Trip Report - England/Wales/Scotland - Page 4

flickerbulb · ‎03-09-2010

I sat at the Tower of London almost all day! I loved the Beefeater demonstration with the Ravens. Hope you get a chance to go to Westminster Abbey. It is full of so much rich history!

I also enjoyed the British Museum and seeing the mummy display. Aaargh! I really want to go back now!

World Traveler · ‎02-02-2015

@flickerbulb wrote:
@chprsp

Well, that sick woman must have spread her cooties to me, because by the time I got to Paris, I was so sick. I went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery and remember thinking they could just kick me into one of the graves, I felt so bad! I should have told the tour director to send me to a doctor to get antibiotics!

@flickerbulb Now THAT is funny! Sure it was not funny at the time for you, but you made me laugh. Now I can go to bed!

World Traveler · ‎02-02-2015

@flickerbulb Went to Westminster Abbey a couple of days ago. I should have spent more time writing about it other than just saying "WOW". It was really something, that is for sure! Lot of dead people in there, but beautiful setting. I can see why it is not large enough for the big royal weddings, but rich in history and architectural beauty.

SANNA · ‎04-23-2010

@World Traveler wrote:
@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.

Glad you are having fun! It is ok about the maze, you are doing a lot as it is.

Sorry about the traffic and construction.... Hate it. Since we were in London on our own we planned our own time, so we used trains all the time, it saved us a lot of time.

British museum did not impress me at all, maybe because I am from NYC and has seen a lot of similar things there, Paris has also a fab Egyptian exhibit. Victoria and Albert museum is fantastic!!!! And so is National Gallery.

Hope you got a chance to go to Windsor palace. To it is the most impressive of all.

Enjoy! Thanks for posting

World Traveler · ‎02-02-2015

Sunday, June 25 - Bus tour around the town

Took in the sights around town today, learning that there are 32 boroughs, which cover approximately 1,000 square miles! Can that be right? Seems like a lot of square miles. Here are some other things I learned.

The Tower of London used to be the tallest building in the area, about 1,000 years ago. So, although it is called "tower" it really isn't that tall.

There are 15,000 offices in old downtown area in ONE square mile of space!

There is a Starbucks on every corner in London. Okay, nothing official on that, but it seems to me that they are everywhere!

Missed it! June 10 was World Naked Bike Ride in London. Hundreds of cyclists turned out for the event to protest against car culture and oil dependency. The ride followed a circular route that covered around nine miles and took 2.5 hours to complete one year. Route usually passes thru London landmarks of Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament, London Eye, Waterloo Bridge, Royal Courts of Justice, Covent Garden, and The Mall.

There are no malls in London; they prefer the street shops.

The Ritz in London is the original Ritz, built for the purpose of rivaling the Savoy.

The Hard Rock Cafe in London is the first one to be built. Eric Clapton started the idea of artists giving an item that represented them because he wanted to go to the place and it was too full to get in. He asked if he would be allowed in if he gave one of his guitars to them, guaranteeing him entrance whenever he wanted. That is how the collection of items started.

Oxford Street is one mile (plus a little) of big shops. Selfridges is there.

The American Embassy is near Hyde Park (park is one square mile) and will be moving to another area where several other embassies are starting to gather.

The Queen only uses 12 of the 600 rooms at Buckingham Palace.

All coronations take place at Westminster Abby.

This year the Queen gave her shortest speech at the opening of Parliament. I have heard it from more than one local that the Queen was not in her usual full dress for the event as she was wanting to get off to Ascot right away. When I showed doubt that the Queen would do anything less than her best, since duty is high on her agenda, I was assured that it was even reported on the news.

Although the Queen opens Parliament each year, she is never allowed in the House of Commons. The reason is that the House of Commons answers to no one, so they do not receive her as someone who is in authority over them.

Will the Queen give up the throne before she dies and let Charles or William rule? No is the astounding answer I get all over the place. She will be Queen until she dies; it is her duty and it is not in her DNA to shirk her duty (well, there was that short speech at Parliament a few days ago!).

The locals refer to the young Prince George as Georgy Porgy. Seems a bit disrespectful to me, but they assure me that it is a term of endearment.

Passengers in a bus are required by law to wear seat belts.

A Scotswoman sat across from me at dinner last night. We discussed the proper way to drink tea. When I told her how I was shown in Ireland last year, she shrieked. I was not to take the word of an Irishman as to how tea should be made. No clotted (correct spelling you Irish people?) cream for her. The water is boiled and loose tea is put in for 2-3 minutes, and then you pour the tea.

Everyone wants to call me Love or Darling. Am not fond of that, but had kind of gotten used to something like: "You will want to watch your step, Love, when you cross the street." Or, "The thing about it, Darling, is that the men are all alike over here."

The reason I could not get good photos of Trafalgar Square a few days ago is because they are presenting West End Live, musical theater, this weekend.

There was a luxury car show that blocked many of the streets this

morning...Lamborghini, Maserati, Jaguar, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, etc.

Taxis in London sure look like Bentleys, but they are not.

Fortnum and Mason, place were the Queen took Princess Kate and Camilla (Duchess of Cornwall) for tea on the Queen's birthday....the staff are uniformed and wear white gloves.

Trafalgar Square is the geographic center of the city.

Other sights I saw while on the bus tour were the following:

Royal Courts of Justice - very ornate building

City of Westminster

West End - lots of theaters there

Charing Cross

Piccadilly Circus - for night life, partying area

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

DeBeers Diamond Company

Bond Street. Very expensive stores, like New York's 5th Avenue

Westminster Cathedral, where all the coronations take place (was inside it the other day......magnificent!)

Palace of Westminster

Lots of great things I saw today! Wish there had been time to make more stops though.

Am heading to Oxford, Cotswolds, and Cheltenham tomorrow, leaving London for the rest of the trip. Hope to return with better planning of seeing so many things I missed.

itsmagic · ‎08-08-2011

Great trip report - very interesting!!

JudyL · ‎07-11-2010

@World Traveler

Will check out Gutsy Lady in the next few days and let everyone know. Sounds interesting to me!

JudyL · ‎07-11-2010

@World Traveler

Great report on London. I am not doing the pre-trip for extra days in London. I arrive in the morning, will be there that day and the next and then on my way. I am not a big city person, therefore, didn't want to spend more than a day or two in London. Will be doing the post-trip in the Scottish Highlands tho as that is more to my liking.

As far as the tea - the clotted cream is the best part! LOL Did you raise your pinkie when drinking your tea?

World Traveler · ‎02-02-2015

@JudyL Oh, absolutely! Pinkie up, fingers cramped together in order to hold the tiny cup, purse the lips, and I tried to look snooty! LOL!

Actually, I am loving the people, especially the ones with cockney accents. They have a way about them that just makes me love 'em. It is all in the up and down of the voice when they talk. Cracks me up and that makes them go heavier on the accent and the different words they use, because they see how much of a kick I get out of it.