London Walks for February

Lambeth and the Southbank

This was a nice short walk. I was already very familiar with the area because I frequented it when I went to the Southbank Theatre to see the Audrey Hepburn films that played in January. I love walking over the bridges here, the river is beautiful and (when its not freezing out) the wind is refreshing and crisp. Of all my experiences in this area, my two favorite things are the views of Big Ben and the street performers at the foot of the London Eye. First of all, the views of the river and the surrounding buildings are breathtaking, especially at night. In fact, I would only recommend doing this walk at night for this reason. The entire place lights up with color and twinkling lights, which double when reflected in the dark glassy water. The performers always seem to be along the water near the Eye, and they always vary. My favorite so far were a group of Africans that would dance, balance things, contort themselves, and throw things around. They made me laugh and definitely warranted a donation, unlike the cliché silver painted people acting like robots (note that their movements are quite poor on the robot scale, the human robots in San Francisco put these to shame). The picture I chose to include with this post is one I took of Big Ben and the Eye, probably one of the best night pictures I have taken; this picture is the reason I love this area. 

Fleet Street & St. Paul’s (The City West)

I did this walk at night. I led it. The cathedral was incredible; it towered impressively over me in the darkness. I had my mind set on eating at Ye Old Cheshire Cheese that is half way through the walk, so it was hard to focus on the first half. Plus, the directions in the book were poor and I continued getting us lost and having to backtrack and search for street signs that did not ever seem to exist. Back to the cathedral, it was honestly one of my favorite buildings thus far; I loved its unique design, especially the statues on the upper ledges that look down at the people walking underneath. I commend Sir Christopher Wren on a job well done. Many of the streets we took were small and I did not really understand why the author chose to include them. For example, after seeing the Old Bailey courthouse he had us walk over a bridge that was build over a river that no longer exists and then go through some small streets that had no purpose and only made the walk long and tedious. The author could easily have left out the bridge part, especially since it was so cold and my hands were frozen to his stupid book. I will be writing him an angry letter. Anyhow, upon arriving at Ye Old Cheshire cheese, excited to eat at such an important pub, I entered and was crestfallen. The pub smelled foul and there were few tables, all which were taken. Most of the pub was standing room only and filled with drunk wavering middle-aged professionals who stopped by to have “a few drinks” on the way home. It was kind of cool to learn about some of the printing and publishing history in the area, as well as see the location of Shakespeare’s old playhouse. I also enjoyed seeing the statue of the black cat. It made me miss mine and I felt a bond of comradery with the cat’s owner, Dr. Johnson. Here, I am including a picture of the statue, a token of my love for felines.

Central Parks

This walk was beautiful! I actually did this one during the day and not at night like I have done on almost all my others. Although I had walked much of this walk already because we walk through the park to get to religion class, I liked doing the east end of the parks. I would probably not have seen them otherwise. The parks are simple, without too many trees or shrubbery, and this gives them a comfortable simplicity. This is opposed to the congestion and complexity of Central park in New York. As we walked past the Hyde Park Corner we could hear the megaphone of a group of protesters. The announcer was not speaking English, but what sounded like a Middle Eastern dialect. It was a neat sound, the megaphone would boom out some short excited statement and it would be followed by cried of agreement. At one point the megaphone voice even started a chant, and it would go megaphone, crowd reply, megaphone, crowd reply. It was a new aural experience for me. I felt as if I could have been in the streets of Cairo or Iraq during a protest. Later on in the walk we happened upon what I was told was the changing of the guard. It was a mini-parade and was a lot of fun to see and be apart of. It was one of the truly London-esque experiences.

Bankside and Southwark

It was fun to see the Globe theatre on this walk, that’s about all. There was too much walking and too little real information to make it anything memorable or noteworthy. The bridges are cool and I always enjoy walking over them. The river area is one of my favorite places and this walk flirted with them, weaving me in and over the river in a couple places. Now, back to the Globe theatre. It was cool! Standing at its foot and staring up at the thatched roof only made me even more excited to see King Lear there. I love Shakespeare and will treasure that memory. Another part of the walk that stuck out to me was the history with bear baiting that the book discusses. I was not too familiar with the sport, so the mention of the spot that it took place in Southwark was nothing significant. When I got home after the walk I researched bear bating and learned that it is when they have a group of hunting dogs attack a chained bear. When the dogs get hurt they send some more in. Apparently Southwark is an important place for bear bating and has been for centuries until it was banned here in 1835.

Walks for January

City East Walk

This walk took a really long time for us to complete. I did stop to take a lot of pictures, but even then, it shouldn’t have taken over four hours like it did. I really like this area, of all the places in London this area reminded me most of New York. We did the walk around noon, and because this is the “business” district of the city the streets were packed with professionals in dark colored suits, all rushing around to get their lunch before heading back into work. I loved the architecture here, eventhough the buildings weren’t the oldest in London, they were well designed and gave the area a crisp, clean feel.

We walked for two and a half hours the first time out, got half way through, around where Cannon station is, then had to return to the center for dinner. We finished the walk the next night and I'm glad we chose night to do it because the darkness changed how I saw the area and made it look very different. Tall buildings lit up the sky and the headlights of cars would continually light up walls and alleyways. My favorite part was when the walk took us over by the river, it was amazing! The view was incredible and even though I am not in it, I chose a picture of the view to include with this.

Soho Walk

This was my first walk. Mike led this walk and did a fine job. Soho is great, I love the different themed places that it houses. Especially the polar opposite Chinatown and sex district areas. Chinatown is very clean and bright, there are many families and Asian people. The sex district was dark and shady. The stores seemed to consist of massage parlors and sex shops. I’m glad that we did this walk at night, I know it would have had a different feel during the day, especially the sex district. I thought it was neat when Mike talked about the church that we walked by. The ground of the church was many feel higher than the street and sidewalks because there were so many bodies buried there that it raised up the earth. I also liked the story about the sickness that spread because of the water pump in Soho and the guy that figured that out and saved many lives. It is weird to think that back in the day, people could just be dropping dead and no one would know why. Today, if even one person dies of an unknown cause there is widespread panic and ceaseless investigation until the cause if found. It is a comfort to know that we live during a time of such safety and comfort. Soho was a fun walk and I will definitely be going back during the day when more shops are open and I can explore further.This picture is of us by one of the parks of Soho square. It is here that I learned that the name Soho was derived from a call that gentlemen would use when hunting. SOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!

Notting Hill Walk

This was another walk that I did at night. Collin led this walk. Notting Hill was not my favorite, I was rather bored by the information it gave and there wasn’t anything very significant that I gleaned from any of the readings. It was neat to learn that there used to be a racetrack around the hill because it acted as a natural stand for seating. The track was shoddy though so it did not last long. It was a quiet and wet night, so the streets were empty. The walk was peaceful and everything looked cool and shiny in the street light because of the rain. We took a picture by the church on the walk. Because it was nighttime Portebello road wasn’t open, but we had walked it in the past, on a Saturday morning. I really liked Portebello road, it has a fun small-time market feel. I want to go back to shop because I know I will be able to find homemade or rare things there that I wont be able to find anywhere else in London. Although boring, the Notting Hill walk was important to do because it is essentially our backyard in the center, and it helps us find local places to eat and shop that we may not have found otherwise. We found a great pub for instance, The Castle, and we have been back a couple times since we discovered it on this walk.The picture is of me at the Portebollo Gold pub, on Portebello road. We had made plans to go to it one night because we read about it in a travel book, but then it turned out to be terrible and has become the standard to which we compare other terrible pubs.

Bloomsbury Walk

This was a nice short walk. Natalie led and did great. Before we began we walked through the British Museum and looked through the exibits that our history class required. Afterwards we began the walk. I loved the Georgian architecture here. The black and white theme is really appealing to me. It reminded me of my favorite musical My Fair Lady for some reason. I suppose I should look up the movie online to see if its set is inspired by the Georgian period. We stopped for lunch half way through the walk and ate at a place called Sushi go! It was a fun place to eat because you sit at a bar and there is a revolving line of Sushi that will pass in front of you and you simply grab what looks good. This was a very downtowny walk. The building were all fairly modern, or looked like it in any case. The shopping and eating areas were modern as well. It seemed that there weren’t a great deal of touristy people around, mostly locals who were out to lunch or what not. This was a neat part of the city, but probably not one I will be going back to unless it is to go to the British Museum again. 

Catching up on London

Hello

Arrived in London. Somehow I was convinced that I would never get here. This idea entered my mind well before my first plane took off. The idea of me in London seem like a daydream. Something I might wish for, but only on a whim. It was on my second plane, when I hit turbulence nearing England, that I was reminded that I could not and would not ever actually be there, and it almost came as a relief. To crash and burn so close to my destination. Like other great overachievers, I had stretched out my hand and hopes too far. To die reaching for the sky, for greatness, for something more than what I've been given. I like the idea. Unfortunately, the turbulence passed and we landed safely.

January 7, 2011

Visiting the tower of London. It is a wet day. Castle and cobblestones glisten. London feels as if it’s in a cloud bubble. There is layer upon layer of cloud, sometimes you can see the lower faster moving ones passing by, but above them it is only gray, no sky or world outside of this one. Occasionally, the sun creates a light spot, giving a slight change of hue to the sky that is normally an untainted light charcoal grey dome.  The tower of London is impressive. It stands as regal relic of keepsake and tradition. The stones are ancient, and so should be the traditions. Yet the stones remain, and so too the traditions. The royal jewels are stored here. Huge massive diamonds are inlayed in silver and gold. Crowns, scepters, even silverware. What are they for? Exaltation? Ceremony? A few moments of purpose followed by years behind glass. We see them there, reflecting the lights made to illuminate their greatness. They are greater than us. The queen is greater than us. We cannot touch them. They tower over us like the glistening stones of the structure that houses them. This is wrong. No one is greater than I, than you, than the middle class Brazilian family standing next to me in line. Why should I feel grateful that the royal family, in all their greatness, condescend to show me their stones. I want to break the glass case. To throw the stones in the river and melt the metal down, cast it into thousands of rings and marry the world to a new tradition, or to no tradition at all. Is this the American inside of me? I come from a land with little history and even littler tradition. A land that says, you are your own king, you make your own crown.

January 12, 2010

Visited Salsbury cathedral, Stonehenge, and Bath. Exellence in location. All three places. I have a sore throat/cough and my pilgrimage to Bath treads on the very same road fellow ailed pilgrims have passed over for centuries. My dreams are also the same as theirs: to touch the water and be healed by some magical unseen spring of hope. The tour was a little boring. I rushed through all the preliminary exhibitions and display cases so I could finally get to the water. When I did, I quickly dipped the pointer finger on my left hand into the spring’s water, ignoring the pleas of the waters keepers asking us not too. How could I not? I yearned for healing. My throat throbbed with an unbearable pain that modern medicine was powerless to heal. The water could though, and I knew it, I believed it with ever fiber of my sickly being. As my fingertip touched the magical water’s warm surface, I felt a surge of life giving energy pass through me. I felt powerful! like the stalwart pillars of the bath’s walls, I could do anything and last forever. This was better than cocaine, and suddenly I knew just touching it wouldn’t be enough…I needed to drink it. It needed to become a part of me if I wanted this high/healing to last. Unfortunately, however, the sacred waters are well guarded and no opportunity to drink of them presented itself during the self-guided tour. Discouraged, I made my way through the exit and into the gift shop. In the gift shop, my prayers were answered. I found a bottle of Bath water for sale, only 4 pounds! I bought it immediately. After eating a delicious steak pasty with everyone, huddled and standing inside because of the rain, we went into Marks and Spencer to sit down and the girls got some tea. At the table I unwrapped my Bath water, and after finally getting the cork out, I drank to my health.

January 22, 2010

York, Preston, and Liverpool.

York is like a little medieval village. Quaint narrow alleys with shops that seem to lean over the street, making it feel like walking through an arch of architecture. The cobblestone paths weave their way through the small city, they feel as if they were designed with no direction in mind, their curves and winds are arbitrary and inspired. It feels good not to walk in a straight line, but to be guided along, not knowing which way you will turn next. The cathedral here is breathtaking. It is medieval, and in the religious fashion so common to that time, its large arching spires force my eyes to heaven, whether or not I want them to go there.

Preston was a religious epicenter for Mormonism. Despite our tour guides attempts to win us over with fact and story, the sunset had our full attention. It was unbelievable. It was as if the sun was returning from the thousand years sleep of the dim grey day. Its warm exuberant beams caressed the earth, illuminating, creating art as it painted pictures of this world of Preston, scenes and colors the town had never seen before.

Liverpool was more modern. A young city, perhaps not always young, but the young had made it that way. It is foggy and cold. The fog is thick, I can see it rolling off the waters and invading the city. A slow unstoppable force that flows between the buildings, filling in open spaces, making everything feel close and immediate. It feels claustrophobic. It presses on me, wraps me up in its cold arms and squeezes. I breath it in, the fog is so thick that I can feel it moving through my throat and into my lungs. I fight it there, my lungs warm the air, the foreign fog disappears and as I breath out, I create my own fog. The night is still early, so the streets of Liverpool are filled with all ages. Middle ages walk in pairs of opposite sex. They take quick steps and walk in stride. They are out to eat, to talk, and then to return home. The old are slower. Their time is day, and when the gloaming begins, like coupled birds to their nests, they prefer roosting to the dangers of night. Only a few old are seen, but only for a moment. As quickly as they can, they leave the city buildings for the safety and warmth of a cab. It is the young that rule the night. They travel in packs. Loud unorganized masses made of individual pieces that cannot and will not function independently. They are hoodlums. Hormone driven hooligans that want to laugh and dance and drink. Music is their lifeblood. It is as important to them as the foggy Liverpool air they breath. Without it they would starve. And they did in the past, the time before The Beatles, those gods of music, changed this city forever. They fed the hungry masses. Their sermons were more powerful than words, they were music. They spoke to an entire generation, and that generation listened with eager hungry ears. They had been waiting for a savior. They had been cooped up in their homes, electrons revolving around the nuclear family, powerless to leave their path. Rock and roll electrified them. It shook them from their orbit and propelled them into the world, free to bounce around, absorb and be absorbed. The youth took the world by storm and it would never be the same. Liverpool was the base and The Beatles were the catalyst. The biggest atomic bomb to ever go off, the chemical reaction started small, exploded quickly, and then filled the world with a radioactive cloud of radio waves. Liverpool is ground zero and I am here, examining the leftover pieces like a forensic scientist, just trying to understand.