Tour of London

As planned, today we walked along the Thames seeing some London sites. We started by crossing the river over the London Bridge and continuing around Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress (otherwise known as the Tower of London). This brought us to the Tower Bridge, which we crossed before continuing upstream. In this direction, we passed the HMS Belfast (a WWII era Royal Navy light cruiser), the Tate Modern (a monstrous brick structure which was formerly the Bankside Power Station and is now an art gallery), and the modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre. Here we crossed the river once again over the Millennium Bridge and continued straight to St. Paul's Cathedral. We got a good view of the latter as well as some of London by going to the roof of a nearby shopping mall. After a brief snack, we continued along the northern bank of the river, passing ornate lamps and benches, as well as Cleopatra's Needle, an Egyptian obelisk from the reign of Thutmose III (1400 years before Cleopatra), which is flanked by a pair of magnificent Sphinxes. A short distance from the Needle we left the river for a detour through Trafalgar Square, where we saw Nelson's Column and the exterior of the National Portrait Gallery. After returning to the Thames, we got a good view of the London Eye and the houses of Parliament. We walked out a ways onto the Westminster Bridge for an improved view of the latter before leaving the riverside once again and passing the Big Ben clock tower and Westminster Abbey. Tired at this point of the bustling city, we walked through St. James Park, which is known for its lake and inhabitant waterfowl, including a colony of pelicans introduced as a gift by the Russian Ambassador in 1664. Leaving the park brought us to Buckingham Palace. We ended the day at two pubs (one for a drink and one for dinner, both separated by lengthy walk) and a ride through the tube. (TS)       

 Our route (in blue). The start position is at the lower right; the return tube ride is not included.

Nathaniel, Maryrose, and Mom in front of the London Shard

Detail of the Tower of London

Mom and Maryrose next to the Tower of London with the Tower Bridge in the background

Nathaniel and Mom in front of the Tower Bridge

The author, Maryrose, and Nathaniel with the HMS Belfast in the background

The author and mom in front of the Globe Theatre

Nathaniel and the author in front of the replica of the Golden Hinde moored at the St Mary Overie Dock (which has its own interesting story, not explained here for lack of time). Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in 1577 with the real vessel.

This ocean-going replica gets some modern help.

The Millennium Bridge

Maryrose and Mom in front of St. Paul's Cathedral

Maryrose, the author, and Mom in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. Among others, the cathedral has seen the burial services of Lord Nelson and Winston Churchill. 

Mom in front of one of many elaborate lamp posts on the Thames

The author on a bench supported by two winged sphinxes. 

The author in front of one of the two Egyptian Sphinxes flanking Cleopatra's Needle.

Cleopatra's Needle. This obelisk was given to the United Kingdom by Egypt in 1819 in commemoration of the two English victories at the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. 

 Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Nelson is looking towards Trafalgar, where he defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet and lost his life.

The London Eye

The Houses of Parliament

The Elizabeth Tower (as it's known officially). Big Ben is the nickname for the bell inside this clock tower.

Nathaniel in front of Buckingham Palace

Three Days in a Pub in London

Before checking out of our hotel this morning, two of us (mom and the author) attended part of the 10:30 service at the Salisbury Cathedral, which gave us an opportunity to view the interior of this structure. A feature which isolates this cathedral from others visited so far is the presence of a large stone pool located in the nave. This pool (shaped roughly like a cross) is on a raised platform with four drainage spouts on each edge, which, by allowing the water to drain, render the surface of the pool perfectly flat and level with the edge of the basin. The cathedral also contains the best preserved of the four original Magna Carta copies; we did not have an opportunity to see this, however, due to the service in progress. 

On our way out of Salisbury we drove through Nether Wallop, a quintessential old English village, consisting of many thatched cottages and winding streets. Here we also enjoyed a lunch of Cornish Pasties (pronounced Pah-stees), which we had purchased in Salisbury and had taken along for the ride.

We next drove to Heathrow, where we dropped off our rental car and took the tube into London (a surprisingly long ride). Our dwelling for the next three days is a hostel located above a pub (hence the title), in which we are sharing a small room with four bunks. Tomorrow we plan to take a meander along the Thames, seeing some noteworthy London sites on the way. (TS)

 The Salisbury Cathedral

Mom in front of the cathedral

The steeple viewed from the cloister. Due to a construction issue, the steeple is leaning at a slight angle.

Maryrose and the author in Salisbury on a bridge spanning the Avon. Stratford is roughly 100 miles upstream. 

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A sign with a British expression

Nathaniel, the author, and Maryrose in front of an interesting medieval structure in Salisbury

The sign to Nether Wallop

 One of many thatched cottages in Nether Wallop

One the way to our final destination, we passed through the Elephant and Castle tube station.

Our destination, the Black Horse Pub

Victory! Maryrose sees the Mary Rose and the Stones visit Stonehenge

A big day started with a big breakfast. The traditional English breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, baked beans, tomatoes (toe-mah-toes), mushrooms, toast, and sausages. Needless to say, only a portion of our company feasted on all of these items, as most of us are averse to fungus at breakfast (or any other time of day). After breakfast, we picked up our rental car. Despite having reserved a vehicle with automatic transmission, we got stuck with a manual, meaning that in addition to having to drive on the wrong side of the road, the driver must change gears with the wrong hand. Nevertheless, we had no problem driving to our next destination, the historic docks where the HMS Victory, what's left of the Mary Rose, and the HMS Warrior reside. We visited the Victory first, and were able to meander through most of the decks, seeing, among other things, the point where Nelson was shot during the battle of Trafalgar, as well as the spot where he died.
We next visited the most looked-forward to sight of the day for one of us (aka Maryrose), the wreck of the Mary Rose. Completed in 1512, the Mary Rose was a warship in the navy of King Henry VIII. On the 19th of July, 1545, she sailed out to do battle with a French invasion fleet. For reasons still unclear, possibly due to overloading and negligence, she started taking water through her lower gun ports and sank. Nets placed over the decks to deter prospective boarders turned the ship into a deathtrap; out of a crew of at least 400, only 35 escaped. In 1971 the wreck was discovered and raised in 1982. Today, the wreck is undergoing conservation, scheduled to be finished in 2017. We were able to see a good portion of the ship, despite being obscured by a plethora of pipes and tubing.
 Lastly, we visited the HMS Warrior (the first armor plated, iron hulled warship, remember?). We roamed the various decks of the ship but were slightly rushed by the impending expiration of our parking ticket.
Still powered by our hearty breakfast, we didn't stop for lunch but instead moved on to the town of Salisbury where we checked into a very nice (and expensive; it costs 1.50 pounds to have a pair of socks laundered) hotel. After rejecting the two pubs suggested by the guy at the desk (too expensive, go figure) we found a place called the Queen's Arms where we had (a very substantial) dinner. At the pub, we figured out from some other diners how to see Stonehenge on a budget (normal admission costs 15 pounds per person, with additional fees for getting really close). Exploiting this knowledge, we drove out to the site and were afforded with an excellent (and free) view of the pagan structure. (NS)

Breakfast

Theodore and the author in front of the HMS Victory

The stern of the ship

Inside the ship. Nelson mustn't have been hard to spot in his uniform (see left of image)

The whole crew

During the battle of Trafalgar, Nelson was spotted and shot by a French sharpshooter. Mortally wounded, he lived long enough to know the outcome of the battle. 

Maryrose at the Mary Rose museum

The Mary Rose

Someday, the obstructions will be gone, granting spectators a spectacular view of the wreck

Theodore, Maryrose, and the author in front of the Warrior

Maryrose at the wheel

The deck of the HMS Warrior

Does anybody know what this thing is?

Stones Nathaniel, Henge, Theodore, and Maryrose

  

Across the English Channel

Today we departed from France, taking a ferry from the town of Ouistreham across the English Channel to Portsmouth. We enjoyed good weather for the duration of our six hour journey. On the way into Portsmouth, we passed the naval shipyard there, seeing several notable vessels (see pictures).
From the ferry terminal, we decided to walk to our apartment (carrying all of our luggage), as it was only about a mile away. Needless to say, we got mixed up somewhere along the way and turned a 25 minute walk into over an hour of traversing the streets of Portsmouth until we found our destination.
We had an early dinner at a pub down the street, consisting of steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash, and fish and chips. (TS)

Boarding the Ferry

A fishing boat entering Ouistreham as we departed

Goodbye France

Hello England

HMS Warrior, the first armor plated, iron hulled warship

HMS Victory, Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar

Maryrose and Nathaniel with a British phone booth

British cookies. Other cookie names included Digestives and HobNobs.

Dinner