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Geo: 51.5002, -0.1262
... and that's why I have to write so much.
Twice in the 90s I stayed in a hotel just down the block from where I am now, and one other time John and I stayed in a hotel another couple of blocks away on the same road. One thing I had forgotten is: Bayswater Road is
noisy! I'm pretty sure there was traffic all night long, consisting mostly of trucks. Plus, there's some sort of plate in the road that makes a kachunk noise every time a car goes over it. I woke up several times because of it, but I did manage to get a pretty decent eight hours of sleep.
Something else I forgot: Leading up to this trip, I kept having dreams that I'd forgotten my camera. Well, I remembered the camera, but I forgot the cable thingy to hook up the camera to my laptop. The long and short of that bit of forgetfulness is that there will be no photos on the blog this time. I'll likely add some when I get home, but until then there will be no photographic evidence that I am where I say I am!
Breakfast wasn't much to write home about, though the breakfast room was pleasant and the lady who waited was accommodating. The only unpleasant thing was that breakfast is served in the basement, which meant climbing four stories back to my room. And the last set of stairs is really steep, too!
I walked back over to Hyde Park to have a look at a charming little fountain I noticed yesterday. It's two little bronze bears in a bear hug, and it's awfully cute. I took a picture, but you'll just have to imagine it for now. Had a quick wander around the Italian ponds and started to make friends with a floating swan. When I mentioned that I didn't have anything for him, he swam away haughtily.
Took the Tube to Bank, the worst station to navigate through. I successfully made it up to the street, and then promptly got all turned around on the surface. Managed to get my bearings and then walked to Monument to meet a London Walks guide for the "Darkest Victorian London" tour. The guide was about 10 minutes late but we were informed of that by the guide who would be leading the next (different) tour, and he turned out to
Richard III and the Shard
It costs 28 pounds to go up the Shard to see the view. It's supposed to be a fantastic view ... if it's not cloudy. Bit pricey, if you ask me.be the guide who led the "Legal London" tour I took in 2010. I rather wished he was leading the Victorian tour too. When our guide did show up (Richard the 3rd, according to the London Walks program), he blamed it on the Northern Line (which I know John will appreciate!).
The tour took roughly two hours. We covered the Monument, a few narrow lanes in the City, a quick walk by the Thames to discuss sewage (London didn't stop dumping raw sewage into the English Channel until 1989), and how London's docks used to be responsible for something like half of all the world's shipping. At one time, there was only one bridge that crossed the Thames. But if you weren't near the bridge and wanted to get across the river, you only had to step onto a docked boat, which was moored next to another boat, and another, and another, until you were across the river. Nowadays, there's very little traffic on the Thames. That's one reason the Thames is the cleanest river-that-runs-through-a-big-city in the world. There are a few dozen species of fish, including salmon, now living in the river, and there are tens of thousands of
cormorants nesting nearby who have discovered that the Thames is essentially and all-you-can-eat fish buffet.
We walked through Borough Market, with lots of delicious-smelling food stalls, and into what was at one time the exercise yard of Marshalsea, the debtors prison. Richard III pointed out a tree that was over 300 years old and mused that Charles Dickens may have sat under that tree while waiting for the gates of the prison to open so that he could visit his family. Charles had a job in a blacking factory so was able to live in digs nearby, but when his father was put into prison for debt, the rest of the family ended up moving into the prison with him. The debtors in Marshalsea were sentenced to indefinite terms. Once the debt was paid off, they could leave. However, while imprisoned, the debtors also had to pay for their lodging, candles, food and drink, so the original debt - which may have been a paltry sum - would grow and grow and there was often no hope of release as a result. When another debtors prison was closed down, the authorities found some prisoners who'd been in for 30 years or
more.
We walked by what was once a cemetery for the "geese" of Southwark (geese being prostitutes). Other undesirables who were denied a Christian burial were also buried there, such as illegitimate children. Today it's a vacant lot and apparently permission has been applied for to build a tower block on it. The community has come together to avert such a thing happening and has adopted the gate of the lot as a memorial. There are ribbons and flowers and more ribbons tied to it, some of which commemorate a grave that was once in the cemetery, and others that pay tribute to recently deceased members of the community.
We also walked by the George Inn, the oldest surviving coaching inn in London, as well as a pub written about by Dickens in "Little Dorrit." We all agreed that poor Little Dorrit likely would not have been able to afford the Thai fishcakes that were on offer.
The tour ended at the door of the Old Operating Theatre, and Richard was able to get anyone who wanted to go in half off the ticket price. It's been on my list of things to see in London for quite some time, and I guess
Modern computing at the Science Museum
That's Windows 3.1 (?) in the box on the right. it was worth the three pounds I ended up paying. There's an herb garret, where the apothecaries attached to St. Thomas's Hospital would grow and dry essential herbs, and an operating theater for teaching surgical procedures. The herb garret had a display of Victorian and older medical implements, including a wooden nipple protector and the scariest speculum I've ever seen. Be glad you can't see the photo I took of it!
I walked back to Borough Market and bought a porchetta sandwich. It tasted wonderful (the pork was roasted over a spit with fennel and rosemary, and the ciabatta was spread with a sort of applesauce), but the texture was a bit disappointing. I guess I expected it to be more tender. As Borough Market backs onto Southwark Cathedral, I decided to have a look inside. An organ concert was going on, and it sounded fantastic. The cathedral itself isn't as grand as, say, Westminster or St. Paul's, but it feels more lived in, if that makes any sense. There were a few nice Elizabethan tombs and some lovely stained glass, including a window dedicated to Shakespeare. I managed to identify Bottom, Hamlet and Falstaff, and possibly King Lear, but the
My face ... apparently
This is how the robot hand drew my face. I guess it looks a little like me, but the nose is weird (No funny comments, now!) and the lips look like clown lips. other figures remained something of a mystery to me. I also came across a brown cat sleeping on a chair in one of the side chapels. No photography allowed in the cathedral, so I didn't get a picture of him, but I did give him a quick pet. He kind of eyed me for a second and then went back to sleep.
It was now about 2:15, and I hadn't seen a bathroom since 8:45. I was getting pretty desperate! I decided to take the Tube to South Kensington so I could go to the Science Museum (which is what I had planned to do yesterday afternoon). I instantly forgot my plan to find a bathroom because right at the entrance there was a special exhibition about Alan Turing's life and legacy called "Code Breaker." It was pretty interesting. They had a model of Turing's ACE (Automatic Computing Machine) and a couple of Enigma machines, among other things. Poor Turing. In 1952 he was convicted of "gross indecency" (read: homosexuality) and sentenced to either imprisonment or a one-year course of female hormones (read: chemical castration). He chose the hormone treatment. Two years later he was found dead after ingesting cyanide. A verdict of suicide was recorded but he didn't leave a suicide note, so his death remains a bit of a mystery.
Then I finally found the bathroom. Such bliss. 😊
The museum has quite a mishmash of exhibits, including the oldest steam locomotive, a seven-toed cat, and a Google-sponsored exhibit where a robot hand draws your face on a sand wheel. My face ended up looking like a clown face, I thought. But it was still fun to watch. There are also a ton of hands-on exhibits, but I'm still in germophobe mode so wasn't too anxious to be handsy. Oh, and there was also a mounted tarantula skin in the "What are you afraid of?" display case. Everything else in that case was labeled with its -phobia, except the stupid spider. I guess everyone knows arachnophobia?
Took the Tube to Green Park (Holy cow, was it packed! I'm sure we looked like the Tokyo subway at rush hour.) and walked to Hatchards where I spent maybe 30 minutes looking around. In the end, I bought one -- yes, one! -- single book. John will appreciate my restraint, I'm sure. I even went to another bookstore and didn't buy anything. I am so strong!
Stopped for dinner at an EAT cafe and then walked up Regent Street to get the Tube at Oxford Circus. It wasn't anywhere near as packed as earlier, which was fortunate for the little black dachshund standing by the door. Picked up a bottle of water at the shop next door and proceeded to drink half of it in one go when I got back to my room.
Hopefully off to Bletchley Park tomorrow. And maybe it will be a quieter night traffic-wise?
P.S. As usual, thanks for the comments. And as usual, I likely won't respond much, but please don't take it personally. 😊 (I'll be gone 2.5 weeks, by the way; someone asked.)
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Sandy
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OMG -- I'd give anything to have been able to go on that tour with you! I LOVE those kinds of tours, so very interesting. And what the tour guide wouldn't know, YOU would!! L&K