Travel

[World Traveler]

Hello from London! It was a beautiful day, in the 70's and the people are happy to be out of the 80's. They find that very hot, and as mentioned earlier, they do not necessarily have air conditioning, so this cooler weather is welcomed.

There were many things I learned today by just asking questions. Here is an example of what I learned, and if any of this information is incorrect, please respond as it is just what I understood to be the case.

• If you drive a car that is efficiency based (low emissions), then you only have to pay $40/yr for a license. If you have a high emissions vehicle, then you pay $500/yr.  Huge difference. If you purchase an electric car, you get a $4,000 rebate/refund.
• Gas right now is $9/gal. Did not discuss diesel.
• To enter the London area (do not know from which point), you pay a congestion fee of 12 pounds a day.
• School runs until the second week of July; school starts back up the second week of September.
• Boxing Day was started because the servants served the household on Christmas and did not have a chance to personally celebrate or open their own gifts (boxes), so Boxing Day was for them to do their own celebration, a day off.
• All students have to wear uniforms up until the age of 16.
• Substitute teachers make $500/day. Where I live they make $150/day.
• Teachers are not readily available so if they go into the profession, at some point when they are ready to teach by finishing all their courses and graduated, and decide to teach in certain subjects, like math, science, technology, they get a $20,000 bonus.
• All companies must provide a pension for its employees, even if they only have one employee.....it is the law.
• All citizens over 60 years of age get their meds free.
• If someone has a chronic illness, but is not over 60, the too get their meds free.
• Private medical care is not as expensive as it is in the United States.
• When asked of people how they are coping with the various terrorism attacks, the reply generally is something like this: "We are British, we drink tea, and we just carry on!" They do not let it stop them from doing what they normally do.

Today I went to Hampton Court, driving by Wimbledon and other famous places. The Court is really a beautiful thing to me. The many chimneys are built so different from what I have seen before.

The tour inside the place is very interesting and I got to see King Henry VIII's apartments, the kitchens, a special chocolate kitchen, throne rooms (three?), the art gallery, and King William III and Mary's apartments.

The place is split into two if you look at the inside design of rooms and decor. From what I understand, King Henry was doing some changes and renovations, and ran out of money, not finishing what he started. King William carried on the work, but wanted to totally demolish what Henry had done. Fortunately for all of us, William was not able to carry out his plan, and we still can enjoy what Henry built. So the decor is a mix of Henry's style and William's style.

You can go into the royal chapel that Henry personally used. There is a replica of is crown, as his real one was destroyed. Although it is a replica, you still are not permitted to take a photo of it.

The Court was leased by Cardinal Wolsey in 1514 and he began rebuilding and converting it into a lavish palace. Hampton Court became a royal residence when it was turned over to Henry in 1529. There are still two magnificent public rooms from Henry's reign.....the Great Hall and the Chapel Royal, where worship still goes on today.

The practical side of royal life is represented by the enormous Tudor Kitchens, the most extensive surviving 16th-century kitchens in Europe, where meals for 1,000 people were once prepared daily.

The place is home to one of the greatest collections of Renaissance paintings in England, housed in the Wolsey rooms and the Renaissance picture Gallery.

The buildings cover six acres, and there are also more than 60 acres of gardens. I found the grounds to be so beautiful.

I tried to upload photos again and it will not let me. Bummer! I will try to do it the way  @Alter Ego suggested. Hopefully, I can make it work.

[World Traveler]

I have a photo I really want you to see. It is of a black carriage, pulled by horses, and has a glass case on it with a coffin inside. As I was returning from Hampton Court, the carriage was coming toward us. All the cars stopped, to not only let the carriage go by, but the people got out of their car to show respect for the procession. I was told that this was common many, many years ago, but is rare to see now. The sight was quite beautiful with all the flowers on the carriage and the two men driving it with their top hats.

Have got to figure out why inserting photos does not work any more for me. I am able to send to my family in emails, but not here.  I really want you to see this carriage.

[SANNA]

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@FrostyBabe1 wrote:

I LOVE London! One of my favorite places! 

The last time I was there, I stayed at the Royal Horseguards. I had a riverview room that looked out over the Thames, almost directly across from the London Eye. It was outstanding! I couldn't sleep on the flight over (the layflat seats on DL's 767's are incredibly hard, narrow and coffin-like) so I stayed up most of the night chatting with a couple of the FA's.  They gave me a couple of bottles of champagne just before landing. When the bellhop showed me to my room, I mentioned that I'd like to have them chilled. He said they'd make sure they were perfectly chilled, and returned to me "at your command, madam", along with champagne flutes. I said that the wine glasses in the room were fine, and he was aghast at the idea of drinking champagne from ordinary wine glasses. 

I'd gone to visit my nephew, who was doing study abroad at Central St. Martins in art & design. The 2nd day I was there, he turned up with not only coffee and croissants for breakfast, but his full shower kit. Apparently he hadn't had a hot shower the entire time he'd been there (this was in February and he went over on January 1st) and he took full advantage of my rainfall shower and all the other amentities.

Enjoy your trip!

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I stayed at the same hotel!!!!! Fabulous ! Their high tea is great.

[SANNA]

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@World Traveler wrote:

Hello from London! It was a beautiful day, in the 70's and the people are happy to be out of the 80's. They find that very hot, and as mentioned earlier, they do not necessarily have air conditioning, so this cooler weather is welcomed.

There were many things I learned today by just asking questions. Here is an example of what I learned, and if any of this information is incorrect, please respond as it is just what I understood to be the case.

• If you drive a car that is efficiency based (low emissions), then you only have to pay $40/yr for a license. If you have a high emissions vehicle, then you pay $500/yr.  Huge difference. If you purchase an electric car, you get a $4,000 rebate/refund.
• Gas right now is $9/gal. Did not discuss diesel.
• To enter the London area (do not know from which point), you pay a congestion fee of 12 pounds a day.
• School runs until the second week of July; school starts back up the second week of September.
• Boxing Day was started because the servants served the household on Christmas and did not have a chance to personally celebrate or open their own gifts (boxes), so Boxing Day was for them to do their own celebration, a day off.
• All students have to wear uniforms up until the age of 16.
• Substitute teachers make $500/day. Where I live they make $150/day.
• Teachers are not readily available so if they go into the profession, at some point when they are ready to teach by finishing all their courses and graduated, and decide to teach in certain subjects, like math, science, technology, they get a $20,000 bonus.
• All companies must provide a pension for its employees, even if they only have one employee.....it is the law.
• All citizens over 60 years of age get their meds free.
• If someone has a chronic illness, but is not over 60, the too get their meds free.
• Private medical care is not as expensive as it is in the United States.
• When asked of people how they are coping with the various terrorism attacks, the reply generally is something like this: "We are British, we drink tea, and we just carry on!" They do not let it stop them from doing what they normally do.

Today I went to Hampton Court, driving by Wimbledon and other famous places. The Court is really a beautiful thing to me. The many chimneys are built so different from what I have seen before.

The tour inside the place is very interesting and I got to see King Henry VIII's apartments, the kitchens, a special chocolate kitchen, throne rooms (three?), the art gallery, and King William III and Mary's apartments.

The place is split into two if you look at the inside design of rooms and decor. From what I understand, King Henry was doing some changes and renovations, and ran out of money, not finishing what he started. King William carried on the work, but wanted to totally demolish what Henry had done. Fortunately for all of us, William was not able to carry out his plan, and we still can enjoy what Henry built. So the decor is a mix of Henry's style and William's style.

You can go into the royal chapel that Henry personally used. There is a replica of is crown, as his real one was destroyed. Although it is a replica, you still are not permitted to take a photo of it.

The Court was leased by Cardinal Wolsey in 1514 and he began rebuilding and converting it into a lavish palace. Hampton Court became a royal residence when it was turned over to Henry in 1529. There are still two magnificent public rooms from Henry's reign.....the Great Hall and the Chapel Royal, where worship still goes on today.

The practical side of royal life is represented by the enormous Tudor Kitchens, the most extensive surviving 16th-century kitchens in Europe, where meals for 1,000 people were once prepared daily.

The place is home to one of the greatest collections of Renaissance paintings in England, housed in the Wolsey rooms and the Renaissance picture Gallery.

The buildings cover six acres, and there are also more than 60 acres of gardens. I found the grounds to be so beautiful.

I tried to upload photos again and it will not let me. Bummer! I will try to do it the way  @Alter Ego suggested. Hopefully, I can make it work.

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It is an official residence of HRM Queen Elizabeth II.

Have you visited the maze?

[SANNA]

Try to eat at "Belgo Centraal", it is a Belgian chain, at least you can have some good food and desert! Provided you like Belgian food.

Enjoy!!!

[Alter Ego]

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@World Traveler wrote:






Have got to figure out why inserting photos does not work any more for me. I am able to send to my family in emails, but not here.  I really want you to see this carriage.

---

Not sure how you are downloading, but I assume this would work for both iPhone or iPad.  There are apparently photo shrinking apps - this is not an uncommon problem apparently.  Many web sites have a limit to the size photo it will store.  I gather it has to do with JPEGs.  The better the photo, the bigger the file / and didn't you say you have a new phone? I just downloaded an app called "photoshrinker", but I cant necessarily review it yet.  I did test and it looks like it worked, but I also got kicked off once too.  At any rate, it won't distort the photos like my screenshot hack does.

Hope that helps.

[World Traveler]

Saturday - June 24 - My day started out with a great visit to the Tower of London. (Again, this is not letting me post photos to go with story. Will try @Alter Ego latest suggestion. Does not make sense to me why I was able to post those first two photos of the horses and nothing after that.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this visit as the weather was perfect.....overcast and a little moody feeling. Just perfect to check out the Bloody Tower, the Traitor's Gate, and the Tower of Torture.

The Crown Jewels are, of course, awesome! What a beautiful assortment of crowns from all different kings and queens, the investment garments, armor from wars, and so much more. I really do not know how the Queen wears that crown. It looks so, so heavy, and appears to be much bigger than I thought her head was! Ha!

The Tower of London is Britain's first stone building, originated by William the Conqueror after his victory over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It exists in its current form due to many additions and modifications over the centuries, many of which occurred during the reign of King Henry VIII. It has been a fortress, a mint, and a prison, among other things, and is perhaps most famous for being the location of gruesome beheadings throughout the Middle Ages, including Ann Boleyn, Henry's second wife.

I walked up the 204 steps of William the Conqueror's distinctive White Tower, which is a powerful symbol of the nation. It is as recognizable now as it was in the 1100's.

I enjoyed the great displays of arms and armor, which were made and stored in this secure fortress.

I heard about the famous ravens who watch over the Tower, and legend has it that the kingdom will fall if the ravens ever leave. Whether that is true or not, they sure were around today when I went. People seemed quite fascinated with them, but aren't they just crows? If so, then I have those around my community back home, so I did not spend any time taking endless photos of them as others did. I did see that they are fed raw meat and biscuits covered in blood. That is probably why they stick around.

There are live performances by the Beefeaters to help bring the Tower's exciting stories to life every day. The Beefeaters, or Yeoman Warders as is their correct name, live at this place and have guarded it for hundreds of years.

For the benefit of @JudyL this is just around the corner from the Tower Hotel, like three minutes to walk to it. I am afraid you will have to pass by Starbucks and an ice cream place though! LOL! I would also note that you try to get there first thing in the morning if you have free time then. The lines get long to just get the tickets (or you can just buy them online before you get here, if you decide you want to visit it). Also, I strongly suggest that your first stop once inside be the Crown Jewels, as that place gets very busy quickly.

Also, before I forget to tell you this, the best rates in London for currency exchange is a place called Thomas Exchange Global LTD. Their rates are better than the banks or anyplace else. They have 12 branches in London.

[World Traveler]

@SANNA Regarding the maze, no I did not go thru it. I really wanted to, but I was not sure how long it would take, and as it was I did not get to see all I wanted of the inside.  Time just goes by so fast.

It is the same with so many other attractions that I am missing out on. I feel I need to come back just to see all the great museums. I wanted to check out The British Museum because it has antiquities tracing the history of human culture. It includes the Rosetta Stone, the largest collection of Mesopotamian antiquities in Europe, and more than 13 millions other historical objects. But I have not gotten over there yet. I understand that all museums are free and most stay open until 8:00pm. I talked with someone who went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and said it was awesome. It has 3,000 years' worth of artifacts!

The Covent Garden is something I want to see, as it is an outdoor marketplace since the 17th Century and was the center for traders and merchants. Today it has some of London`s most talented street performers. I think it is the only part of London where street entertainment is licensed, and performers must audition and sign up for specific time slots in order to perform there.

I planned to get up on the London Eye for a great view of the city, but that has not happened either.

Then there are the theaters, like the Globe, where I wanted to see a Shakespearean play, but Romeo and Juliet has been sold out for quite some time. The best thing I think you can do with the plays is to book ahead online.

The bus driver for the trip out to Hampton said it is hard to plan anything these days because of all the construction going on. I cannot even get a decent photo of Parliament from across the river, which is the view that is best. They are doing renovations and so you see scaffolding on the roof. Not for a very pretty picture, that is for sure.

When I was at Trafalgar Square, the construction for an evening event this weekend made it impossible to get a photo without something ugly stuck in the middle of it. I am beginning to think my timing is worse than any other trip I have taken.

The bus driver also grumbled about some politician who made it possible for there to be lots of bike lanes in town. At first I thought that was a good thing, but then he kept pointing out (I was in the front seat behind him) that the quite wide bike lanes on both sides of the street took away lanes that cars could have been using. Thus, the few lanes meant for vehicles were making the cars go much slower, causing congestion.

Obviously, the intent was to make for a more vehicle-free, emission-free travel for the citizens, but he said it has totally backfired and the politician, whose name I cannot remember, is no longer in government (I think that is what he said). But they are stuck with the increase in lanes for bikers. He pointed out to me: "See that bike lane? How many bikes are on it?" I responded "three." He said: "I rest my case." The cars were bumper to bumper and not budging much. For anyone who may already know how long it should take to get from Hampton Court back to downtown London, it took us 2-1/2 hours, which he said was unheard of.

Sorry @SANNA, I kind of got off your original question about the maze! The traffic and construction problems while I am here are making it hard to do more things in a day than I am able to do this time around. 

[World Traveler]

@Alter Ego Thank you for continuing to help solve this problem. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but I just do not get why I was able to post the first two photos and nothing after that. I wonder if it has to do with QVC's website. 

I checked my settings on the camera, which are the photos I want to use, not my iPhone 7. So, although my settings are the same as the first two photos, I do not see anything else that would take up so much space. 

I do note that the error message I get states ".....the maximum file size is 3,072K and your file is.........." My file sizes range differently depending upon what the photo is. But I do not see that my settings are out of the ordinary. And, when I email the photos to friends, there is no problem.

I understand there have been problems on QVC's website the past few days and wonder if that has anything to do with it; and if so, if they are still having problems. That certainly would explain why attaching photos was okay a few days ago and since then I have not been able to attach.

Is anyone else having problems attaching photos?

I am doing the same as always........connecting my camera to my iPad and uploading them into Photo Library. When I want to attach photo to my thread, I am just using the photo icon that is available to click on, asks for which file area I want to take it from, and it gives me an option of photo size (which I always use medium, but switched to small due to this problem), and then when I tell it to go ahead and attach, I get the error message.

And my photos would be JPEGs. 

When I get a chance, I will check out photoshrinker app. Thanks!

[World Traveler]

@JudyL I do not know where else to post this (maybe we need a monthly thread Iike June Travel Chat, July Travel Chat, etc., like our old thread was for miscellaneous posts), so will post it here.

Met a lady from Portland, Oregon, who said she went to Australia with Gutsy Lady Travel. I said: "WHO?" I had never heard about them. Here is the surprise.....they are affiliated with your and my favorite tour companies....GCT and OAT. YUP! They are part of that group.

She said she had a blast and they have groups that are 10-16, just like you and I Iike. I told her that I was not sure I would want to go with only women, as the men add a good touch and insight to any discussions we have. And she said, "Oh, there were four men on the trip!" Well, that makes no sense that a man would want to sign up with a company called Gutsy Women, or maybe it does! LOL!

Anyway, I went on their website, gutsywomentravel.com, and checked them out a little. It seems they started around five years go, but I am not sure if they were on their own five years ago and just recently hooked up with GCT/OAT. Would like to learn more when I get home, but it really doesn't seem to be any different from OAT, at least in size of the number of travelers allowed. Maybe they go to different places. If it is more adventurous than OAT (which I am not sure they could be), maybe we should check out their pricing and places to go sometime.

I am on my 12th trip with GCT/OAT, with the 13th one a day after this one finishes, and then I signed up for the 14th trip with them for March when I go to Japan.

If you learn anything other than the above, please be sure to post. Am curious enough to sometime call and find out what I may be missing as to their differing areas of travel or style from the other two companies..