Kew Gardens and Palace

Kew Gardens and Palace are in Richmond, SW London.

Kew Palace is the smallest of the Royal Palaces. It was built in 1631 for Samuel Fortney, a successful Flemish merchant. 

In 1781 King George III purchased it to use as a nursery for his children. 

As far as palaces go, it is very simple.

The significance lies in the gardens. It is designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The gardens have collections of thousands of plants from around the world. 

It is also used as a research centre. 

London Lights Up

Christmas in London is magical. 

 

The city comes alive with beautifully lit streets and creates a festive spirit.

My Life Revolves Around the Tube

My life revolves around the tube.

Without it, "my wings would be clipped". With it, I can get to any place in the city.

It is reliable, frequent, fast, clean, safe and quiet. I am never lost as long as I can find a tube station.

To say that "I love the tube" would be an understatement.

Inside St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral is one of the iconic buildings on London's skyline. 

The English Baroque cathedral is built on the highest point in the city and the prominent dome can be seen for miles. At 365 feet (111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962. 

Let's go back in history for a moment....

Pub Culture

Sometimes it seems that there are pubs on every corner.

Some street corners, and the entire street, are littered with pubs.

Yet, at most pubs there are people spilling into the streets and standing outside clustered on the sidewalks drinking their pints of brew (or various other libations.)






I'm thinking, maybe they need more pubs!

Umbrella Power

Well, I have to admit, London can have some cloudy, grey, dreary, wet and rainy days.

Okay, London can get a LOT of cloudy, grey, dreary, wet and rainy days.

Local umbrellas get an exceptional work out.

When we first arrived in London over a year ago we stumbled into this shop. At the time, I thought it was so cute and quaint. Rediscovering it again, I now think its brilliant!

My umbrella is starting to be a little, well, weathered and worn. It has seen better days, so to speak.

It has been sporting a slight dent for a while now.

Ironically, when I got home and re-opened it to dry out, it totally gave up the ghost.

A new umbrella is definitely now in order.

A Walk Down Memory Lane in Cambridge

Little Known Facts About Me: I went to school in Cambridge, England, and I used to have an English accent. 

Full Disclosure: I lived in Cambridge for a year when I was 7 years old. The school I went to was not the prestigious world renowned University of Cambridge. It was Girton Glebe Primary School. 

When my sister Marie came to visit we went to Cambridge for a walk down Memory Lane.

We were super excited to find our old home.  

We also found our old school.

John wasn't quite as excited as we were. 

He was more fascinated by the cattle in the middle of an urban park.

Tube Warrior

When I first arrived in London, just over a year ago, I was not comfortable riding the tube. It did not seem natural to me to descend deep into the bowels of the city and then hurtle around in a dark tunnel to pop up into an unknown world.

Cinderella's Carriage: Transportation fit for Royalty

The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace house the vehicles, carriages and horses for the Royal Family. 

Milestone Day

Today Queen Elizabeth, 89 years young, becomes the longest reigning monarch in British history. 

She has reigned 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes at about 17:30 BST. Or, put another way, she has reigned over 63 years and 7 months.

Big Ben - Up Close and Personal

London has some iconic symbols that are instantly recognized.

One of them is Westminster Palace's Clock Tower, commonly known as "Big Ben".

Although, actually, "Big Ben" is a bell, not the clock. And, the official name of the bell is really the "Big Bell". To confuse even more, the "Clock Tower", which is where both the iconic clock and bells are located, had a name change several years ago to the "Elizabeth Tower" in honour of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.

ALERT: Tube Strike!

Mayor Boris Johnson wants to extend several tube lines to operate 24 hours on the weekend.

The union does not agree.

Let's review this: Average wages in London are £29K/year. Tube drivers make £49K/year and have 48 holidays/year.

Result: The city ground to a chaotic standstill when the tube drivers went on strike for 24 hours!

Issue is still unresolved, but Round I went to the tube drivers.

Venice

Direct flights from London to Venice take about 2 hours.

If you're a morning person, that makes it easy to get up reeeeealllly early in London and then enjoy a morning coffee in Venice.

Beating Retreat

Beating Retreat has its historical base on the military fields when, at the end of the day, the beating of the drum was used to order the troops to stop fighting and retreat to the safety of camp as darkness fell.

The Queen's Birthday Parade & Trooping the Colour

The Queen's actual birthday is April 21st, but, the official celebration is in June.

This little idiosyncrasy is made with the anticipation that June will have better weather than April.

I will, with great restraint, reserve comment on the weather. Ahem.....

Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace

What could be more iconic than the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace?

It happens pretty much everyday at 11:30am and lasts for about 45 minutes.

Little did I know that half the tourist population in London would all be waiting at Buckingham Palace to view this with me.

Wimbledon... front row seats!

The name "Wimbledon" conjures up images of tennis balls, racquets, athleticism, drama, skimpy outfits.... oh wait, I digress... again....

Wimbledon is a town SW of London. It is also home, and much more renowned for, the internationally famous tennis tournaments of the same name.

Istanbul. FKA: Constantinople. FKA: Byzantium.

The flight from London to Istanbul is just under 4 hours. 

Istanbul is located on the Bosporus Strait, which is the link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

The city straddles two continents with one foot in Europe and the other foot in Asia. This made it a strategic location as a transit for trade, commerce.... and a magnet for armies to conque

Scones and Clotted Cream

An iconic British staple is scones and clotted cream.

I don't know about you, but the term "clotted cream" does not sound appetizing to me. I have visions of milk or cream that has curdled and has lumps in it. Bllllggghhhhh.

Well..... after cautiously tasting it, I would have described it as light and creamy whipped butter. Actually, very delicious!

So being curious I had to look up "clotted cream".

Thanks to wikipedia, I now know: Clotted cream is a thick cream made by indirectly heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms "clots" or "clouts".

John gives it "Two Thumbs Up"!

The Cotswolds

Everybody kept telling us how pretty the Cotswolds are. So, we decided it was time to break down and rent a car to check it out for ourselves. 

 

(This was our first, and so far, only, driving adventure in the UK. The roads are still safe and we are still car-less and loving it!)

The Roads Are Safe Again

After close to 8 months of being car-less in the UK, we bit the bullet and rented a car for a long weekend to go to a wedding in Stafford.

I am happy to say, that we made it back home, safe and sound. Although, we both may have a few more grey hairs.

There were no accidents, no deaths and not much swearing.

And that's just INSIDE the car!

It was a success.

APB: The roads are safe again.

When in Rome

The flight from London to Rome is about 2.5 hours.

That makes it pretty easy to have breakfast in London and lunch in Rome.

Well, for those that like to sleep in, it might be a bit of a stretch, but it certainly is do-able.

Street Art in Spitalfields and Shoreditch - London's East End

Shoreditch and Spitalfields are two evolving communities in East London.

(I do have to digress for a moment and ask the question..... where do they get these names from? Are they scrabble games that have gone awry?)

Re-Purposing the Iconic Red Telephone Booths

Now that most people and their dog have cell phones, the need for public payphones has diminished.

So, what to do with all those iconic red phone booths?

Re-purpose! Of course!

The Queen's Guards

I was at a meeting at the Royal Thames Yacht Club and in the middle of our discussions, someone said "Stop! Look out the window!"

Our heads all turned to look out the window to see a squadron of horses marching down the street!

Polite Sign

I found this sign in Winchester.

I wonder if they give out "Polite Parking Tickets" too.

I also wonder if they apologize when they put the boot on your car or tow it away.

London Silver Vaults

The London Silver Vaults opened in 1876 on Chancery Lane.

The underground vaults were originally used by the wealthy to store their valuable household silver, jewelry and documents when they left London in the hot summer to vacation in the cooler countryside. (HOT summer!?!?!?)

Brixton Market

Saturday morning walks to Brixton Markets are a great way to start the weekend.

It is a community about a 20 minute walk SE of our home.

Trafalgar Square Has A New Look

After 18 months the blue cockerel on the Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Square has been replaced.

This is the tenth piece of artwork to grace the prestigious space.

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a well known landmark in Central London. Exciting things are always happening there.

The square commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, where Nelson won a significant naval battle over France. 

 

(Over the centuries, the two countries have had a small rivalry, and one or two skirmishes. HA! And one or two of their little battles were fought in Canada. HA!)

WC

There are various names for the location where we all must visit numerous times throughout the day. 

Sometimes it is called:

• washroom
• restroom
• toilet
• WC
• water closet
• western chair
• and various other not as polite names...

Clapham Common tube station had an outdoor entrance to the underground men's WC. 

It has been closed for some time.

As there doesn't seem to be any wasted space in London, it has now been re-purposed.

Following the stairs down one discovers a fun, funky, very busy bar, called:

WC - Wine and Charcuterie.....

Guide Dog School

I contacted the Guide Dog school and set up a tour of their Redbridge Training Facility.

It took me about an hour and half by tube to get to Woodford Green.

I will say, it made my heart happy to see some beautiful goldens and labs and get some lovin' in.

Visit to the Coast - Milford on Sea

Milford on Sea is about a 2 hour train ride SW of our home. 

Soho Signs

Soho is in central London and in the entertainment district.

Apparently, the name "SoHo" was originally a hunting call.

The area dates back to the 1500's when it had been farmland. It was then was taken over by Henry VIII and used as a royal park.

Brixton Brewery

John is getting into exploring different Craft Beers. (Purely for comparative and educational purposes. Well, that's his story and he's sticking to it.)

One of his new favourites is Brixton Brewery.

Ancient Moroccan Ruins

Morocco has a long history of human settlement.

Inhabitants include Jews, Romans, Arabs, and Christians. There were battles, and victories, and more battles, and more victories, and.....




Architecture and culture are intermingled and reflect the ancient inhabitant's lives.

Marrakesh to Toubkal National Park in the Atlas Mountains

From Marrakesh we took a day trip to Toubkal National Park in the Atlas Mountains.

On the way out we stopped at small town called Ashi.

We were there the day of their weekly market, which caters to locals from the surrounding rural community. It is a very basic market.

They don't get tourists often, so each of us had our own "personal tour guide", a new BFF, glued to us as we wandered the market.

Casablanca

Casablanca is home to one of the largest mosques in the world - the Hussan II Mosque. It was built by, none other than, King Hassan II.

The top of the minaret is 60 stories high. Perched on the top is a laser light, which points to Mecca.

It is huge.

It is opulent.

It is overwhelming.

Started in 1986, it was completed 7 years later, in 1993.