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.