Ed's sister, Patsy, and I went to see kd lang at the Jubilee on the 19th. 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 23rd, 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 26th, 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 13th 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.
