A day in London

Marion treated us to a trip to London.  Thank you Marion.  It was a great day.

Here is our route.
The Monument- I love the way enormous Wren gems have become little jewels packed in to the crevices of concrete London.  The city is still full of cranes, giving me hope that some of the monstrous structures will be 'plucked out' over time.  The constant rebirth of London will continue, as with any jungle.

Poking through the concrete jungle

A walk across London bridge.  We see the 1940's fire ship spraying a peaceful fountain- remembering the blitz.  British memories of pain are that of a mother, rewarded with new birth.  German memories of the blitz are that of a dead child.

Southwark Cathedral- The Golden Hind (we know a few)- The Globe-

A view we did not see.

Tate Modern and the famous walk over the Bridge; Marion's first she says.  The College of Arms, St Pauls.  The Temple Bar.  Fleet Street.  Prince Harry's Rooms,

One of the few houses to survive the great fire.
Frequented by Samuel Peppys

The knocking down of King's College.  The locked gate baring our way to the Roman Baths.

What we might have seen- Is it Roman though?

Cleopatra's Needle, and its interesting story.  How it was thrown into the bay of Biscay, and retrieved, and how it was a generous gift to Queen Victoria from by Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt. 

But the story's more complex and intriguing. http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/cleopatras_needle.html
1801- discovered by the French, half buried and consequently well preserved.  Nelson attempted to ship it to Britain.
1820- said to be given by Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt to George IV.  Cost of transporting it to UK felt to be prohibitive.
1851- Great exhibition aroused popular interest in the stone.  Much discussion in the press about how to raise the money.
1877- Erasmus Wilson, a wealthy doctor, put up the money.
1877- 14th October, a storm hit the tug and barge carrying the Needle.  Six sailors drowned.  The Needle was thought lost.  A few days latter, the barge was found and taken to port in Spain called Ferroll.  After protracted legal nicitest, it was brought to London on 12 September 1978.
The base also contains a time capsule, a memorial to the sailors who died, and a plaque to Erasmus Wilson.
But can anything 'given' by a subjugated ruler to a regional super power ever be considered a gift?

Trafalgar Square- National Portrait Gallery-

Francis Bacon- It's the eyes

Lowery- again the eyes

Not the eyes- its All Saints Faringdon.

St Martins in the Fields Crypt, and tail end of the Messiah rehearsal.
Banqueting Hall.

Built by James I of England-
 scene of the beheading of Charles I

Westminster Abbey
Winter Wonderland- main even was experiencing the crush of people, which in itself was amazing.
Joanna, Emma and Sarah went for a spin.

They were up there!