Westminster, Winston and Weirdness (Oh, and Some Rocks!)

When people travel to historic cities, they often feel compelled to visit the traditional sites that all tourists must visit.  Tony and I like to visit these monuments, museums, churches and other meaningful places that mark well-known points in history, but we also like to find quirky places to see.  Friday morning, we went to Trafalgar Square.  In the center of Trafalgar Square is Nelson’s Column – a monument honoring Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  The Battle of Trafalgar was a British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars over France, and Nelson’s Column is guarded by four lion statues.  Of course, Trafalgar Square is a site that many tourists visit, but our next adventure was a bit off the beaten path.

We walked several blocks to Waterloo Garden toward The Royal Society.  The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine.  Its London location is located in a building that once housed the German Embassy.  Our interest was not the Royal Society but a small burial site next to the Royal Society.  Under a tree next to the building we found a grave for “Giro, the Nazi dog.”  Giro the so-​​called Nazi dog was the pet terrier of the German ambassador to the Court of St James’s in 1932–6, Leopold von Hoesch. The ambassador was in fact said to have disliked the Nazis and there is no record of the dog’s political opinions.  When Giro chewed through a cable and died from electro­cution in February 1934, Hoesch had his remains buried in the gardens of Carlton House Terrace, part of which was home to the German Embassy until the outbreak of the Second World War. The ‘Nazi dog’ appel­lation has been popularized in the context of Giro’s diminutive tombstone, which has become a destination for those seeking out London’s most obscure and offbeat sights. The dog’s memorial reads, ‘Ein treuer Begleiter!’ (A faithful companion).

“He was given a full Nazi burial and his grave lies in what was once the front garden to No.9, now a small space between the Duke of York steps and a garage ramp … This is London’s sole Nazi memorial, situated somewhat inappro­priately in an area filled with monuments to heroes of the British empire.”

After seeing the Nazi dog, we say the clock tower in which Big Ben is housed, and we sauntered past the historic building where British Parliament meets.  We visited the church where Prince William married Kate Middleton – Westminster Abbey.  It was first founded in the 7^th century, and it includes a Shrine to Edward the Confessor.  Other monarchs buried at the Abbey include King Henry VII, Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary), Queen Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots. 

Not far from Westminster Abbey, underground, are the Churchill War Rooms.  The Cabinet War Rooms were a British government command center throughout World War II, and much of them have been left just as they were at the end of the war.  Interestingly, near these underground war rooms is the heavily guarded residence of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, at 10 Downing Street.  Tony and I were able to get glimpses of his residences from both the rear entrance and the front entrance. 

 

We capped off our day with dinner at the home of Tony’s cousin Ann and her husband Ralph and their daughters Hanah and Holly.  What a treat!  We have a fantastic dinner and a wonderful time, and we plan to get together with them again on Sunday. 

We did not do our blog update last night when we got home, however, but we were so tired we just fell into bed.

This morning we were up bright and early this morning to take a bus-ride to go to Salisbury, which is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England.   Here we saw Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral, and is considered one of the leading examples of the Early English architecture.  The main body was completed in only 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.  The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom.

The Cathedral also includes a Chapter House that includes what many believe is the best-preserved surviving original copy of the Magna Carta.  I met the cutest little lady who showed me all sorts of details about this document.  She noted how small the print was, how few of the words were in English, how most of the document was in Latin, etc.  She was darling!

After a lunch of fish and chips (still loving the fish and chips!) we moved to Stonehenge.  I think we all would have enjoyed it more if it had not been SO COLD.  Yes, it was so windy and cold that when the rain started falling it felt like it was sleeting!  Crazy.  Nonetheless, it was wild to see something I had only seen in pictures and books before. 

After the long ride back to London, some of the students joined Tony and me for dinner.  Brittain Ayres, Betsy Chapman, Rachel Brosius, Kenly Ayres, and Alex Roorda  provided wonderful company on our outing.  First, we had dinner and beer at a neighborhood pub – the Wilmington Arms.  We were drawn to what has become our favorite little pub in the area – The Exmouth Arms – for more beer.  The students were fantastic company, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with them. 

I need to also mention that Tony has been a true champion at helping me navigate around London.  While I am pretty at good at finding fun things to do, I sometimes get us a little turned around, and Tony can read just about any map, no matter how lousy that map is.  He is also lots of fun in virtually any situation, and I think the students who went out with us tonight saw that.  Every time I travel with him, I learn something new, and I have fun with him.

Looking forward to more London adventures tomorrow!!!!

Joanie (and Tony)

Library, Pub and Another Pub

Jorge Luis Borges once said, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”  For Tony and me today, Paradise was the British Library.  During our visit to the Library today, we got to see the original manuscript of Beowulf, (which Tony wanted to touch!), an early draft of Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s marriage contract with Contanze Weber, letters written by King henry VIII (WOW!!!!), Haydn’s publishing contract, the original draft of the Beatles’ song Yesterday by Paul McCartney, the letter that Michelangelo wrote to his father to tell him that Pope Julius II asked him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the oldest surviving English document from the year 679, the Magna Carta from 1215, and some original writing from Shakespeare.

No one can visit London without visiting Piccadilly Circus.  To us, it looked a bit like Times Square in New York City.  From there, we moved to St. James Church which was one of the last buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren.  The church was damaged by bombs during the London Blitz in 1940, and it remained a roofless shell for about seven years.  It has since been restored and struggles to this day to remain open.

We then ventured to Covent Garden to search for a pub that I had read about – the Lamb and Flag.  This pub was first licensed in 1623, and Charles Dickens was a regular drinker at this place.  It was once known as the “Bucket of Blood,” because they held bare-knuckled brawls on the second floor of the pub (where we ate lunch!)  It was where whores and hoodlums were regulars.  It is not easy to find because is not on main street but in the corner of what Londoners call a “dog-leg alley.”  We had to walk through a slightly sketchy area to get there, but it was totally worth it!  A real treat.  

After our late lunch, as the rain began to pour, we returned to the hotel so Tony to get some work done, and we could plan the rest of our trip.  We capped off the evening with a visit to Exmouth Arms,  a local pub where we were clearly the oldest people in sight.  No worries, though.  We were warmly welcomed, and we enjoyed some great beers.  

  

So far, we have had a nice time.  We have plans to see lots of things tomorrow. Let’s hope for fabulous weather!

Joanie

Arriving in London

The Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, once said that “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”  That largely sums up our first day in London.  We were fortunate to leave Chattanooga and Atlanta with minimum drama (completely different from our wacky trip to China last year!)  The flight to London seemed very fast – of course flying without a broken leg will make most flights seem much shorter.  Our guide, Reg (short for Reginald) met us at Heathrow Airport.  Tony and I were initially concerned about Reg because he seemed to be a bit too hyper (in spite of his advanced age), and he absolutely delighted in us about the wide availability of free toilets in all the various museums and art galleries.  Nevertheless, he and his driver, Gary, somehow managed to get our coach through all sorts of security and traffic to Buckingham Palace just in time to see Prince Charles, Camilla and Queen Elizabeth as they rode in procession for the Queen’s Annual Address to Parliament.  What is so amazing about this (beyond the fact that we were even there!) is that this was the FIRST time in 17 years that Prince Charles has accompanied Queen Elizabeth to this annual address. 

There were many people who came out for this event.  Two ladies let me squeeze into the front of the crowd to get some pictures.  One lady, from Manchester, England, told me how lucky I was to just walk off the plane and be there for this.  She had apparently been planning to be there for weeks.  Another lady there, from Sweden, had also been planning to be there for some time.  An older fellow came over and asked where I was from.  He was an adorable old gent from London.  He told me stories about that “horrid Wallis Simpson,” and told me how much everyone in London loves “Katie.”  So cute.  I wished I could have visited with him longer, but Reg was shouting at me to re-join the group. 

We moved on to the Tower of London.  Granted, it’s a bit of a tourist trap, but as someone who loves the Tudor period, I was excited to visit the place where some of King Henry VIII’s wives lost their heads.  Lots of history there!  In addition to the Tower of London itself, we saw the Tower Bridge, the place where Sir Thomas More and many others were publicly executed and the Crown Jewels.  We finished our tour a bit early and enjoyed our first meal of fish and chips followed by an ice cream cone.  Yummy.

 After all of this, we FINALLY arrived at our hotel where Tony and I crashed.  It has been exhausting traveling all this way.  We are looking forward to exploring London and seeing the culture and history and culinary delights it has to offer.  We have posted pictures on Facebook, and we will do our best to keep the blog updates. 

Cheers! 

Joanie (and Tony)