Last day in London

Well the day has come. Our final day to see all that we wanted to see while we were here.

We started with Westminster Abbey. It has amazing history and so many talented and important people buried there, but it is also the place of the last wedding, so of course I imagined that as I walked down the long aisle.

Then Jane and I went separate ways as I went to Tate Modern to indulge myself with Pollock, Mondrian, Picasso and their mates. I then went to the Portrait gallery to see for myself what all the fuss was about the Kate Middleton portrait. It has a rather plain frame and is not hung anywhere very special, it actually looks like an after thought on a wall near the toilets. I didn't realise there were so many Warhols in the portrait gallery though.

Jane and I caught up and went into the National Gallery together and listened to the audio guide about some Reuben paintings which was fascinating, some fabulous works by my favourite, Van Gogh, and some Constable.

We then had a huge dinner at the Sherlock Holmes pub before heading back to our abode.

I thought I would add photos today of things that I particularly noticed and enjoyed while here. One is the very helpful letters on the road telling you which way to look for traffic.

Look Left

The other is the second life we lived while in London, the life that is lived underground.

Life underground

Next stop ... Hong Kong

London - Day 7

Today was a rather quiet day. I went into town at about 10am and went to visit the Royal Mews. I thought there would be horses! But alas, no, there were carriages. It was interesting to see all the carriages that the royalty had been using throughout the years though.

Gold State Coach

The Gold State Coach was built in 1762 and is used for grand state occasions such as coronations.

I then went to the Queen's Gallery where there was an exhibition of fashions through the ages as told through portraiture. It was fascinating. The paintings were a sort of fashion magazine of their time, it was how the fashions were circulated throughout the realm. There was even a Rembrandt. Fancy a Rembrandt painting being used as a way to demonstrate the latest in fashion!

Millennium Bridge

The day became very nice by the afternoon and I went for a walk along the Southbank. People were strolling and meeting, and sitting and drinking, and even sitting on the banks of the Thames (ewww I don't think I would sit in that sand, considering the colour of the Thames and the aromas that arise every so often!) But it was a lovely way to end the day. 

Aldershot - Day 6

Today I went out to visit my brother's grave in Aldershot, the town where I lived until I was 3 years old.

The story goes like this. About 4 or 5 years ago, mum and I were talking about Colin, her first child who died of cot death, 16 days old. She was telling me about where he was buried and why she chose that location. We got out Google Maps and mum showed me on the map exactly where the cemetery was. It is located next to a railway line she said so that he could enjoy the sound of the trains.

Google map image of where Colin's grave is located

She told me how the children's graves were separated from the adult graves and were in a lovely quiet spot lined with trees.

From the entrance looking towards the grave (circled)

Looking from the grave towards the entrance

It truly is a beautiful spot.

So the opportunity came three years ago for me to visit the grave site. I jumped on a train from London to Aldershot and followed mum's directions as she had given them to me on Google. And just like that I had gone from her lounge room in Perth, Western Australia looking at the grave on the Internet, to standing in front of it.

I never thought I would get the opportunity to visit again, however, never say never. Last time I tried quite badly to clean the grave, this time I went prepared. I bought some cleaner and even managed to buy some flowers this time (Sorry mum, couldn't find any daffodils so I bought daffodil coloured roses).

I squirted cleaning liquid over and over, I scrubbed and scrubbed, and I wished for a tap and bucket to be able to wash off the grime that I was cleaning. And on cue, the heavens opened and a summer rain shower washed down the grave for me (and me in the process!).

Colin's grave as I found it

After a good scrub and God's rinsing

As I was working I had a little chat with my bro. It was strange I was thinking that for mum, he will always be that little baby that she held in her arms for too brief a time. However for me, as I chatted to him, he was a 46 year old man. A man who would have been, if life was different. I talked to him about how if he had lived, I would not be here and it made me think that I am living a life of privilege, I am living it for him too. Because he didn't get to live, I did.

London - Day 5

We had a very slow start today. I couldn't get to sleep until about 1:30am and then someone rang at 3am. I don't know who because I was very tired and turned off the phone. Soooooo ... we left home about 10:30am heading for the iconic shops - Liberty, Harrods, Carnaby Lane. Following that we walked to the Royal Albert Hall where Jane went to have a look around and I had a lovely snooze under a tree in Hyde Park. The sun eventually came out which was wonderful and we went for a walk through hyde park to find Princess Diana's water slidey memorial water thingy (that's the official term).

So cute!

 We walked from Hyde Park to find Westminister Abbey but instead found that it was past 4pm and everything was closed! So we found a pub instead and tried a Pimms.

Big Ben near Westminster Abbey

 At the pub it occurred to me to try and find some Babycham, which is, apparently, a beverage that my name was derived from. And I found some! In Tescos!

The Babycham Bambi

London - Day 4

London Panorama with the Thames to the right and the gherkin to the left

London is grey and the Thames is brown. I suppose this is colourful summer weather? This is a panorama taken on the ipad and stitched in photoshop from the very top of St Paul's cathedral, about 365 feet high.

We then continued our day with a tour of the Globe Theatre and a tour of the Tower of London with the very entertaining @billybeefeater.

London - Day 3

Today was a day of experiences. Our first outing of the day was for tea at the Ritz.

Tea at the Ritz

 As I said to Jane, this was the most expensive cheese sandwich I have ever had. It was quite an experience - sandwiches (including cucumber of course), scones, and little cakes. Huge pots of tea in very heavy silver pots and attentive waiters smiling and asking you constantly if you are okay. A pianist was playing away and at times I heard air supply! By the time we left I was bouncing on my seat from the sugar rush, I should not eat that much cake!

The Globe Theatre

We then walked around to the Globe Theatre and managed to get tickets to the sold out show - A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was fabulous. I felt like I was transported to another world. Here we were sitting on hard wooden benches while the space between us and the stage was full of people who stood for a 3 hour performance. The story was farcical, the actors were superb and the sky was grey and wintery (because of course it is summer). It was an incredible experience that so far has to be the highlight of my time in London.

We finished the day with dinner at the local - The Ship, where once again we had an Australian barkeep (our second).

London - Day 2

Today I took a little break from my holiday (ha). All of this walking and site seeing was getting tiring so I spent the day at home recovering until the early afternoon. Then I caught the tube and went for a little wander down Oxford Street to do some window shopping while Jane was at a course. 

Now realise the street decorations are for her mam's birthday

As I was walking along Oxford Street there was some sort of protest walk going on for the G8 summit. It was interesting, there were protestors walking quietly down one side of the street and the other side of the street was completely filled with the same number of Police. Then tagging along behind the police was the media. Looked like a disaster waiting to happen. 

How many busses can you fit in one street?

Jane and I caught up at 5pm at Trafalgar Square and went for a walk to visit the queen. She was home. All the Queen's guards were practicing in St James's Park for her upcoming birthday celebrations which are supposedly on Saturday! Who knew. London will be a zoo. 

The queen was home

We went to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria theatre in the evening. It was a very slick production. I quite enjoyed the new take on the story, it was well done. 

Wicked stage dressing

London - Day 1

Time to leave Paris for London. We lugged our (slightly heavier) suitcases down into the Metro and caught the few stops to Gare de Nord. We're feeling very comfortable in this cavernous underground maze of tunnels now - who would have thought! We got there in plenty of time for our train but still ended up scrambling at the last minute as we were waiting on the wrong platform! The train was very comfortable and in what seemed like no time at all (and only 20 min of that time in the chunnel) we popped up on the other side in the UK.

Gare de Nord

We caught a London black cab to our new accommodation in Lambeth. A very nice four story attached house where we are being looked after by our hosts Jeff and Simon. It is beautifully located too, we decided to take a walk to the South bank which is only about 15 minutes away. So after we went completely the wrong way in a circle we oriented ourselves and found the Thames. 

The Millennium Bridge

Golden Jubilee Bridge

We wandered through Covent Gardens, along to the Globe Theatre and visited the Lions in Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

Then ended our wandering with a snack in a pub called "The Sherlock Holmes". It might sound strange, but it was actually quite tasty (and obviously terribly unhealthy) - chips covered in melted cheese. We then headed for home and an early night.

From the files - Underground self portrait

As I work during the day, I have my photographs scrolling through in the background on my computer screen. This one captured me today and transported me back to my fantastic time in London. Each morning I would start my day's activities in the Queensway underground.

Tilt shift

Today is a holiday in Dunedin (Otago Anniversary Day) so I have been whiling away my time playing with photos in Photoshop. I followed this tilt shift tutorial on the image above (you may need to select the image to enlarge it to see the difference). It works better with a bird's eye view photo, but it was fun playing.

Duck in Hyde Park

Okay, so I'm cheating today. Jill Hammonds and I ran a workshop on the curriculum for the small schools cluster in Blenheim. I took a couple of shots of Jill in action however, we downloaded them to her computer and I didn't get a copy !! So I don't have a photo that I have taken today, but I do have this photo which I really like from my trip away, so it will have to do as a stop gap. I saw this duck in Hyde Park as I was walking through one morning. I quite like the composition.

2010/03/28: Daily Shoot #ds133

Blackbird in Hyde Park

Sunday challenge: Backlighting a scene can create drama. Make a photo with interesting placement of backlit subjects. #ds133

Last day in London

Today is my last full day in London. I went for a lovely long walk through Hyde Park and was in time to see the guards training.I walked past this duck (?) which I thought had beautiful colours. I've never seen this species before.
The highlight of Hyde Park for me are the squirrels. They are so cheeky. This one was being fed peanuts and ran right up onto a lady's lap to retrieve the peanut she was holding.
And to cap off the day, I caught a bus out to Stonehenge. It was amazing, these mammoth rocks arranged in the middle of a field.

The Thames

Today we decided to go on a river trip down the Thames to Greenwich. We had the most delightful man providing the commentary for the trip. He kept dropping in little pieces of humour about how hideous some of the buildings were, and little jokes about the monarchy.

The Globe

After we finished our work today we went to the Globe theatre for a tour. It is a replica built on the specs of the original which was burnt down.

Carnaby Street

We had a wonderful meeting at Teachers TV today and got lots of information about processes and procedures for making digital videos of high quality. An excellent day. At the end of our day we found ourselves at Carnaby Street which has been famous from the 60s. There are so many funky shops! I only just managed to leave with my credit card intact.
On the way home we went down to the Charing Cross Road Underground station and these wonderful tiled motifs were lining the walls.

Daffodils

The daffodils have begun to bloom here in London and Hyde Park is beautiful with carpets appearing each day.

Swans in Hyde Park

I walked past these beautiful swans in Hyde Park on my way out to Ealing today. They have the most amazing colour, so white and majestic. I don't think I have seen white swans before. We have black ones in Perth and there are black ones near Dunedin.

Today's agenda was a day's training with Urban Fox on digital video, which was very worthwhile. (I've written about this on my professional blog if you're interested :) )

Sunday in London

I had a nice day wandering around London today. The top photo is the stair case of 123 steps down to the central line underground which I have been catching everyday. I take the stairs up and down rather than the lift. I'd like to say it is to be healthy but it is really about my dislike of being crammed into a small space with a multitude of people I don't know to go hurtling up or down through the centre of the earth's crust.

I met Christina and we went for a wander around the Sunday markets down Petticoat and Brick lanes. They are massive! And there are some really cool, trendy and unusual things on offer.

After the markets I decided to jump on one of the hop on hop off tourist buses and take a guided tour around London. I got off at the National Gallery and, wow, what an extensive gallery! I saw Constable's Cornfield, Van Gogh's sunflower, and Monet's Japanese bridge over his waterlilly pond. I thought I had seen all there was to see in Paris, but the collection here was amazing. Rembrandt, Bellini, Reuben etc... wow. It was interesting to see how all the women painted in that time period were in various states of undress and weighed much more than what society paints as ideal these days. Oh well... Sunday in London, lovely.

Aldershot - Colin John Drury

Today was a strange day for me. I jumped on the train for an hour south west of London to Aldershot, where I lived for the first three years of my life. I have absolutely no memory of this time so it was nice to have a look around. But the real reason for my visit was that I have a brother buried there and I have never seen the grave.

Colin John Drury was born on 11th August 1966 and he died 16 days later. Mum worked very hard to have this beautiful stone made for him. The line at the bottom says "One more angel".

I had no idea how I was going to feel meeting the brother I could have had. As is appropriate for this type of adventure, it was a grey drizzly day. I walked to where mum had shown me the grave would be on Google maps and looked up and down for the grave. This section of the cemetery is for children and is very peaceful away from the big cemetery. I walked up and down and could not find the grave. I decided to be logical. I saw that the graves were in year order so I went to 1966 and I finally found it. It was so dirty it was hard to read the words.

Now I had promised my mum I would clean the grave. I stood there and thought, 'I haven't brought anything with me to clean it!' I improvised by scraping off the dirt and mud with sticks and found a cloth in my bag. I was planning on picking some daffodils for the grave on my way, however they are only just blooming - hence this solitary bloom.

Okay, grave all tidied up, it was time to surprise mum. I had lugged my computer all the way out to the grave. I juggled an umbrella and the laptop to keep it dry from the drizzle and skyped my mum. She wasn't expecting that. Mum was sitting in her house in Australia and I was standing with Colin in Aldershot. It was a very touching moment. I don't think mum has been back to the grave since she left England 39 years ago.

I found it extraordinarily hard to leave the grave site. I stayed there about two hours cleaning it up and taking photos and skyping with mum. I couldn't imagine how very sad that day, 43 years ago must have been.

(PS... I found a local pub to have lunch in and as I sat there eating someone chose a song on the jukebox - "Plain Jane". How bizarre!! It was surreal. I had never heard the song before and there I was, the original plain Jane, and that song comes on!)