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Cleopatra's Needle
The oldest thing in London at about 4000 years, given as a thankyou to Britain for the good work in battles in Egypt (WWI?). Apparently there's some mystery about why the sphinxes might be looking towards the obelisk; in Egypt, they always look away from it. Architectural freedom? Error? Friday 12/5
Into the City for more job-search / email / internet purposes. Committed ourselves to some consumerist touristing - prepaid for tickets on the River Cruise and the London Eye. Brett stayed on to follow up a hot lead, and I skipped off to indulge in some kultcha - free lunchtime organ recital in St Stephen Walbrook Church. See attached rave about this little gem, but for now suffice it to say this was Christopher Wren's own parish church, so imagine the attention he lavished on its rebuilding after the Great Fire.
We found some subsistence nutrition nearby, then crossed London Bridge to explore Southwark. Southwark Cathedral is very much a lived-in piece of Southwark - people sprawl across the lawn on sunny days to eat their lunches, there's a collection of quite reasonable cafes and restaurants nearby (couldn't resist tasting the paella made on the footpath nearby, despite having had lunch), and there's a produce market just on the other side of it under the railway line ("Green Dragon Court").
Southwark Cathedral itself shows signs of great age with fairly utilitarian and workaday adaptations to keep life bustling around it, and of course to prevent it
falling in on people. The footpaths around it have obviously been built up until a lot of archways are mostly obscured of the original foundations, and there are stairs across ancient grave markers and so on. Inside, if you look hard (or get pointed to it by helpful, interested vergers) you can find Saxon elements (although not many), 13th century bits, 17th and 18th century bits, and the entire Western end that was rebuilt in the late 19th century to echo the 13th century half at the other end. (The original western end was apparently badly damaged by fire when it was part of the monastery of St Ouveri or something, and had to be rebuilt in wood that was threatening to fall on people by Victoria's day, so it was rebuilt in stone.)
Brett had a sit-down and I got utterly involved in the various bits and pieces - memorials, transi-tombs, the Harvard chapel (Mr Harvard was christened there in some year I can't remember), and something I found interesting in the way ancient space is used for modern purposes - there's a chapel in the 13th century end of the church dedicated to those suffering and lost
Southwark Cathedral
As close as we can show you to the inside. to HIV and AIDS. Brett tells me there's also a monument to Will Shakespeare, but I only looked at the north side of the church before I realised we had about 20 minutes to get to the other end of Southwark or miss our boat. I'll be back.
The River Cruise, with informative and amusing commentary by a bloke named Andy, left from just beneath the London Eye, and let me advise anyone doing anything at that end of town to buy your tickets on the net in advance - it saves you money, frustration and queueing. Thank God. Although there's lots to see - I reckon Jubilee Gardens is probably the thickest concentration of street performers on the planet.
There's about 10 bridges in the stretch between Westminster and Tower Bridge that we travelled, and Andy had some good stories. Apparently London Bridge - this version quite boring and utilitarian and dating back all the way to about 1975, which is so boring we didn't bother taking a photo of it - was designed by the same guy who designed the distinctive red telephone box, and the arches spanning the river are the same shape as the
tops of the boxes.
Apparently the last London Bridge, at the end of its useful life (?), was sold to an American millionaire, who had it dismantled and removed to Arizona where he had it reassembled (spanning a stretch of desert, no water in sight). He is reputed to have said "That's not the one I wanted...". I'm told he then diverted the river under it where it now stood in Arizona, and then flogged the granite facing on the bridge, making a profit on the deal after all. Tower Bridge, however, is magnificent - see photos (taken from land on Thursday).
I reckon (Brett reckons that is) that Obi Wan must have stepped into the negotiations at some point and said "This is not the Bridge you are looking for...", and the Poms sold the Yanks the 'London Bridge' while they were still confused by Obi Wan's mind tricks. Thus Tower Bridge still majestically spans the Thames. It is also possible that he was after the original London Bridge - the one that burned in 1666, with houses, shops and its own church.
There's photos here of some other notables observed in our river cruise. I
former County Hall
The old, classical building, now the home of the Aquarium, the Dali exhibition, the BA London Eye offices and various other things. hope the captions tell you everything you'd like to know!
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Kate
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cleopoatra's needle
I love the blog. Your comments and the details of what you've seen are so detailed and informative. The photos are terrific. I showed it to Joan Riley who was fascinated. She reckons it summons up all the feelings she experienced when she first travelled to London many years ago. Re Cleopatra's needle. I think it was erected in Victoria's era so it must have been reward for some earlier war. Looking forward to the next exciting instalment. Lots of love.