up the walls by applying imported tiles with intricate designs which were made by pressing a mould into the wet clay then painting the grooves. An oily mixture was applied to prevent the colours from running together.

There is a magnificent viewing platform outside the castle walls where we could see all the way to the 25 de Abril Bridge. There are two olive trees that still survive from the middle ages.

There are alcoves with stone benches and a fountain interspersed throughout the grounds.

There are statues of various kings. There is a museum showing artifacts – such as the coin fragments and tiles. One area of the fortress is an ongoing archaeological dig, where they have found evidence of settlements dating back to the 7^th century BC. The rest of the site was basically spent walking along the castle walls, going up into some of the eleven towers and through the courtyards. There really wasn't much to see, but with a little imagination, one could envision guards running along the walls, bakers pulling bread from the ovens, and ladies drawing water from the well. Thresholds were polished shiny from centuries of feet shuffling over them. One threshold even had a channel carved into it to fit a door. Amazing! We ate at the cafe on site and were harassed by a peacock begging for food.

Lisbon Cathedral

We walked down the hill, along a staired pathway decorated with goofy street art on one hand and amazing wall tiles on the other hand.

We stopped at the Lisbon Cathedral – or simply the Se. It is the oldest church in Lisbon, dating to the year 1147. Its many renovations included Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque architecture. The stained glass windows are in stark contrast to the bare stone walls. It is as though the glory of God is seeking entrance into this beautiful sanctuary whose only decoration is carved into the stone itself.

The high arched ceilings are held up by columns that have carvings of men spiraling up on a pathway of roses.

Even the locks and hinges were fancy. Inside one of the chapels is the tomb of knight Lop Fernandes Pacheco. He is grasping his sword as if still in service to King Afonso IV. His faithful dog guards him. His wife, Maria de Vilalobos, rests nearby reading a Book of Hours. It has to be the best tomb I have ever seen. She looks so relaxed.

There is another similar tomb of a 16^th century princess, but she does not look nearly as relaxed. A small chapel houses the vestments and mitres (hats) of various bishops.

There is excavation going on in the central portion of the cloisters. The cloisters are also bare stone but do not have stained glass windows so it gives the place the most wonderfully medieval look and feel. There are a few chapels within the cloisters that are completely barren except for, possibly, one statue.

Directly outside the church doors and across the street was a beer sales kiosk.

Tabuas Porto Wine Tavern

We continued walking until we came across Tabuas Porto Wine Tavern that we had seen while on the tuktuk ride. Ed is the scotch drinker and Irene thinks Port is the best drink ever invented. We had to go in! One entire wall was various bottles of port. There were plain bottles and fancy bottles. There were bottles of port suspended from the ceiling on rope hangers. There was a huge sack of port corks hung on the wall. We each had a healthy shot of port and a side of parma ham – cut right off the pork leg. Oh, life doesn't get much better than this!

That evening we enjoyed a nice dinner at an outdoor cafe that boasted Stone Soup on its menu. We didn't have the stone soup, but I had to take a picture of the sign to show my kids. Whenever I made a “clean-out-the-fridge soup”, when they were small, we called it Stone Soup.

Across the street from the restaurant is a sardine shop. There are thousands and thousands of cans of sardines. The claim to fame is that you could buy a can of sardines with your birth year on it. There is a Ferris Wheel looking thing that had sardine cans going around and around. There is a sardine can throne. A very unique shop.

Portugal is famous for its tiles (as you may have noticed me mentioning repeatedly), sardines (I bought a black t-shirt with silver sardines on it), and cork. They make absolutely anything and everything out of cork. Cork coasters, jewelry, hats, purses, ties, and even umbrellas.

Cristo Rei

On the Almada side of the river stands Cristo Rei (Christ the King) monument. It was built as a plea to God to release Portugal from entering WWII. The land was acquired in 1941 with construction beginning in 1952. The inauguration was held in 1959. It was inspired by an earlier visit to Rio de Janeiro by a Cardinal.

25 de Abril Bridge

25 de Abril Bridge runs from Cristo Rei to the Lisbon side of the river. The bridge was originally called Salazar Bridge, after Prime Minister Salazar, the nation's dictator. It was inaugurated in 1966. It is 2278 meters long. Its upper deck carries 6 car lanes while the lower deck carries two train tracks. It looks like the Golden Gate bridge but was actually built by the same company that constructed the San Francisco Bay Bridge. It was renamed the 25 de Abril Bridge commemorating the day the Carnation Revolution occurred in 1974.

London - part 2

irenecabay — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 09:57:00 GMT

Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built in, 1869 she was the fastest clipper on the ocean. Time was money, and she was fast! Her reign died with the onset of steamships. She was sold to a Portuguese company and renamed. In 1922 a retired British sea captain acquired her, gave her back her original name and used her for a training ship. She was finally retired in 1954 when she was put on permanent dry dock in Greenwich. In 2007, during conservation efforts, she caught fire and was extensively damaged. Today, the enclosure around her gives her the appearance of sitting on a sea of glass. Inside, one can walk under her shiny hull or even enjoy a light snack at the cafe below her bow.

The hull is covered below the waterline in a metal alloy of 70% copper and 30% zinc. This stopped the barnacles from attaching themselves and made for smoother and faster passage through the water. She is a composite ship with a wooden hull bolted with about 19,500 bolts to an iron framework. This took up less space – leaving more room for cargo – and made her very strong. 90% of the hull planks we see today are original timbers (Indian teak), dating from the time when she was a working ship.

Leaving London, she would carry a mixed cargo of everything from baking powder to booze to machinery parts to shoes. The bottom of the ship was covered with boards laid close together. On these, hundreds of tons of large stones were spread out to make the ship stable. Higher up, in the hold and the 'tween deck, both sides of the ship were battened like this so that the cargoes like tea chests could be packed tightly. Any gaps between the battens and the chests were filled with small stones. It might have taken weeks to find cargo, but she could be loaded with more than 10,000 tea chests in 2-3 days. Bamboo matting covered with canvas made sure the tea kept dry if water seeped in. If she returned with a light cargo such as wool, she would carry 200 tons of chrome or nickel ore as a ballast.

The ship's figurehead is Cutty Sark, the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee in Robert Burn's 1791 poem “Tam o'Shanter”. In the poem, drunken Tam comes across a scene of witches and warlocks dancing. He is beguiled by Nannie Dee who is wearing a chemise (sark) that is much too short (cutty). He shouts out “Weel done, Cutty-sark” which causes the demons to give chase. However, his horse is swift and Nannie Dee only manages to grab the horse's tail as Tam escapes over the water – which the demons cannot cross. Hence, the bare-breasted Cutty Sark holding a grey horse's tail flying over the water.

On the 'tween deck was an interactive display that showed one colour wind and another colour ocean currents. The idea was to sail your ship from one point to the other in the fastest time, taking advantage of the information provided. Young boys and their fathers were racing their respective ships. It looked like they were having a great time. The original Bell was also on display.

On the main deck, a guide was demonstrating how to raise and lower the numerous and massive sails with the seeming tangle of ropes. He was directing a group of good nature kids who were struggling badly but realizing just how hard being a sailor was in those days.

The quarters of the 19-30 crew members were open to public inspection as well. The bunks for the men were very small, not much bigger than a booth seat in a restaurant. Some young boys were crawling up into them and wondering aloud how on earth a grown man sleep in them. The bow of the ship had a pig pen beneath it and the stern had a chicken coop – fresh eggs and meat for the long journey. Craftsmanship showed itself even in the steps leading up to the bow, they were decorated with elaborate metal edges, no doubt to prevent slipping.

The officer's quarters were much more elaborate than the rest of the crew. They had a fancy saloon/dining room complete with fireplace. The fireplace was only lit when they were in port and hosting dignitaries. The dining table had what looked like a wooden chandelier with round holes hanging above it. In fact, it was used to keep their drinking glasses. It hung just above eye level and would swing with the movement of the ship, which prevented spills. The galley (kitchen), mess, and offices were also open. Fragile dishes and navigating equipment were safely behind glass.

Nearby is the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. This tunnel is 15 meters below the Thames. It is 370 meters long. The outside diameter is 4 meters. Cast-iron rings coated with concrete and surfaced with 200,000 white glazed tiles make the inside diameter only 2.74 meters. It was built in 1899-1902 linking Greenwich on the south bank with the Isle of Dogs on the north. It replaced the expensive and sometimes unreliable ferry service allowing workers living south of the Thames to reach their workplaces in the London docks and shipyards.

Royal Observatory

From star gazers to understanding how Caribbean cruises navigate. I didn't know what to expect from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, but I certainly came away impressed.

The path through Greenwich Park is a lovely tree-lined affair where one could spend hours idling the time away. It covers 74 hectars. The path leading up to the Observatory is fairly steep, but one is treated to the most spectacular view over the River Thames and the London skyline at the top. One can see Westminster, St. Paul's Cathedral, Canary Wharf and the O2 Dome off in the distance, as well as the Cutty Sark and the Queen's House closer by.

Turning to the Observatory itself is the 24 hour Shepard Gate Clock. The Shepherd clock was probably the first clock to display Greenwich Mean Time to the public. It uses an unusual 24-hour analog dial and is in fact controlled by the master clock inside the Observatory. It is an early example of an electric clock. It was constructed and installed by Charles Shepherd in 1852.

On the back side of the clock, in the courtyard, is the Greenwich Mean Line that represents the historic Prime Meridian of the World – Longitude 0°. The line divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the Earth, just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemispheres. It is a brass looking strip set in between the cobblestones with the longitudinal bearings of various locations. The strip leads directly from the old observatory that boasts a “Prime Meridian” sign. A laser beams out to the north from the top of the building. In good viewing conditions (standing beneath the beam and no more than 100 meters on either side of it and looking toward the south) it can be seen for 36 miles with the naked eye.

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich was the the cutting edge of star gazing. The Airy Transit Circle (telescope) was designed by Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy. He took his first observation through the transit circle on 4 January 1851. Through the telescope it was determined that certain stars, whose positions in the sky were precisely known, were designated as "clock stars". The transit times of these stars could be calculated very precisely from their coordinates. This allowed astronomers to check the accuracy of the standard clock, and set it to the correct time. Even with all this modern technology, Greenwich Mean Time did not become the nation's standard until 1880. By the late 19^th century 72% of the world's commerce depended on sea-charts which used Greenwich as the Prime Meridian. At a conference held in Washington DC in 1884 it was agreed that the meridian line marked by the cross-hairs in the Airy Transit Circle eyepiece would indicate 0° longitude and the start of the Universal Day, creating a 24 international time-zone system based on the Greenwich Meridian. It took several decades for the idea to be accepted by all countries. The transit circle sits in its original mounting, in the Transit Circle Room of the old observatory.

At one time, the only sure way to have the correct time was to bring a pocket watch to the Royal Observatory. One clever family profited from this by getting their watch set at the Observatory then going around London and selling people the correct time. Eventually, the telegraph would share the Greenwich time with the public through simultaneous chiming of hundreds of time signals across the country. In 1924, the BBC introduced the famous “six-pip” sequence as a public time service.

Flamsteed House is the original Royal Observatory building at Greenwich. King Charles II instructed Christopher Wren (architect of St. Paul's Cathedral), who was also an astronomer, to design the building in 1675 and it was completed the following year. Astronomer Royals were once required to live in the original observatory building. Some even brought their children up there. A walk through the House gives a glimpse into their time spent there. There are home remedies for colds, fever, and salves on display. There is an interesting suit made from wool, linen and silk to keep warm while observing the stars on display, as well.

There is a beautiful Octagon Room that was designed to observe celestial events including eclipses, comets and planetary movements. With its 13 foot high windows, the room was perfect for watching the sky, but not ideal for positional observations, because none of the walls were aligned with a meridian. The most important positional observations were actually made in a small house in the gardens, which is probably where the wool suit came in handy.

The Octagon Room houses a selection of timepieces and astronomical instruments including a clock with a 13 foot pendulum that swung front to back instead of side to side, clocks that measured the rotation of the Earth in relation to the stars rather than the Sun, and a telescope that rested on a ladder to steady it.

The bright red Time Ball on the roof of Flamsteed House is one of the world's earliest public time signals. By the 1830's, most British sailors navigated using chronometers. These needed to be set accurately before sailing. The Time Ball was installed in 1833. It allowed anyone in sight of the Royal Observatory to obtain Greenwich Time. It still drops precisely at 1:00 PM daily. Originally, it was winched up and released by hand. Today it is mechanically controlled by an electrical impulse from the Shepherd Master Clock. It has several dents in it because during some renovations the ball was taken down and the workmen assumed it was to be trashed. They began kicking it around like a soccer ball until someone saw them and stopped them from completely destroying this valuable and essential antique. Unfortunately, the time ball was not operating the day I visited due to technical problems. Maybe they should not have removed the manual winch.

The Observatory museum houses a detailed history of time and timekeeping including the Burgess Clock B that set the Guinness World Record for being the most accurate mechanical pendulum timekeeper. It varies only a half second in 100 days. As impressive as that is, it would not have been possible without John Harrison's invention of the marine chronometer and the solving of the problem of determining longitude while at sea. His timekeepers are on display, including the H4. H4 is considered the most important machine ever made and is the basis for every clock and wristwatch today.

Sailors could easily determine latitude by the sun at noon, but not longitude. They were never entirely sure of where they were on the north-south axis. They would sail to the latitude of their destination then turn toward the destination and sail in a constant line of latitude. This prevented the ship from using the most direct route or taking advantage of trade winds and currents. This often extended the journey, risking a shortage of rations, causing illness or death for the sailors. It also increased the likelihood of shipwrecks.

In 1714, the British government offered a prize of £20,000 (nearly £3 million today) to whoever could solve the problem with accuracy. After five years of effort, John Harrison came up with the H1. It performed well enough for the Board to award Harrison £500 for further development. Five years later he came up with the H2, but it was never tested due to a war with Spain, which was just as well because Harrison noticed a huge flaw in his design. However, it was again enough for the Board to award yet another £500 for him to continue his research. Harrison spent 17 years developing his third sea-clock. It had 700 precisely engineered parts, but even before it was completed Harrison realized the heavy balances were unstable and began working on a radical new prototype – the H4. After 45 years of effort, he developed a sea-going clock that could keep regular time in spite of the ship's motion, temperature change and friction. He then had to fight to get his reward money.

Outside, around the courtyard, are a variety of sundials as well as a section of William Herschel's telescope from 1781 when he discovered Uranus. The family tombstone of Sir Edmond Halley is mounted on the wall of the building that holds the camera obscura – with a real-time panorama of the Queen's House.

I ran out of time before having a chance to see the Planetarium and Astronomy Centre, and the Altazimuth Pavilion – which has an exhibition about the sun. And I did not take enough time checking out the Great Equatorial Telescope.

Thankfully, I visit London often and can continue my tour another time.

The day Carrie and crew left, my son and his family returned from their Croatian holiday. Michaela works from home and she needed a few hours for important calls. I took the kids to the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. It is easy to get to and loads of fun for kids with lots of interactive games and toys. Freya was particularly fascinated with the shadow puppet story of The Paper Bag Princess. We had to sit through it twice. We did crafts and Freya drew a picture of me, complete with big glasses and curly hair. We had lunch at the Museum. On the way home we stopped at MacDonalds for another snack, and to kill more time. The Leytonstone MacDonalds has tablets at the tables. Julian was familiar with how to navigate them to find a game for himself and a baby game for Freya.

Julian was in school and Freya's playschool did not start on the same day, so we went to the park. Remember, I was trying to kill time while Michaela worked. Freya loves to swing so I thought I will keep pushing her until she wanted to stop. 45 minutes later my arms were killing me but she was still blissfully having fun. Yet another day, I took the kids to Tesco for hot chocolate and cookies. That evening Len and I went to Thai Thai restaurant.

The following day I caught a flight to Lisbon to meet Ed, who was arriving the following day.

London - part 1

irenecabay — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 15:22:00 GMT

Ed's sister, Patsy, and I went to see kd lang at the Jubilee on the 19^th. She spent the night at our house then the next morning gave me a ride to the Red Arrow bus terminal, where I took the bus to Calgary YYC Airport. I was supposed to be on the same flight as Roz, who lives in Calgary, but somehow that didn't work out. She ended up on a flight 2 hours after me. I was 5 hours early for my flight, but spent it happily reading my WP Kinsella book.

The flight was uneventful except for some very rough turbulence shortly after take off. You know its bad when the captain tells the flight attendants to buckle up!

I landed at London Heathrow terminal 2 at noon but had to go to terminal 5 for 14:00 to meet Roz. I took advantage of the time by topping up my O2 sim card and grabbing a “Baby on Board” badge for Roz to wear on the tube. She is 16 weeks pregnant. We took the tube to Leytonstone station where we caught the W19 bus to get us closer to Len's house.

Len had left the house keys with Brid. Not surprisingly, she made us tea and warmed up some leftover curry from the night before. Roz and I were both exhausted and the little bit of dinner was just right. We went back to Len's, where his house was in the midst of renovations and an absolute disaster! There was building material stacked in the kitchen and dining room. We had to step over lumber to squeeze into the kitchen. At least we could still make breakfast. We both flopped into bed early.

I awoke too early the next morning. I went to the Raj for some breakfast fixings. Roz was absolutely knackered. She slept on the couch while I did some of Len's laundry and washed some cupboards. In the afternoon we walked to Walthamstow and had lunch at Eat 17. After that we wandered around a bit – into some shops and through an old cemetery. Roz was absolutely struck with the beauty and oldness of the cemetery. But she was still recovering from the jet lag, so we went back to Len's and had a nap. That evening we went to Westfield Mall and had pasta at Jamie Oliver's. After dinner, we wandered through the mall where Roz found a baby store and cooed over the cute baby clothes.

On Wednesday, the 23^rd, Roz was feeling better and wanted to go the the Imperial War Museum. I had never been there and was happy for the chance to finally see it. We took the Central Line to Bank where we transferred to the Northern Line as far as Elephant and Castle. A short walk had us at the Museum.

Founded in 1917, the location bounced around a bit; but in 1936 it settled at its current location at the former Bethlem Royal Hospital on Lambeth Road. It was originally built to show all conflicts in which the British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. It was to highlight the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain and its Empire during the First World War. WWII saw some artillery and instruments from the museum being turned over to the British Army to be used in the war effort. On 31 January 1941, a Luftwaffe bomb fell on the Naval Gallery. Although the museum then closed to the public, the building continued to be used in the war effort by becoming a repair garage for government vehicles, a centre for Air Raid Precautions, and a firefighting training school. The museum reopened in stages after the war, part of it in 1946, more in 1948, then completely in 1949. As of 2012, the museum mandate is "to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'wartime experience'".

It features WWI, WWII, Peace Time, Modern Time, and the Holocaust each on a different level of the museum. It contains documents, art, artifacts, films, photographs, sound reels, exhibits, and a library. There was a collection of airplanes suspended from the ceiling. There was everything from a Spitfire to a Harrier. One gallery features Families in Wartime. There are original posters depicting voluntary food rationing, a model of a family bunker, and ingenious ways women used household items as makeup. (In 1940 the government banned the manufacture of silk stockings. Many women applied gravy powder to their legs and drew a line up the back of the leg to imitate the seams of stockings.)

It has an entire section on spies and spy equipment, including the infamous Enigma Machine. There are bombs cut open to see the inner workings and the deadly shrapnel inside.

It even has a casing from “Little Boy” atomic bomb. There is a bullet-ridden Japanese Zero plane.

There is an entire section on the Syrian War.

There are whimsical items, like a banjo made out of an aluminum pan with band members signatures on the back.

In the Holocaust section, I saw a picture of a little naked boy being dragged to the gas chamber. The boy looked disturbingly like my grandson, Julian. It shook me to my core. I had to leave that area of the museum.

We never made it to the Extraordinary Heroes level. Roz was getting tired so we walked back toward the tube station, stopping at the Elephant and Castle pub for dinner.

I find Roz to be very good company and extremely interesting. She has a wonderful sense of humour which she mixes with her sharp intelligence, enthusiasm and innocent curiosity, making for a fantastic travel partner.

That night, around 1:00 am, Roz woke me saying she was not feeling well. She was feeling cramps. I was up and dressed in one minute flat. Thankfully, Whipps Cross hospital is a mere 3 minute walk from Len's house. I took her directly to the maternity unit where a kindly midwife did an ultrasound and assured Roz all was well with the baby. At this point, we were so wired and wide awake there was no way we were going to go back to sleep. Roz said she felt like going for a walk, so we went to Tesco and picked up some groceries.

We both slept until nearly noon the next day. We went to the High Street for breakfast at San Marino Coffee, where we had the big fry-up breakfast. We wandered around a bit, but Roz was really not feeling well and was now having back spasms, so we went back to Len's. I borrowed a hot water bottle from Brid. Roz eventually found a massage place that could fit her in the next day. That evening we went to Prince William V in Leyton for dinner.

The next day we went for a short walk to Epping Forest in the hopes that it would help Roz's back. Later, Roz went for her massage and I went for a hypnotherapy session with Brid. (I highly recommend Brid for whatever emotional issues you may have. http://www.scanlonpsychotherapy.com/ ) That evening Roz was feeling much better and suggested we go to Sodo Pizza in Walthamstow. It was a tiny cafe that had the feel of sitting in someone's kitchen. It was in an out-of-the-way corner, but the pizza was incredible.

The next day, Saturday the 26^th, found Roz feeling much better still. We decided to go to the Natural History Museum. She wanted to see the whale exhibit.

We saw giant jaw bones, backbone disks, baleen plates that look like super coarse hair, and flipper skeletons. There was a whales heart on display. I don't remember which kind of whale it came from, but it was huge! The aorta could easily have passed an egg through it. Coming to the full-size model of a blue whale was sort of the cherry on top, especially since it was suspended over taxidermy elephants, hippos, and giraffes making them look like stuffed toys.

We had lunch in the museum before we entered Darwin Centre's Cocoon. It is an eight-story concrete cocoon contained within a glass atrium. It looks like a giant silk cocoon. Visitors take an elevator to the top of the cocoon then walk around the outer perimeter, viewing specimens on display. The core of the cocoon are work spaces for the museum's scientific staff and the storage area for nearly 80 million animal, plant and mineral specimens, including 22 million specimens of insect, 3 million samples of plant tissue. Everything had once remained hidden in the vaults for nearly 130 years. The hope is that new ideas will emerge with many scientists collaborating together.

We hurried through the dinosaur exhibit, as it was very crowded and realistically could not hold a candle to our very own Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller.

We lingered in Hintze Hall that looks more like a cathedral than a museum with its beautiful arched ceiling and magnificent stone staircase leading to Romanesque arches.

Arches and staircases are decorated with carvings of animals and birds to harmonize with the museum's purpose. A statue of Charles Darwin, with legs crossed, sits at one end as if overseeing what his Theory of Evolution produced.

The blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling gives one perspective as to the size of the room. On the other side of the hall is a slice of a 1335 year old sequoia tree. In front of the tree slice is a timeline showing historical dates and earth population. There were only 226 million people on earth when this tree was a seedling.

Interesting point: Being pregnant, Roz has to go to the bathroom – a lot. There is a huge bathroom in the museum with about 20 stalls. On one occasion we went to the bathroom and there was a queue. Strange. Roz really had to go! She jumped the queue and headed to a stall further down. It was open, as was every stall past the first 4 or 5. No one bothered to check past the first few. At that point, a little girl ran ahead and was pushing all the unlocked doors open, as if to mock those who were still standing in a queue. Proof that people are really no smarter than sheep.

I wanted to go through the mineral display. Like a magpie, I am attracted to shiny objects and the display of 296 naturally coloured diamonds fit the bill. Roz was getting tired and it was time for me to head to Heathrow to meet Carrie and Tammy.

I took Roz as far as Holburn station, where I had to change to the Picadilly Line and she had to change to the Central Line. When I got to Heathrow I noticed a text from Roz saying that her Mom had called her to say that she and Tammy had missed their flight and would be arriving the next day to the City Airport. Back to Len's I went, empty-handed.

Roz was still feeling good so we took advantage of the morning by going to the Museum of London. It is located near Canary Wharf and was originally a sugar and rum warehouse. It is also on our way to the City Airport. It documents the history of London from prehistoric to modern times. It covers Londoneum from the days of Roman rule to the days when Britain ruled the seas. There is a huge exhibit that spells out Britain's role in the slave trade.

After we picked up Carrie and Tammy from the City Airport, we went straight to the Red Lion for Sunday roast. We all enjoyed our lunch and had a few too many beers. We dropped their luggage at Len's, got some laundry going, then went out for dinner.

Carrie had booked us for a tour of Bath and Stonehenge for Monday. It was a bright and sunny day and we were all excited. When we drove into Bath we went to the Royal Crescent, the elegant circle of crazy expensive townhouses. It is divided into three segments with each segment facing one of the three entrances, thereby ensuring that a classical facade is always seen when entering. History has seen some famous people residing in one of the 30 terraced houses. The tradition continues with the rich and famous paying around 4 million pounds for a unit. Nicolas Cage, John Cleese, and Johnny Depp either live or own property in the Crescent. I mention this because when Len and I went there, years ago, we wandered around the Crescent. Now, the buses are allowed to drive around the circle, but no one is allowed to wander through anymore.

Bath is always a great place to spend a day, and it was even nicer due to the sunshine. It was a bank holiday and the town was full of tourists and street performers. As we stood in the square in front of the Bath Abbey, beside the Roman Baths, a fellow with a trumpet was playing Moon River. It was magical. Life just doesn't get better than that moment – being there with my best friend was almost more than my heart could bear without bursting for joy.

The Roman baths are always interesting. It always amazes me that the plumbing in this 2000 year old spa still works. They had the smarts to suspend the floors on stone pillars to allow for under-slab heating. They also had pools that went from quite hot to quite cool. Ingenious for their time.

We had lunch in the Cornish Bakery, then I spent a good deal of time in Bath Abbey, which I didn't see the previous two times I was in Bath. I love cathedrals. The architecture, carvings, and stained glass are always amazing. The tombs and tombstones are so unique and ornate, as well.

Bath Abbey was founded in 675. The current building is 69 meters long and 24 meters wide. The vaulted ceiling is 23 meters high. On either side of the entrance are a set of Jacob's Ladders, with angels going up and down.

As with every old building, it saw its share of rulers and conquests that either built up, tore down, or simply did nothing to the structure. There are 52 windows that take up 80% of the wall space. Nearly the entire eastern wall is one big stained glass window depicting the story of Jesus.

In 1942 a bomb went off nearby and completely blew out the windows on the north and east side. The glass fragments were collected and stored. In 1945 the Abbey began thinking about restoring the windows as well as other aspects of the building. Every glass maker in England said it was so badly damaged and couldn't be done. Enter Michael Farrar-Bell. He knew with great window very well. His great Grandfather was the man who restored the window in the 1860's and 1870's. Needless to say, it was a giant jigsaw puzzle. Each piece had to be thoroughly cleaned before being remounted. The window was completed in sections. Just when the whole thing was to be installed in December of 1954, it was discovered that the stonework around the window was dangerously compromised. The window was finally completed on 10 February 1955. 60% of the original glass was used in the restored window. The entire window measures 864 square feet (80 square meters). On a side wall is a small Canadian crest, also in stained glass.

There are 617 wall memorials and 847 floor stones. Some are so wonderfully carved so that the marble seems as delicate as parchment, draping in folds as if gravity is weighing it down. There is a monument when the man is leaning on one elbow looking down on his wife. Another monument has an angel kneeling and leaning on the monument of the deceased. Yet another has a woman with a head covering seemingly wiping tears from her eyes. Her dress is so delicate it seems as though it is made from fine silk, not hard marble. Another head covered lady looks like she doesn't give a damn.

The floor is sinking where the bodies are buried beneath the floor causing the floor stones to have huge gaps and is making the floor unstable. The plan is to lift all 891 ledger stones, document and repair them.

The organ has 4000 pipes and range in length from 1 cm to 10 meters tall.

There is a very unique display of paper butterflies hanging in one section of the church. Each butterfly is different. The natural air movement causes them to flutter and appear as if in migration. In today's world of human migration, it is easy to forget how unique each person is. The media reduces people to anonymous groups and stereotypes. The artist's hope is that the viewer will enjoy the swarm, but also note that each one is unique. Powerful!

After wandering through some shops, we all took a short walk along the River Avon, with its lovely parks, and took pictures of each other in front of the Pulteney Bridge and the weir below. Built in 1774, it connected Bath with Bathwick across the river. It is exceptional in having shops built across its full 45 meter span on both sides. It is 18 meters wide. It is a World Heritage Site largely due to its Georgian architecture. Although there is talk of pedestrianizing the bridge, cars and buses still use it. Our tour guide cautioned us to be on time or the bus would leave without us, so we didn't have time to snoop around. Instead, we headed to a pub just outside the bus stop and had a pint.

A note about the park: Previously, I could wander down into the park, no problem, On this day, there was an entry fee. We didn't have much time and were not about to spend anything for the privilege of a 5 minute stroll.

On the way to Stonehenge, we saw a pig farm with little huts scattered about, like personal cottages for the pigs. Interesting.

Stonehenge was incredible. We got off our tour bus and transferred to a shuttle bus to take us the 2 km to the actual site. We walked all the way around the ancient stones, taking pictures from every angle. The audio guide makes much more sense when one can hit all the buttons that explain things. When I was there before, it was raining and muddy so we didn't go to all the markers. The interpretive centre that was being built last time is now complete. We didn't have time for more than a quick look in the gift shop – conveniently located so you have to walk through it to exit. Our tour bus driver made it very clear that the bus was leaving at 5:00 pm and if we were not on it, tough.

Check out my earlier blog on Bath and Stonehenge: https://journals.worldnomads.com/irenecabay/story/109081/United-Kingdom/Stonehenge-and-Bath

The bus ride to and from our tour took us through the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. According to our guide, in former times the knight's job was to protect the King or Queen. They couldn't have another job on the side, but they still needed to be paid. Since being the Royal's bodyguard can have its disastrous moments, to sweeten the pot, the Royals gave the knights apartments to live in. This kept them close and it was a sweet deal for the knight. Over time, other political and municipal dignitaries also began to be put up by the Royal. I tried Googling this but found no corroboration. However, it makes for a nice story....

When we got back to London we found a lovely restaurant and treated ourselves to a fancy dinner.

The next day we all went to the Tower of London. I've been to the Tower several times and always love it. The Yeoman Guards tell the history in such a way that it really comes alive. The Guards must have served 22 years in Her Majesty's Armed Forces plus hold the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. They live within the Tower, paying rent and property taxes, but they must have a home outside should they retire.

The Tower of London was built as an impressive fortress on the banks of the River Thames. It was home to several Royals. It served as a prison for the famous and infamous. Their graffiti is still etched into the walls. Many heads got lopped off inside the grounds, including Henry VIII's Anne Boleyn. There are a disturbing amount of bodies buried beneath the Chapel floor. The White Tower, once a palace, is now a museum displaying incredible suits of armour for both man and beast. The dungeons are open to the public, as well. The Crown Jewels are also housed within the Tower. The guards out front are the only ones on the property that have live ammunition in their guns. No messing around here!

After a whirlwind tour of the Tower, we literally ran through the Tower Bridge. We did not go into the engine room, but we did see the glass floor that connects the two towers. We then headed to the Hung, Drawn and Quartered for a delicious lunch. Carrie had a selection of meat pies with corresponding beers. That evening we went to see Les Miserables.

The next day was raining and we had tickets to see the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. I had never been to the Palace before and was really looking forward to it. No pictures were allowed but I bought a postcard series that pretty much covers what we saw. I had no idea that the Palace had enough pieces of art to be classified as a museum. There were entire rooms dedicated to various paintings and sculptures. Everything in the Palace was exactly as one would imagine a Palace, gold gilt and crystal chandeliers in every room.

The Queen's new carriage was on display in the Mews. It is a Cinderella looking coach with modern touches. It has hydraulic stabilizers for a smooth ride, electric windows, and heaters. It has over one hundred pieces of British history to decorate the interior and exterior, including fragments of warships, pieces of wood from various churches, and supposedly a piece of wood from Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree. The two door handles are decorated with 24 diamonds and 130 sapphires. The lamps are crystal. The six-horse drawn coach is managed by four postilions.

When we exited through the back of the Palace we walked through the gardens. Buckingham Palace sits on 39 acres of land. It even has its own little lake, complete with an island. They keep bees on that island and harvest their own honey. There is a high mound covered with trees and shrubs that screen the Palace from the Royal Mews. I asked one of the guards if he ever sees the queen in the gardens. He said it is common for her to be seen weeding the flower beds.

We had lunch at the Bag O' Nails pub then headed to Westminster Abbey – my favourite place in all of London. The Abbey is full of historical tombs and one cannot help but be amazed by the spender of everything. My favourite place in the Abbey is the cloisters. It is so old and peaceful and beautiful. The Garth garden in the centre is so serene with its fountain and borders of flowers. The College garden is only open on certain days and this was one of them. It is wide open and one could wander about, but it was raining so we stuck to the path.

There were a few changes since my last visit. The doorway to the Infirmary Chapel was open. It has always been closed and I never thought more about it. It turns out there is a small courtyard outside the Chapel of St. Catherine behind that door.

A new addition to the Abbey is the Chapter House. It has some 13^th century stained glass windows, medieval floor tiles, and some really really old paintings that were discovered under the plaster. I love going to the Abbey!!

We parted ways at the Westminster Tube station. Carrie, Tammy and Roz all had planes to catch the next morning and they wanted a bit more time to check out James Park and a few other things in the area. My time with my dear friends came to an end too quickly. I was glad for the opportunity to show them my favourite spots in London, and I was happy to see some new sights with them as well. It was nice to experience London through their fresh eyes. I have been there so many times, that I am no longer gobsmacked very often. Thank you, girls, for opening my eyes again.