London, Part 2 (Our Last Week!)

 Ah, the time has gone by, as it always does, and now our lengthy month in London is coming to a close. One thing we’re really pleased with is our understanding of the area, and how the different neighborhoods are connected… and how to use the bus system to get from one to another. Very satisfying!

Let’s see what we’ve been up to…

Notting Hill Carnival

OK, so we haven’t really been “up to” the carnival, since it’s happening right now, as I type this. We’ve been warned: it is a massive carnival, the largest in Europe (second worldwide only to the one in Rio de Janeiro), attracting upwards of a million participants, happening every year at the end of August. The building where we are staying is in the ½ square mile of the carnival area, and for days we’ve been watching buildings, residences and businesses, fenced and even boarded up. Should be quite a thing! It is, however, raining today. Might keep participation low today, the family day. Tomorrow (Monday) is adults’ day. That could get wild…  (We'll get some photos later.)

             Greenwich

Noted for the Naval Museum and Observatory – and the Prime meridian – Greenwich is a few miles down the Thames from downtown London. We wanted to get out on the water, so we took the London river boat, part of the public transport system.

Tower Bridge, seen from the boat

             It was a good day out. We went to the Navel Museum, saw Admiral Nelson’s coat with the fatal hole in the left shoulder (he was a small guy, nowhere near as tall as that column in Trafalgar Square makes him out to be). I was more interested in the Royal Observatory, first established in 1675 and home to the Prime Meridian, the line of zero longitude which is the basis for our entire system of geographical coordinates (think: GPS). I also wanted to see the collection of watches from John Harrison, who was the first to develop, around 1730, a timepiece accurate enough to be used for navigation aboard ships (very, very important to the British Navy!).

A little (tongue in cheek?) art at the Naval Museum

The amazing Royal Observatory Greenwich

             Entry to the observatory museum cost £15 each even with the old-folks discount, which dampened our enthusiasm. The main attraction of the observatory is the Prime Meridian. Peering through the fence we saw people lining up to have their photo taken straddling the line, one foot in each hemisphere. But I’d done some research and found that the Prime Meridian has been moved: satellites refined the shape of the earth, and to keep things accurate the Meridian is now 100 meters away. Hah! Silly tourists…

Right foot in the west, left in the east. No, wait...

And these kids used their smart phone to find their own Prime Meridian (it's actually showing 0 degrees heading, True North, rather than 0 degrees longitude. We strongly supported their heresy anyway.)

             Using the GPS receiver on my smartphone (hardly a precision instrument, but close enough) Paula and I set our own Prime Meridian in the nearby park. Sorted! (as they say here). Still kinda wish I’d seen those watches, though.

My own personal Prime Meridian (close to the Real One)

             We ended the day with happy hour at the Greenwich Tavern, another one of those traditional pubs we like so much. Then, the long bus ride home…

 

Another of those fine, traditional pubs we like so much!

        

                              Speakers’ Corner and Movie Making

Last Sunday (a week ago!) we went to Speaker’s Corner, a spot in Hyde Park designated in 1872 as a place where citizens are allowed to speak on whatever they wish. I’d heard about it when I was a kid, and always wanted to see it, so that was the start of our perambulations on this day. The concept of Speakers’ Corner turns out to be far more interesting than the reality (as is true of many places). There were a few distinct small groups, none of which seemed particularly interesting. The largest group surrounded a fellow who had a well-developed haranguing voice; this was not his first time before a crowd. He was holding a bible and saying something about science. We moved on.

A good -- well, loud -- speaker at Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park

             Down in the south corner of the park, near Buckingham Palace, we watched a movie being made: a classic black Jaguar was being closely followed by a car with a professional-looking camera on a boom, giving a tire’s-eye view. Parked nearby an identical Jaguar was outfitted with a camera to catch the driver’s face. Bystanders told us it was for the new Men in Black movie (“with Liam Neeson! I guess Will Smith was too expensive…”).

Watch for this car in the upcoming "Men in Black"

One of a number of war memorials we passed. THis one honors Australians who fought and gave their lives for the Commonwealth. (Strongly reminiscent of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.)

Names of the battles are formed by bold facing selected letters in the names of the fallen. A nice "optical" feature.

             Amused, we walked on, away from Wellington Arch to Buckingham Palace. We saw the traditional guards in their red uniforms and tall black fur hats, and the effective guards with automatic weapons and bullet-proof vests. Then around the Victoria Memorial and through St. James’s Park. What a fine place that is! Grass, trees, a waterway with numerous species of ducks and geese. I’m impressed by the many fine parks in London! In spite of the big-city energy it’s not difficult to get lost in greenery. We sat on the grass for a while to watch an amateur orchestra set up and play. After a bit they invited members of the audience to come up and conduct. It was a pleasant interlude, but the shade was shifting and the sun was hot, so we moved on.

Amature performance in St. James's Park

There's some beautiful vistas in St. James's Park, such as this looking towards The Household Cavalry Museum and the Horse Guards Parade (and maybe Downing Street is in there, too)

             We crossed the major thoroughfare known as The Mall at the top right (NE) corner of the park and came up to the Duke of York Column, where we found a couple of well-dressed men – well  dressed for the 1960s – standing around, clearly waiting for something. “We’re extras for The Crown. They’re shooting season 3; episode 1, I think.” Well, that’s special! We chatted for a bit, then crew members started moving bystanders (us, in other words) away. We waited behind the barriers at the far end of the plaza, and I realized that however exciting being in a movie might be, it’s mostly waiting around all day to walk across the street, perhaps several times. We eventually moved on, down Whitehall Street.

The gentlemen we spoke with about the scene from The Crown

More extras waiting around for their scene to come up

             Number 10 Downing Street! We peered past the barricades and the armed guards to a series of identical building fronts. No. 10 was down there somewhere, home of the Prime Minister, equivalent to the American presidency (and nothing to do with the Prime Meridian).

Downing Street. No. 10 is down there somewhere

             We came to Westminster Bridge, and huge crowds. We walked halfway across to get a good view of Big Ben, all wrapped up (and no place to go!) for the next few years, undergoing what must be some very deferred maintenance. Then it was past Westminster Abbey (ironically, closed today, Sunday) and a long, long walk home!

Big Ben, tightly constrained but putting on a good face (ha)

Westminster Abbey. No, we never went inside.

Up Next:

     We've had a few more adventures worth talking about. Oh, plus the Carnival! We're hoping for some good costumes tomorrow.

London Town, Part 1

             London

We are currently in London, enjoying our flat in Notting Hill. I think we're done with the retrospective, with catching up on where we were. Now we're in real time... more or less.

It's raining today, so we have a chance to catch up a bit. (And this rain is a relief from the heat we've been having!)

After two months of being on the road we are quite happy to just set for a spell. Plus the weather has been very hot! Not encouraging for trips into the Big City. Instead, we have been content to stay closer to home, which is in the western part of London known as Notting Hill. (There’s a movie with that name, set in this neighborhood. The first five minutes are good…)

"Our" house, the one on the right; that's our garrett window 'way up high

Our street

We’re a few blocks from Portobello Road, along which a market is held daily selling all manner of things, useful and… esthetic. It’s an interesting and dynamic neighborhood, with quiet, stately residential streets lined with Victorian houses, and more active streets with cafes, restaurants, community centers, and shops selling groceries, high fashion, objects d’art, plumbing supplies, and tourist knickknacks.

A part of the Portobello Market, which extends for many blocks along Portobello Road

I like the views out our windows. There is a green strip between the row of buildings on our street and the one behind us; it gives the ground-floor residents garden space, and us something to look at. I find myself hanging out the window in the evening, looking down and around at the plants and trees. It’s quiet and peaceful, yet there’s a lot going on energetically.

Pleasant view out our rear window

Our solitary front window looks down a short street, proud three-storey [sic] Victorians on either side. And in the distance, right in the middle, is a modern high-rise under construction with a huge green heart on it. Wandering the neighborhood near the base of this tower we found posters and hand-lettered signs indicating neighborhood solidarity and support, as well as outrage. Ah, something must have happened here! Once back at our flat, a quick Google check turned up information on the Grenfell fire: that building burned in a real towering inferno just a year ago. Seventy-two people died; 70 more were injured. Several hundred lost their homes. Residents blame the landlord, the city council, for not taking more care on the remodeling done a few years earlier.

Now, every time we look out the window and see the green heart on that building, we feel a sort of intimacy with the area; a knowledge of its history that is not obvious. It’s a tendril of a root; we’re not just passersby; we’re getting to know the neighborhood.

The front window, looking down McGregor Street towards the Grenfell building

A year after the fire the Grenfell building is still being repaired; caption next to the green heart reads: "Grenfell    Forever in our hearts"

One day we walked to the Kensington Gardens, a major park on the west side contiguous with Hyde Park. It was hot, the grass was sere and yellowing. I didn’t find it very pleasant. Since it was a Saturday, Londoners out to escape the heat were seeking shade under the trees. The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain was jammed with kids. The park is quite large, but eventually we made it out the south end, wandered around the Royal Albert Hall, and ended up at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Oh my, what a find!

The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain on a very hot Saturday

The Albert Memorial -- he must have been quite a guy, to get a memorial like that!

            V and A Museum

Initially established in 1857 to promote applied art and science (as opposed to the “high art” of the National Gallery and the British Museum) to help boost productive industry, the Victoria and Albert Museum has a mind boggling array of manufactured items. We were particularly interested in clothing and housewares from the Tudor era (16^th Century, mostly). The museum seems to be endless, with every room opening up different objects from a different era. Like every museum we’ve been to here (six or eight, so far) it’s collections are totally mind boggling. I’m just gonna have to leave it there…

The Bed of Ware, a massive bed that drew tourists back in the 16th Century

Quirky standard bearers carved from wood, also from the 16th Century

             Battersea

On another walking day we headed south towards the river and stumbled upon the Battersea Power Station. This iconic, massive brick building, done in Art Deco style, really speaks to me for some reason. I’d only seen photos of it, and it seemed like science fiction out of the 1950s.  (It is visually remarkable enough, in fact, that it was used on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals). This huge building seemed the very image of power and progress in that booming era between the wars (and that would be WWI & WWII). I had no idea where it actually was, and coming across it unexpectedly was a real blast. The plant hasn’t generated a kilowatt since 1983 and was falling apart. Fortunately, its status as an icon has some economic value, and it is now the center piece of a large residential-office-shopping complex (about all an outworn power plant can hope for these days, I suppose). It is, however, surrounded by high-rise glass buildings, which shifts the iconography a bit.

The album cover photo for Pink Floyd's Animals  (Wikipedia, from  http://www.pinkfloyd.com/)

Battersea Park today

             Abbey Road and Little Venice

Then, the other day, I was studying the map and noticed the Abbey Road Studios were a comfortable walk away. So, of course we went there! On our way we crossed a canal, complete with traditional narrow boats (the style of canal boat seen all over England). We followed it and came to Little Venice, a turning basin at the confluence of two canals. (Many canals were built through the UK – and Europe – during the 19^th Century for transportation; barges and boats carried enormous amounts of goods on these artificial waterways, which today are maintained for recreation. One of these canals continues into London past Paddington Station.)

Traditional English Narrowboats tied up along a canal in west London

It seems the British poet Robert Browning spent some years here and gave it the name Little Venice. It’s quite pleasant, with a small island supporting a fine willow tree.  And of course, a café or two for those who wish to linger. Plus canal boat tours, 45 minutes up the canal to Camden (wherever THAT is).

Little Venice, a turning basin at the confluence of two canals in London

We’ll be back, but this was not our final destination on this excursion. Continuing along, we found the Abbey Road Studios on a lovely tree-lined street in St. John’s Wood, built in the 1930’s and made famous by the Beatles (and the many other bands that recorded there, including Pink Floyd and The Hollies). I noticed the whitewashed walls around the building were covered with hand-written inscriptions; well-wishes from fans, no doubt! But the real focus of attention was the crosswalk just up the street, the one used for the iconic album cover for the Beatles' Abbey Road album.

Abbey Road Studios, inscribed walls, and onlookers

Another iconic album cover (Iain Macmillan via Wikipedia)

A great place to people watch! It’s remarkable that nearly 50 years later, this nondescript road crossing is still a tourist attraction. Photographers set up in the middle of the road while their friends walk the zebra stripes swinging their arms in an exaggerated fashion, as they imagine the Beatles must have done. Meanwhile, local drivers wait patiently until everyone clears out of their way. Weird…

Just another zebra crossing in suburban London...

...at the intersection of Abbey Road and Grove End Road.

             The British Museum

It’s really a bit too much, this compendium of curiosities from around the world. Egyptian statues (and bits of statues) 5,000 years old; Assyrian palace gates from 350 B.C.E.; a board game from the same era. Beaten copper artwork that lay buried for 3,000 years; tea cups, earrings, neck toques, coin hordes. Endless rooms of endless cases of endless artifacts, all surrounded by endless hordes of visitors. It’s pretty overwhelming!

             We started with a very nice lunch in the ups-scale café. The whole inner courtyard where the café is located is outside, but now covered by a transparent dome. Since it was raining today (a relief! I keep thinking about that sere grass in the parks), this was a fine arrangement. Lunch was pricey, but hey it’s my birthday! So we toasted with a mid-day carafe of wine. It was a moment…

             We may go back to the Museum to see some of what we missed (seeing all is hopeless); on the other hand, there are so many other places to go! The Natural History Museum covers a few square blocks, there’s the Houses of Parliament, and other historical buildings (where’s that palace that Henry VIII build for Anne Boleyn?) 

So we’ll see!

Germany

             (June 24)

I wasn’t particularly interested in visiting Germany. I’ve got nothing against it; I’m just not drawn there. But the path of our travels through Scandinavia to Amsterdam led right through Hamburg, Germany. Plus, as we were planning all this months ago we heard Hamburg was a happening place. So, we allocated a couple of days. Besides, lodging is not expensive there…

We were blown away by Hamburg! It’s an amazing city. Even though we arrived in a drizzle and never saw the sun for three days, we found it engaging, and interesting in surprising ways.

The city has a long history. The official name – The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg – clues us that it was part of the Hanseatic League (we ran into them in Bergen), signs of which are still all over the city. The Romans were here (of course!), but the first real building was erected by Charlemagne, in 808. The city was sacked by Vikings (what self-respecting European city wasn’t?!), then by the Poles, then by the Black Death. But it’s location on a river, the Elbe, with access to the Baltic meant it was destined to be a trading center.

Hamburg City Hall, or Rathaus

And trade, in the late 1100s, meant the Hanseatic League. The League was created to protect and enhance economic and diplomatic interests, and eventually controlled trade all over Northern and Eastern Europe. It made the traders – and the city of Hamburg – very rich. Hamburg today is still rich. There are fine, beautiful houses and public buildings from centuries ago; thought-provoking ruins (World War II was not kind to German cities); canals lined with merchant homes and storehouses from the Middle Ages; huge brick warehouses; a fabulous Opera House (why does every city build a fancy opera house?); a major shipping port. And, there were the Beatles.

Buildings lining one of the many canals in Hamburg

Hamburg's opera house; performance halls are set on large springs. The windows open to luxury apartments, offices, and a hotel.

Classy rest room sign in the opera house

We arrived in Hamburg on a wet Saturday afternoon. This was the first real rain since we’d arrived in Europe. It was just drizzling, really, and not cold, but not encouraging, either! Off the train and over to the city bus stop (Paula is really good at city navigation), then dig out some money for the ticket. Norway, and Scandinavia in general, is transitioning to a cash-less economy, so we hadn’t used coins and bills for weeks. Now we had to find our Euros!  A bit short on coins, Paula offered a 50-Euro note. The driver refused the bill, saying it was too old or something* (he enlisted the language skills of another passenger who spoke some English). We felt like real duffuses, standing there all wet with our suitcase and backpacks and laptops slung around us, just off the boat, as it were. Eventually the driver – bless his heart – accepted our few coins, about half a Euro short of the required fare, and we rode to our Airbnb accommodations. (Seriously, thank you Mr. Driver for your generosity to clueless strangers!)

* After some cogitation Paula remembered the bill was our deposit return from our place in Alicante, the same bill Paula had given the manager some months ago, one that we’d gotten on our last trip in 2016. Perhaps the EU had updated the currency? In any event, the next morning a coffee shop accepted the bill without question. Sorted! (As they say in England…)

I really liked this Airbnb. The hosts were most thoughtful; and our room was set up to meet the needs of travelers such as us. In a modern apartment building overlooking a green space, we had a distant view of the Heinrich Hertz Tower, an ugly concrete communications tower that’s become a modern landmark. Despite the lack of esthetics, I like that it recognizes a pioneering physicist (and Son of Hamburg), for whom the unit of electrical frequency -- the Hertz --  is named (and what higher accolade could you get then having an electrical unit named after you?).

View of the Heinrich Hertz Tower out our window

Actually, what made this modern tower noteworthy was the view from the other side of the apartment: the bell tower of St. Michael’s Church, an earlier Hamburg landmark, the first sign of the city seen by approaching ships. Of course, that was the view from our host’s bedroom, not ours, but I thought it was a nice balance: the new out one window, the old out the other.

St. Michael's Church tower, a long-time Hamburg landmark

These two towers symbolize for me the layers of history, of ongoing change, that Hamburg carries. The Hanseatic League gave way to individual merchants building large homes and storehouses on canals to deliver the goods. Improved transport technologies (steamships) expanded the shipping industry. Trading corporations formed and build more large impressive buildings, in a different style. Huge warehouses were needed to facilitate increased trade. Then the shipping container was invented, and huge facilities were built across the river to accommodate this new technology. Older builders were torn down, or repurposed. It’s the story of every old city, but somehow these layers seem more accessible in Hamburg.

We did get a good chance to examine that bell tower, however. The World’s Cup was on, semi-final match between Sweden and Germany. Now, we’re not given to sports; not soccer, not American football, not baseball. But the World Cup is a Big Deal in Europe. Plus, the Germans were playing! Our hosts were off to watch it at a friend’s house, and offered us their bedroom. Lounging on the broad bed and watching the wide-screen TV! Our loyalties were a bit divided, having just been in Sweden, but we were glad Germany won. (They clearly had better control of the ball throughout the game, but the Swedish spectators were having a lot more fun.)

 

This was taken only hours before (the Germans won) the game

As always in a new city we took the “free” walking tour (guides collect tips at the end). As always, it was fantastic. There is much to see in Hamburg (all those layers), and our guide brought them out well. In addition to he usual up-town public buildings, our guide took us on a brief ferry ride, saving some walking, to a more modern and less reputable part of Hamburg, known for its sex shops, night clubs, Red Light District, and Beatles history.

Beatles-Platz, monument to the "Fab Four" -- Pete Best stands apart (he stayed in Hamburg)

Fifty years ago the Beatles played in Hamburg for a year or so. They are still remembered: there is a sort of shrine to them on the Beatles-Platz. There’s still night clubs there with loose (and often lewd) acts, some with plaques commemorating past artists (like the Beatles!). Our tour guide, keen on Beatles lore, filled us in on the antics of Lennon and company in their year in the area. He also cautioned us to be careful, as it is (still) renowned as a place to get really ripped off. He pointed out a price list, for example, posted in public in conformance to local law. Can you imagine paying that much for a drink! Everyone looked, and shook their heads at the outrage. (Until Paula commented, “Hey, this is cheaper than in Oslo!”)

Our tour guide shows us the street where the Beatles played, still home to clubs and bars today

Where the Beatles got their funky haircuts

There are endless interesting vistas in Hamburg, thanks to the canals and the layering of old and new. A church bombed in World War II, now a peace shrine; tidal canals that fill and empty twice a day, many lined with expensive apartments and interesting cafes; monuments, statues, and public art both old and new. Crowded ferries offering low-cost river rides; extensive ship facilities right across the river from expensive offices and residences. 

St. Nikolai Memorial: a church bombed in WWII, now a peace monument.

Angel on Earth by Edith Breckwoldt, part of the peace monument; plaques read, in multiple languages: "Take my hand and let me lead you / back to yourself"

Tide's out! The level of the canals fluctuates widely due to tidal action

Bridge spans a canal

Massive warehouses from the 19th Century, now housing offices, studios, and the Miniatur Wunderland

Buildings in the lower right housed a major magazine publisher; with the decline in publishing, they are now "repurposed" (to gov't offices); that's the opera house in the upper left

Oh, yes, and then there’s Miniatur Wunderland, what must be the world’s largest and most detailed model train layout. It’s an absolutely jaw-dropping installation of miniature models of… well, much of the world, done both accurately and with subtle and extensive humor. Hamburg itself is presented in miniature, including the airport with planes, about a foot long, landing and taking off. We see Las Vegas; the red rocks of Southern Utah; idyllic European pastoral scenes; a lagoon in Venice that drains and refills as a building collapses; snow-covered Alpine passes. It goes on and on through multiple rooms and various floors of an old warehouse.  Oh, and five or six times an hour night falls, everything gets dark, lights come on in the miniature cities; then, the sun rises and things brighten as the city lights are extinguished. Just like real life!

I’d better stop now. I could go on for pages, though! There's a brief video of what we saw below.

A scene from the Red Rocks of Utah at the Miniateur Wunderland

Las Vegas!

St. Michael's Church in Hamburg, as seen at the Wunderland

And lastly, note the license shows a double H, for Hasiatic Hamburg. (Innovative trailer hitch ball protector, too!)

Here's the Miniatur Wunderland video!

OK, I think the next blog will be about our adventures in London. About time!