Spend Christmas in London!!

I

Apologies for the sporadic and messy posts, I'm still getting the hang of doing this on my iPad. I do miss my laptop, so much easier to type and organise posts but beggars can't be choosers. I guess I'll 

never be texting on my non existent iPhone!! I think I must be the only person in the universe who doesn't have one!! And I really don't plan to ever have one. Today, on the bus, a Mum of three was sitting in front of me. A baby in a stroller behind her, a toddler next to her and an older child in the seat in front. She spent a lengthy bus trip talking on her cell phone, never once checking on the toddler behind her and only acknowledging the other kids by slapping the toddler on her butt for bouncing up and down on the seat! Duh! Is it me or are people becoming stupider by the moment?

A few days ago I headed to Blackfriar's. Outside the train station:

The Black Friar's Pub. I love the shape of this building,

it looks like a mini flatiron building.

There's the Black Friar looking down at all who enter:

A quick walk down to the Millenium Bridge, there's 

St.Paul's Cathedral in the distance.

And now close up!

Past this statue to commemorate World War1

It wasn't cold but the wind has been horrendous!

Past the College of Heralds on Queen Victoria  Street.

This building has been in this location since1555 and

is the official heraldic authority for England,Wales

N.Ireland and much of the Commonwealth.

It is responsible for creating and maintaining the

official registry of coats of arms and pedigrees.

I wonder if I'm registered there ??

And just across the road, the entrance to the Millenium Bridge:

One of our destinations today : the Tate Modern Art Gallery.

The Millenium Bridge was opened in 2000 as a pedestrian bridge over 

the River Thames and linking the City of London to Bankside. It was 

closed after several days due to severe lateral vibration and reopened

in 2002. 

The River Thames with Blackfriar's Bridge in the distance.

A view of the south side with the Shard in the distance (one day I'll climb up there!!)

And just to prove I REALLY was there! I don't get off on this selfie thing!! I'm not really 

scowling - just squinting!

Outside the gallery, another Christmas Market. There's always lots of food stalls:

But this is what caught my eye, I have no class!

Yummy and very LCHF compliant!

The entrance to the Tate Modern. The Tate Modern is Britain's national gallery of 

modern and contemporary British and international art and is located in the old

Bankside Power Station. It's an amazing setting for an art gallery. Inside are works by

Picasso, Dali and Matisse ( they're the ones I've heard of!!)

 

This is one of the few paintings/ collages I actually liked!

I sometimes wonder if someone is taking the piss

out of us:

This is a video of an artist with this contraption on her head:

If you look closely there are pencils attached to this 

headgear and the artist draws by making head 

movements while wearing this contraption! Am I missing

something????

This soft sculpture didn't turn my crank either!!

And in the main gallery where the giant turbines once stood.... a series of triangular

garden planters! 

Phew, I was glad to escape!

Outside, modern blocks of apartments. I didn't like these at first but they grew on me.

A view of the Millenium Bridge from the South Bank.

Strolling down the South Bank. I love these homes!

She was REALLY good! The weird looking building to the right of the skyline is the 

Walkie-Talkie building and the dome peeking out is the Gherkin!

Walking past the Anchor pub and past the Clink Prison Museum:

This museum is on the site of the original Clink Prison

built in the 12th century and probably the oldest 

prison in England. The name "clink" was derived from

the sound of either chains clinking or the sound as

the keys were turned in the cells. To this day it's quite

common slang to say " he's in the clink" as in someone 

is in jail.

What I love about London and, in fact, most parts of

England, is that around every corner, a bit of history comes 

to life:

The Golden HInd ll - a replica of the original that 

Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in

between 1577 and 1580. The original rotted away!

Southwark Cathedral - the mother church of the

Anglican diocese of Southwark. A church has stood

on this spot for 1000 years.

This is where we were heading to:

 Borough Market, London's most renowned food market and beloved by foodies and celebrity

chefs alike. Lots of lovely food stalls:

With lots of lovely prices:

Turkey breast at £30/kg or $60/kg!!! For some reason turkey crowns

(the top part of a turkey) are popular over here. I wonder what happens 

to the rest of the turkey?

Brussels sprouts are often sold like this.

Lots of street food and.........

Lots of neatly packaged garbage!

Another great day out! And guess what's around the corner?

                                Hope everyone had a great Christmas,

                                           Talk soon

                                              Zoe

It's raining, it's pouring!!

Having been battered by Storm Clodagh with rain, high winds and flooding in the northern parts of the country, we were now facing Storm Desmond ( good to see that not ALL freaky weather is named after 

women!!). We decided to spend some time indoors and headed up to Euston Road to visit the British Library:

That's St.Pancras International Railway Station to the right and the entrance to the British Library on the left:

                                       

                                  

                                      The piazza and entrance to the library

Outside a statue of Isaac Newton, he of the Laws of Motion and Gravity and also of the apple falling on his head!! See I did remember something from "O" level Physics!!

The British Library is the National Library of the U.K. and the largest library in the world by catalogued items.It is also a major research library holding 170 million items from many countries,in many languages and in many formats, both printed and digital.

The library collection includes around 14 million books and carries copies of all the books produced in the U.K. and Ireland including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the U.K. It is also home to several manuscripts of great historical importance including the Magna Carta, Beowulf, the Gutenberg Bible, Handel's Messiah, Shakespeare's First Folios and even some of the Beatles musical manuscripts!

For a Saturday, the place was hopping with people. Students, patrons, visitors and tourists.

  To those that say libraries are defunct in this digital age, come and visit this place and think again!!

Four storeys of rare and valuable books and manuscripts stored under climate controlled conditions.

                              

  There was an Alice in Wonderland exhibition taking place, some of the original illustrations from Lewis Carroll's work are stored here.

 

                               We didn't visit, the queues were horrendous!

                             

 

                             

The library was the largest building constructed in the U.K.in the 20th century. These models will give you some idea of it's size. It also has several underground floors:

                     

       And for those that know how much I value libraries and all who work in them!! I saw this book bag at the library shop and thought of our hardworking librarian, Helen. I feel this should be posted above her desk!!          

                                                        Oh so true!!

      

                                    And on the way home via St.Pancras Station:

                                  

                                   

                                          Decorated with characters from Disney movies.

                                              And a piano available for all to use:

                    This guy put on an impromptu concert, he was really good.

                        Lots of colourful flowers on display at the flower stall:

          A lovely colourful coat that caught my eye - you know how I like bright colours!!!

                                 

  I was tempted to try it on - until I saw the price tag ...... £480 ($960!!!!!!!) it wasn't even lined!!!

                                          Oh well, one can still covet!!

                      And best of all, the great (and priceless) view on the way home!!!

 

                                          Talk soon

                                              Zoe

Bad,bad,bad blogger!

Well after a loooong break ( where does the time go???), hopefully I am back on track with my travels.

This is where I am right now:

                                         

And,apart from a few planned trips, who knows where I'll end up! All I know is that my return to Canada is booked for April 22nd, 2016. Which sounds like a lifetime away but will come here sooner than later!

So ...... braving Storm Clodagh which has been battering the UK the last few days, I headed to Greenwich:

                                   On the grounds of the Royal Naval College.

                            Overlooking the River Thames

     

 

One of England's famous adventurer's : Sir Walter Raleigh. He brought potatoes and tobacco back to the British Isles, he has a lot to answer for!

And here's another old salty dog - battered by Storm Clodagh and jet lag!!

A walk down to the riverfront, love the old houses:

These terraced homes ( tiny!!) are worth at least £1 million! Great location though!

                       Here's another famous hero, I'll let you guess who he is!! 

The Cutty Sark, one of the last of the tea-clippers. And a Christmas Market in progress:

        Donner and Blitzen were out in full force!

On

A view across the Thames. That's the Millenium Dome in the centre. It's now the O2 Arena, a venue for rock concerts etc

          One of the vendors, modelling her hats

                           Getting ready for the ice sculpture competition

                                                 Inside Greenwich Market

         

                                    Sampling some sushi

And, at night, these ladies came out to play, much to the delight of the kids- and adults!

                                             Lots to see and lots to do.

                                                  And what did I buy?

                                                          I couldn't resist!!

                                                           Talk soon

                                                               Zoe