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 photos for those of you asking for them

post #369
         I am getting ready to make another visit to my step-mother, who's British and who lives in England. She's not able to travel anymore, so she sends us tickets to come see her instead. Nice! HOWEVER, I'm going this time in January, when the weather there can be pretty wet, so I've decided today to post photos from earlier trips.  That way together we can all imagine the beautiful England I might be visiting, with its magical light for making photos, instead of the England I will more likely be experiencing. Stay tuned.

Last spring's trip included my daughter and granddaughter, which means traveling with a car seat.  The headline on the newspaper locates us in time and place! There may be some more photos of this patient five year old, so I am introducing her at the get-go.

garden path, from car to the house

Friends have a dog who is trying to be the pheasant hunting kind of dog.....

photos leaning out of the third story of the house my father and step-mother used to live in, very early in a spring morning

using the zoom lens to show more of the street, still early that morning -- can you find the first photo in the second one???

 

more of High Street (i.e. Main Street), in Chipping Campden, in the Cotswolds, an hour or so later (clues: more cars, more light)   Remember the British cars have the steering wheel on the right side of the car.

Maiing a postcard to Kentucky a day I was leaving to return to Kentucky... proof that I mailed it even if I got home before the postcard would.... I suppose this is my lame idea of being clever...?

an antique inside  - formerly called a butler's chair

flowers everywhere, in every season

 an antique outside -- Market Hall, from 1400, on High Street

inside the wool market -- been there awhile!

back before cars, wagons, trains, etc. I'm not sure what "the beginning and the end" really means. I will find out next week, if I can.

View from nearby Hidcote Gardens, closed to the public in winter

one end of the village of Admington

outside of a tea shop on High Street

The following photo marks a renovation in Paddington Station, where the bear from the book has a place of honor.  I will be in this train station this trip, while in London, and I will try to get a photo of Paddington Bear in his new location.  

 

  There's so much more, but this is all I have time for today. I'm sure I won't see Prince Harry or anything like that, except perhaps on the front of all the newspapers... I know not everyone gets to travel like this, so I am glad to be able to share some of what I see when I go to be with family.

England for a change, and trains

post #202
         Most of my May trip to Europe was spent visiting my step-mother -- who is English and she lives in England, near Stratford-on-Avon.  It was often raining, so this time I didn't take that many photos there.  But I did travel by train to France, over and back.  And, both in London and in Paris, I needed to take the "underground" or the metro in order to change stations in each city.  In Europe, big cities have more than one main station.  Luckily I love trains and thank goodness I can speak French!  Even so, it was quite a job to figure out times and platforms and how to be headed in the right direction once I found that platform. 
        I happen to love taking photos in a train AND from a moving train.  Ever since childhood, I have been fascinated by what is passing by so quickly.  Back "in the olden days," my sisters and I traveled by train between parents a couple of times a month.  We lived in Connecticut, and my father was in New York City.  These days I hardly ever get to ride a train!  I took advantage of my May trip within a trip to travel on a bunch of trains.
        So, from England to France, it's first a train, 1) Moreton-in-Marsh to London/ Paddington station.  Next comes (goes) the underground (subway) to 2) London/St. Pancras station in order to catch the 3) Eurostar train, the one that zips UNDER the English Channel to Paris/Gare du Nord.  Very speedy, not good for photos.  The metro (subway) in Paris to the 4) Montparnasse station was also not good for photos.  Finally and barely I caught the 5) fast train (TGV), to Rennes, in western France, arriving exactly on schedule at 8:30 pm their time.  (France is an hour earlier than England, go figure.)  This was my first day and by far, so to speak, the most challenging.  I am so grateful the French were very helpful each of the many times I asked someone a question.  Merci de tout coeur!

        After all this verbiage, here are some photos.  First, the train to London:

looking south, from my seat

looking north, across the aisle, afields of rape seeds, for making oil

notice the tops of heads mirrored in the baggage rack above

My seatmate spent the ENTIRE two hours of the trip going from one device to the others. I doubt if he noticed I was taking his picture. He never looked out the window, said a word or smiled. I was busy looking incredulous!

    Next, photos while figuring out how to change stations after arriving at London/Paddington Station:

ticket kiosks at Paddington  -- Travelers are supposed to punch their tickets before getting on the train and sometimes when they get off.

mid morning on a Monday must not be a busy time at Paddington Station

on the way to catch the underground to my next train station

the platform for the trip between train stations -- obviously not underground here, but still part of the "Tube" system.

One of the stops, at "Great Portland Street", wherever that is. Notice the warning just outside the door to MIND THE GAP, which means "remember there is a space between the train and the platform."  However, could they be thinking about income gap as well??!!??

 

FIrst of two views inside London/St. Pancras station. Lots of shops, including a whole grocery store with meals ready to go.  And bottled water.  There are NO WATER FOUNTAINS that I could find in any stations.  Not anywhere, in either country.  But at least there has been great progress toward making it mostly smoke-free!

The front of the Eurostar train which is waiting in the station -- this will be the back of the train on its return trip.  These trains are scheduled two every hours in each direction, and they are full.  Advance seat reservations are needed. They are like a pricey shuttle back and forth between London and Paris.  Some people commute!

        
        More next week, since I have run out of steam today for more photos.... I still want to share a statue with those of you who read children's books and who have met Paddington bear over the years: this statue of him is in Paddington Station.  It was providing a seat to a Japanese tourist at the time I was there, and I didn't ask him to move, even though I would have then had a better photo.  Anyway, this sweet bear sends greetings to all of us around the world, I am sure.