Advertisement
Published: September 27th 2005
St Paul's
I just kind of liked this angle. Gives you a bit of a sense of the massive size of the dome.PSA: If I dated this entry appropriately - September 20 - it would get posted behind the most recent entries. So, I'll leave the date as 27 September. But, let me take you back to Monday and Tuesday of last week...
Well, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. In honor of that, I decided to spend my last day near and around The Thames. Specifically, from St. Paul's to the Tower of London - and great spots in between.
I started my last morning in London in Shepherd's Market in Mayfair - right behind my hotel. An amazingly cool, and atmospheric, little corner of London that I adore. Grabbed a coffee at a snappy little chain called Cafe Nero. Whereas Starbucks is generically American/Seattle-ish no matter where you are on the globe; Cafe Nero tries to reflect its respective locale in the ambiance of the cafe.
The one in Shepherd's Market is quiet, vaguely Victorian, and serves a mean Cafe Americano. And, tell me a Starbucks you've ever been in where sitting next to you is an adorable beagle puppy - inside the cafe!
I think I read three newspapers. There is nothing like the
The New, Improved Millenium Bridge
The "wings" were not part of the original design. London press - 11 papers competing for the same size audience that two or maybe three papers compete for in the largest US cities. I read recently that the last paper headquartered in Fleet Street had moved. Sad - but I suppose there aren't many advertising agencies headquartered on Madison Avenue anymore either.
Hopped on the Tube - not remotely nervous. In fact, sat there with a small sense of satisfaction that I was joining the brave Londoners who refused to be terrorized by the July bombings. The vast swath of humanity that you will see on any given train car on the Tube always amazes me.
That's what gives lie to the terrorists' thought of punishing "Britain." The Tube is a United Nations of working Londoners.
Had not been to St. Paul's in quite a while, so I popped by. I'm glad I did. A spectacular structure that in many ways represents London better than Big Ben (I know, I know) or Buckingham Palace. Built after The Great Fire of 1666 by Sir Christopher Wren and completed in 1710 after 35 years (!!) of building, it is still the third largest church dome in the world.
The Hay's Galleria
Built on the spot of London's oldest wharf. Completely redone into a shopping/eating/drinking centre in the late 1980's. A very beautiful structure. The thing that makes it maybe the quintessential London landmark is how it almost miraculously survived the London blitz in WWII. I remember pictures in history books of London burning at night, yet there stood St. Paul's. Imagine what fortitude it must have given Londoners at seeing mighty St. Paul's beat the blitzkrieg night after night after night. Sod off Adolph!
Left St Pauls's and headed towards the river to look for pirates. Didn't find any (AAARRRGHHHHH), but I did find a wobbly bridge.
Actually, it is known as the Millennium Bridge and was designed by Sir Norman Foster (whose works include the Reichstag Dome, the beautiful Great Courtyard at the British Museum, and the infamous Gherkin) to commemorate the Millennium. And, it was the first new pedestrian bridge over the Thames since the Tower Bridge was built in 1894.
The original structure was sleek, sinuous, elegant, and sexy. And it wobbled and shook so violently on its opening day that it was immediately shut down for two years of re engineering. The sleekness and elegance was sacrificed just a smidge for safety's sake - if a smidge can be defined as two year's worth of work!.
The Tower Bridge
It only looks Victorian - actually built in 1894. Still, the views from the center of the bridge may be the best in London.
Time for a beer.
And, imagine that! There's the Anchor Pub! And, what a pub!! Let's see, Samuel Pepys witnessed the destruction of London from its decks during the Great Fire. He described in his famous diary "fire drops" falling on him - so, he retreated from the banks of the Thames and shortly thereafter the pub was destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1667. And in modern times, Tom Cruise had a pint here in the first Mission Impossible movie. And, in even more modern times Aunt Evie gets a call from whomever in the Carter family happens to be there at the moment!!
I had three pints at the Anchor...
So, better walk for awhile. Past the new Globe Theater, a replica of the Golden Hinde, the glorious Hays Galleria, the HMS Belfast, and the hideous new City Hall (Sir Norman Foster again - think a glass egg askew) to the foot of the Tower Bridge.
From the Tower Bridge, one sees the full folly that is 30 St Mary Axe - or the giant gherkin. It is also
You've Seen it Once
Just had to show it again... known as the Swiss Re building. Whoever allowed this thing to be built hulking over some of London's greatest sites should be forced to eat nothing but pickles for the rest of his/her life. It surely is an interesting building designed by one of the great architects of our time. But, it should have been built in Shanghai, Singapore, or Dubai. Not in the heart of the the Square Mile. Many views of the Tower of London are forever ruined.
The Tower itself is gorgeous, spooky, and has more history in one spot than maybe anywhere in England. The Tower of London is actually a large walled conclave with more than a dozen buildings inside. One could literally spend two days exploring this amazing place.
BUT, I had a date with a pirate and had to get back to Hyde Park.
To celebrate my last night in London, and in honor of its eponymous day, I had dinner at El Pirata in Mayfair. As Evie, Judy, and our kids will tell you, it is a block away from the Park Lane but can be very difficult to find...!!! Tapas and Spanish wine. Not just one of the
The Tower as it Should be Seen
The oldest part of the Tower complex - The White Tower (on the right). Begun by William the Conquerer in 1078. He should have forever banned the pickle shape in the City of London. best tapas restaurants in the Capital; one of the best restaurants in the Capital. They somehow raise the lowly olive to a gustatory status equal to caviar, lobster, or filet mignon! A lovely, and fitting, end to an adventurous final day in the UK.
To bed early because I have a Noon flight to Singapore!
I have wanted to fly Singapore Airlines for a long long time. Consistently voted the best airline in the world by most major travel publications. I had to find out what all the fuss was about!
Arrived at Heathrow and quickly checked in and made my way to the FC Lounge. Fairly plain - United's may actually be better at Heathrow - but got my first hint of what was to come when I asked for Champagne... "Dom or Krug?" she said. Heh - this 13 hour flight is going to be special...
Left the lounge to check out the newly remodeled Terminal 3 Duty Free Shopping. Not much different than before - just brighter and cleaner. Certainly the goods on offer were no different. I would have bought Judy a pair of Oakley sunglasses, but she would have just lost
Parting London Shot
The unparalleled Houses of Parliament. them...
Long walk to the plane. A LONG walk as only LHR can do.
Another left turn upon boarding (a 747 Megatop, as Singapore calls the aircraft) and then sat in a thing I hesitate to call a seat. More like a compound, or a villa, or a small city-state.
Settled in. "Krug, please." Leather bound menu. "No thanks, I've preorded the Lobster Thermadore." Pajamas handed out. "Do you have xxl, please?" I'm sure they're thinking they may have to sew two pair together for me. A refill of Krug and we're on our way.
Given the huge amount of fuel needed for the flight, we took every inch of runway available before lifting off. It had the gracefulness of me standing up after drinking six beers whilst watching a Bears game.
But, nevertheless, we were headed to Singapore.
A few seats were empty out of the eight in the cabin, so it felt even more quiet than I would expect. The seats are spaced such that I could have swung a nine iron and not touched a soul. Well, except for the Singapore Girl who always seemed to be there just as I was thinking I wanted/needed something. Uncanny, really.
The Singapore Girl is the unofficial symbol of SQ (Singapore Airlines). She hearkens back to the days of regulated air travel in the States - service raised to an art form. I will make no editorial comment about the following - SQ still have age, weight, and marriage restrictions for its flight attendants. And, if what I saw is any indication, they're all hired directly from modeling agencies.
EVERY single time she would bring me something, she would say "thank you." I'm thinking, wait a minute, I'm supposed to say that!
The food service, presentation, and quality was superb.
On the other hand, for a geography nut like me, the flight path may have equaled the service for the Wow Factor.
We crossed the Channel, flew over cloudless and gloriously beautiful Germany and Poland before entering Ukrainian airspace. We flew along time over the Ukraine, including over Crimea, and then out over the Black Sea. As we're about to finish crossing the Black Sea, I notice from the flight tracker that our obvious path would take us into Iranian airspace.
Nope. We headed over Georgia and Azerbaijan and over the Caspian Sea. Instead of heading south and east towards Singapore, we were going almost due east to avoid Iranian airspace. We passed probably not 300 mile north of Tehran. From the flight tracker, it looked as though we were never more than ten miles outside Iranian airspace.
Once we cleared Iran to the east, we headed due south over Afghanistan. Just a touch of nervousness there!
Night had fallen over Georgia so there would be nothing to see out the window until we were nearly in Singapore.
Pakistan, India, the Bay of Bengal, and then the sun came up over Phuket. A stunning sight. But, since everyone was sleeping but me, I couldn't keep my window shade up for very long!
We took a long lazy swing to the east and there was Singapore below me. Being on an island, it had a bit of a feel of approaching Manhattan as you land at LaGuardia. Except this was not NYC - the buildings all looked brand new and sparkled in the 7:00am sunlight. And there were two giant hedgehogs laying on the waterfront in the central business district... (Foreshadowing).
A smooth landing at Changi - also voted the world's best for years on end. And, for good reason. From leaving the plane to being in a cab took less than 30 minutes. To claim my bag, clear immigration, and customs in that short amount of time!
Wednesday morning and I'm in Singapore.
As I get in the cab, I'm thinking a bunch of things: "It's 8:00am, can I check into my hotel? My body says its 1:00am (London time) and I haven't slept. I should try to get through the day and adapt to Singapore time before sleeping - that will be 30+ hours without any sleep. It's 7:00pm on Tuesday in Houston, wonder what's going on there ?? Good golly, it's hot as hades here. I'm halfway around the world from home!"
I napped for 15 minutes in the cab.
My adventure now continues 1 degree north of the equator!!
-g
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 7; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0525s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb
deleted_6674
deleted_6674
St. Paul's
Hi, Enjoyed the updated blog. Need one clarification - St. Paul's was hit during WWII. I was there in 1949 and part of the roof was still open, You're correct - St. Paul's Just being there and surviving meant so much to the Brits at that time (and to the Yanks who were stationed there). Love DAD