LONDON

We arrived in England, and yes, those are raindrops on our windshield.  So far, every new place we've arrived at has greeted us with rain and London was no exception.  Even with the rain, however, the drive was spectacular.  The mustard fields continued from those we saw in France and set against the green of the English countryside . . . . gorgeous.

We are in London for one month and hope to not only reacquaint ourselves with some of our favorite places but to find some new favorites - really get to know it intimately.  


Our first day we walked over to the Borough Market which is one of the best in London (nice to have within walking distance).  It was everything it was cracked up to be.  Produce, meats, cheeses, breads plus so much prepared food to eat there or take away.  It really was an experience.

There are any number of markets in London, some mostly food markets like Borough and then others like Bermondsey (two blocks from us) and Portobello where there is everything from antiques to arts and crafts and food.  We tried to hit them all but Borough ended up being our favorite and the one we returned to.


While we had Oyster cards that gave us "touch and go" access to the bus, rail and tube services we walked everywhere we could and averaged six to ten miles a day.  We only saw blue sky about five days out of the entire month but were lucky enough to only really get rained on three days so, while it was brisk (high 50's to mid 60's) with "white" (weatherman's term for dull grey skies) or "grey" (weatherman's term for dark stormy skies) clouds, we hoofed it.  The tube (and buses) are convenient but walking really lets you see and get to know the city.

We obviously saw all the major tourist attractions but I'm not going to bore you with pictures of Big Ben, The Eye, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, etc, etc, etc.  Instead, here is a picture of the sitting room of Dennis Sever's house.  It is an actual house that was turned into a museum (though he also lived in the house until his death in 1999).  It is reconstructed to be exactly like it was in the 1700's and it was very interesting.  Tucked into a small street it was like going back in time.

In addition to Sever' house we visited two other "house" museums.  One was the home of the Punch cartoonist, Edward Linley Sambourne and the other was Leighton House.  The Sambourne house, 18 Stafford Terrace, still has all of it's original furnishings and decorations for it stayed in the same family up until the 1960's when it was turned into a museum.  Not too far from 18 Stafford is the Leighton House.  It was very fashionable in the eighteenth century for well known artists to have large studios/homes where they not only painted but lived and entertained.  The best example of this is Leighton house, home to one of the well known Victorian artists, Frederic Leighton.  Both were very interesting to see and we would highly recommend them if you are planning on a visit to London.

We went to a number of art galleries also, most of which we had visited previously.  One new one for us and one we would highly recommend is the Courtauld.  It has an excellent collection of Impressionist paintings.

One of our few sunny days, we took a day trip to Portsmouth to see the newly opened Mary Rose museum.  The Mary Rose was Henry VIII's flagship built in 1510.  It sank in 1545, discovered in 1971, raised in 1982 and since then has been going through massive conservation.  It was just opened to the public so we had to see it.  No pictures to show you as it really is just half of a wooden hull but the history and the fact that they could save it was very interesting to see.

What we were able to take pictures of though was the HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship on which he died during the battle of Trafalgar.









This ship was completed in 1765 and is the only surviving warship that fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.

The last ship was saw was the one on the left, HMS Warrior, also known as "The Black Snake".  It was built in response to the aggressive French ship building program and when commissioned in 1861 she was the largest warship in the world.
She was the new ironclad and was powered by sail and steam.  She was not only the largest but also the fastest.



On our only other really sunny day we took a drive into the Cotwolds, one of our favorite regions of England.  Here is an example of a typical road that one "poodles" down in the English countryside.  Believe it or not this is a two way road.

Here's another example of the beautiful scenery and, as you can see in the distance, more mustard fields.

Our favorite thing about the Cotswolds, in addition to the gorgeous scenery, is the architecture.  The area is famous for it's butter-colored stone and most of the old houses are built using this stone.  To maximize the charm, these old butter-colored buildings are dripping with wisteria.  I mean, really, what's not to love?  

We also took a day trip to Sussex.  Unfortunately it was not one of our few sunny days so I have no pictures of the prolific red, purple and white rhododendrons set against the red brick buildings of this region.  We would find ourselves "poodling" through tunnels of rhodies but the rain and low fog made picture taking an effort in futility.  So, you will just have to imagine it.

When not "poodling" or going to museums and art galleries we went to movies and plays. The one thing I'll say about movies in London is that they are bloody expensive.  You can easily spend between $60 and $100 for two tickets, a box of not very good popcorn and a medium drink!  So, needless to say we spent more time going to plays.  We saw Jersey Boys (great), Billy Elliot (not so great), The Book of Mormon (fabulous), Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic with Kim Cattrall (great) and To Kill a Mockingbird with Robert Sean Leonard (of House fame) at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park (very creative and fabulous).  We had our fingers crossed with this one as it was out of doors.  We saw a glimpse of blue, a lot of fast moving dark grey clouds, a sprinkle of rain and a lot of wind but the show went on and it was one of our most enjoyable outings.

While researching events in Regent's Park we came across the World Naked Bike Ride and we had to see that!  It's a race that has taken place in London along with a number of other cities for the last few years.  It takes two and a half hours and winds all through London and, yes, most everyone is stark naked.  We caught up with it in Trafalgar Square and I will close this missive from London with one last picture.  Who would have thought?

So, that's it.  We've had a great time getting to know this grand old city but are ready for some country.  So, it's off to Wales for two weeks of hiking and golfing (weather permitting).  Are we ever going to see summer?