England mop up

post #371
       I'm home again, after a full week in England (also called Great Britain or the United Kingdom...)  There seem to be some photos left to share, so here we go:

arriving in Paddington station, in London: the board shows which train is where.

Paddington -- the bear, that is -- continues to be on platform one, but his statue is better shown off now than when I was last here: 

I always love the designs on the rail stations. This is Paddington's look:

After the train, it's the "tube", or the "Underground" -- before the rush hour starts. I hear that the subways then become incredibly and uncomfortably crowded.  

I am using my iPhone here to show the escalator that was part of my transfer between two lines of the Underground. I also encountered stairs with no elevator option! But there was always a friendly person, both female and male, who would offer to help me with my two smallish suitcases.  That's what I call hospitality!

The walk from the Underground to the place where I was staying is only two blocks, and it includes a walk through the park called Russell Square.  I loved the quote on this bench -- from Charlotte's Web, one of my favorite books because it is by E.B.White. It's wrenching to be reminded about terrorist bombings designed primarily to kill people. Why does it happen!

This is the view back toward Russell Square from my window in the Penn Club B and B where I stayed.

 Very nearby is the famous British Museum, with its modern roof from within the building, transfering the very use of its venerable tradional shape. Entry is free and the place is fascinating. This is where the Rosetta Stone is located as well as the Elgin Marbles.

The ROSETTA STONE, within a glass case now, always surrrounded by people

A display at the neighborhood bookstore, operated by the London Review of Books:

Bloomsbury Park is at the other end of the street where I stayed, past the motorcycles..

 

This feels like a very random collection of photos, but I only had a day and a half in London. I did some pub hopping with a young friend from Morehead who lives nearby while working on her PhD. I also went to the theatre with a cousin and her husband who live now in France but who happened to be in town. And it was chilly and often rainy --- not a photography trip, but there are times I can't resist taking photos.  I hope some of this is interesting to hear about. I am delighted to be back home, however. I'm glad my stepmother seems to be doing well. I hope I've been able to share some of the adventure of travel, which is sort of, in my case, a bit off the beaten track. "Life is a journey, not a destination." (I just found out that this quote is quite accepted even though there seems to be no evidence of where it started. That's kind of ironic, actually.) Thanks for reading this, and Bon Voyage wherever you are going  -- Ann

England in May, part 2, mostly London

post #287
       My England visit seems like so long ago although I've only been home 10 days! In any case, it's time to share several photos from the last three days of my trip -- which I spent in London! I traveled there on the train, to meet up with Reidunn, a close friend I rarely get to be with. She is Norwegian, and she flew over from Oslo, the capitol city, for our visit. What a treat! We laughed a lot and talked even more and caught up a bit and explored where we found ourselves -- which turned out to be near the British Museum. Neither of us is a reliable correspondent, so, to honor a long friendship, sometimes extreme measures are required.
       I rode the train an hour and 45 minutes from Morton-in-Marsh to London's Paddington Station. For readers familiar with the books about Paddington Bear, this is HIS station. Currently, due to station renovations, his famous statue is temporarily located on Platform 1. I took time to find the bear and take a photo, partly because the last time I was there, my Paddington photo was not what I wanted. 
      I often offer to take a photo for other people, and I did so this time as well. Then the young woman offered to take one of me! Thank you, traveling stranger and good photographer, whoever you are and where ever you are now. My photo is fine,  but I am showing hers.

     Here's my oft repeated reminder -- to see all the photos in a larger size, simply click on one of them and they will all align themselves at the bottom of the page, ready for a click which leads to an enlargement!   

We stayed at a kind of Quaker Bed and Breakfast, a wonderful place, called The Penn Club. This is the view from my window on the third floor, which in Europe is called the second floor since our first floor is called their ground floor... No elevator, but kind people.  I arrived about an hour before Reidunn appeared. It felt like a miracle that our plan had worked!  BTW, the bus is for tourists, though it was a chilly day and a weekday; no brave soul was sitting on the open deck second story of the bus.

Inside the amazing British Museum, waiting for the 10 a.m. opening of the exhibit areas, I loved the shadows of the "roof" in the morning sun.  Well, I guess I loved THE SUN and the shadows were a delightful bonus.

Eric, I took this photo for you - remembering how you studied the Rosetta Stone one summer and then we visited it in its former more hands-on presentation.  But this is currently the most visited item in the whole place and still fascinating to think of how much was learned about written language from the many years in the 1800s that it was studied.

A quick snap of Reidunn looking very serious when we were viewing the Elgin Marbles, also a popular exhibit despite the controversy over where in the world these sculptures should be located.

       Reidunn and I took advantage of being near the British Museum by visiting it both days that we could. But we also wanted to walk around, and we ended up near the Thames River and the modern London Eye and about-to-be-silenced-during-renovations Big Ben and the parliament buildings. It didn't rain! The first two photos are taken from the south bank of the river, and the other two are on the corner across from Big Ben. We walked over that bridge to get there.... It is not far, as is evident from the passage of time shown on the clock.... 

Does anyone hear the 5 chimes happening?

This photo is all about light, which in England is a photographer's joy when it happens like this. I don't necessarily need a photo of the London Eye, but I couldn't resist having Big Ben at my back and seeing the 5 pm sun shining across the Thames and making art where otherwise there would just be commerce....

 

   My last evening, after Reidunn had returned to Oslo, I went out to find an apple and a power bar to carry with me the next morning on the airplane home, emergency provisions.... Right around the block I discovered this bookshop, which was open at 9 pm only because of a reading that was taking place, reservations required. Folks were packed in there. I loved the whole scene, of course. I hear the cafe is excellent, too - if there's ever a next time I will know about going there!

         All best wishes to everyone on their adventures! Thanks for sharing mine.  Ann