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Published: April 4th 2014
Is it still March?
This was taken early in March when Janice returned to London. So, what have we been doing since Janice got back to London from the US? The first couple of days were awash with Janice recovering from jet lag. The most immediate job was putting away all of the things that she brought back from the US. That always means finding a good place for it and of course updating the inventory.
Janice’s information on what was happening in London was out of date so she needed to get to the visitor’s center again (every time Janice goes near an information center., Bob plans on adding a half inch to the waterline!). The weather has been great since her return so we took quite a few walks and of course one of them lead very close to St. Paul’s Cathedral which just happens to be near the visitors center - what a coincidence (Janice has a sixth sense when it comes to information centers)! Janice couldn’t believe the change in weather from what she left behind. To go from large snow banks to flowering trees in the matter of 7 hours flying time was quite impressive. Bob and other cruisers at the marina assured Janice that the weather just changed since
The Old and the New
in London - they combine quite well as you can see. she got back, up to now it hasn’t been this nice.
We belong to an organization called the Cruising Association which is based in London. It offers many full day seminars as well as Wednesday night talks so we have taken advantage of a few. The day Janice returned to London we were signed up for a talk on the western Mediterranean so attended that and learned of some wonderful places you can go without breaking the bank which sounded good to us (especially after our six months in London). The following Sunday we were signed up for a full day seminar on cruising in the Mediterranean. It was very informative and we even caught up with some people we had first met in Trinidad as well as others that we had met in Spain. With the cruising life style you never know when you will cross paths again. It was nice catching up with them as well as making new friends that have been sailing in the Med for many years. Every time this happens it seems as though we add another year to our cruising itinerary with all the suggestions we receive. There are so many wonderful
Lunch Time in London
always surprises us with so many having a "pint" at the local pub - sure wasn't our lunch break when we were working! places to visit and everybody has their own favorites.
As a result of reading through the many fliers “we” (this is strictly a Janice task) picked up at the visitor center we have taken in a few concerts in the last couple of weeks. A couple, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan played at a local church. They harmonized beautifully as well as played the fiddle and guitar. A couple of nights later we made it to a new venue that we hadn’t heard of before, Kings Place. Here we saw Tony McManus, a Scottish born guitar player currently living in Canada. This was probably one of the most impressive concerts we have been to in a long time. We both really enjoyed this, but Janice had to remind Bob that if it wasn’t for reading all of that information from the visitor’s center we wouldn’t have known about it (yeah, but it still adds an inch to the waterline)! How about some jazz as well? St. Martin in the Field has jazz concerts every other Wednesday night in the crypt so got tickets for a group called the Red Stripe Band. They were the best we have heard in
Only a Couple of the Pub Signs
we have seen while walking the streets here. a long time. It was great music and even gave us a chance to get up on the dance floor a few times which is something we both enjoy. It always seems so strange but many of the churches have cafés which are housed in the crypts. In this case we found out an added bonus of the crypt is the acoustics. Of course at one point the performers pointed out that we were dancing on the graves of people buried 300 and 400 years ago. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.
On one of the nice days we took a train trip out to a neighboring town, Richmond. It is located up the Thames from London and there are plenty of places to walk along the river. There are also places to walk up hill and see views of the Thames Valley. We even had a chance to tour the Strawberry Hill House, which normally has an entrance fee, but that day we got in for free because they were hosting a wedding planner day to encourage people to hold their wedding there. Surprisingly no one came up to us to try to get
Yes, this was taken in the UK
in March! We were surprised to see this growing well outside. us to sign up for their catering service, entice us to buy flowers from them or line them up for music – how surprising?! Another bonus was that everyone that came through got a free glass of champagne, now that is the way to take a tour of a historic building! This home was owned by Horace Walpole, a politician and son of the first Prime Minister. In the mid 1700’s he decided to follow the gothic style inspired by cathedral rose windows and gothic vaulting which has since been called “Strawberry Hill Gothic”. He differed in not using stone for the designs, but instead used wood and plaster. His place was so unique he opened it for tours with very strict rules. It was limited to only 4 adults (no children) who held tickets for entry which had to be requested a day or two in advance. He opened his place between 12 – 3PM from May 1
st – October 1
st each year. His magnificent collection of miniatures and other treasures were housed in a special room called the Tribute Room. Only the closest of friends were allowed entry into this room. Those on the tour could peek through
the open design on the door (which would remind you of one you may have seen in a cathedral). All of his collection has been dispersed but fortunately some of them have been returned and some reproductions have been created. Interestingly an illustrated database of his collection and some pieces are located at Yale in the US. Fortunately Walpole wrote a guide for his visitors describing in great detail the appearance of the house and a catalogue of his extensive collection of pictures, sculpture, furniture and artefacts. This has been an immense help in knowing the details of his collection and how the house would have appeared.
We hiked up to the top of one of the hills for great views of the valley and the Thames River below. There we read that William Byrd, an American tobacco farmer, stood in this same area and noticed that it reminded him of his home on the James River. When a new city grew back in the US on the James River, Byrd names it Richmond after this pleasant village in England.
We were fortunate to have quite a few beautiful spring days so kept exploring places we hadn’t made
One of Many Traditional Pubs
seen while walking around the villages here. it to yet. Hyde Park was a place we had wanted to go and this was a perfect time to do so. The park was well used that day with people strolling along the many walks, visiting the Kensington Palace and enjoying a beautiful sunny day. The flowering trees and flower beds were beautiful with lush green grass throughout the park. We learned more about the romance of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria and saw the Venetian style garden that was built by Albert for Victoria. Prince Albert passed away at the age of 42 and Queen Victoria had a very impressive monument erected to honor him. It is one of the largest we have seen to date. On each of the corners there is a large statute to represent each continent – Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. See if you can figure out which is which in the photos based on the animal and dress. In case you can’t see the detail, the animals represented are an elephant, a camel, a bull and a bison. There are also smaller sculptures at the corners to represent agriculture, commerce, engineering, and manufacturing. The statute faces Royal Albert Hall, a huge
Jazz in the Crypt
at St. Martin in the Field - The Red Stripe Jazz Band gave a great concert. auditorium, dedicated to the sciences and arts which Prince Albert was a great supporter of. He was instrumental in the organization and promotion of the Great Exhibition of 1851which was so successful that the surplus it generated was sufficient to establish the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. The remaining surplus was used to set up an educational trust which is still in existence supporting industrial research.
You may have remembered that Bob had a dental implant done last fall. It is getting close to the time for his follow up work to be completed. We have been hoping to get time for a trip to see our friends in Scotland, but will have to wait to see what the dentist says about completing the work. We will be leaving the marina in London on April 8
th so time is getting short. It’s amazing we have been here for almost 6 months and we still have a long list of things we want to see and do. We will keep you posted!
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