Paint The Town

"Paint the town Black" incites the bill boards and signs on buses all over Ireland, leading up to ARTHUR DAY, 24th of September, in celebration of that dark brew, Guinness.

Yesterday, I chose to paint the town too. But my colour of choice was not black, but BROWN. In particular, Ms Sarah Brown.




Sarah had suggested we meet, just for the romantic appeal, in the middle of London Bridge, on the Tower Bridge side.

On the way, I said hello to Her Majesty, The Queen ...




... and had a brush with local law enforcement.



We saw the patriotism of Team GB supporters, along the route of the Paralympics Marathon course.




We even saw the race leaders flash by, with Australia's own Kurt Fearnley, at that point, in the lead.







Then it was off to meet Ms Brown, a work colleague, to hear how the first part of her two years living and working in London have been.




Woodsie again opted to hive off and do his own explorations. Sarah and I continued across the bridge and along the edge of the Thames, passing some of many Games' mascots on the way.













Lunch was at The Swan, the restaurant of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.






Further on, another original of an English slang word was revealed, as we approached an old medieval prison.



Our destination was Tate Modern.



The 28 degree Sunday, with the end of their glorious summer of sport, had encouraged Londoners to flock in their thousands in public spaces and make the most of the brilliant weather.


Sarah then led me with the proficiency of a 'local' across Millennium Bridge,
around St. Paul's, into the Tube, changing lines, to emerge near one of her previous - and favourite - school.







On our way home, we rounded one corner, to find the building wall with a complex carving. Turns out one Charles Dickens had lived In a house on this site and written five of his novels there.


Catching the train from Baker Street, a statue of its most famous resident towered above me.



Did I have a great time with Sarah? "Elementary, my dear ..."

Drat! Darn! Dash It!

In my conversations yesterday with Jess, my futile quest to find Kevin McCloud in Fromme was revealed.

Jess, it seems, knows someone who is friends with Kevin AND there is one pub in particular in the village he frequents.

Sensible Jess suggested I ditch London and head straight back to Fromme, a most admirable plan, but sadly one I doubt I could convince Woodsie of its undoubted merit.

Imagine! If I knew of This Sacred Knowledge before hand, Jess might have been able to make a phone call and ... who knows what may have occurred.

"Marilyn from Australia, you say? I'd love to meet her. Tell her I'll be at ...."

Alas. This is all not to be.

Of course I now know that Kevin is coming to Melbourne. As someone kindly pointed out (hello Sue) maybe he is coming to find ME!!!

Woodsie surprised me with tickets to the Melbourne show before we left home. So my stalking will continue.

But even that will never equal the exhilarating thrill of finding him here, in England, no cameras ... EXCEPT MINE!

London According To Jess

Once again I was fortunate to have a personal guide for the day. Jessica collected me from our hotel this morning. Jess is the elder daughter of friends and I've known her over two decades. She has been living, studying and working in London for a few years now.

Woodsie opted to have a day to himself, where he hoped to watch the Geelong first final match at a nearby pub. I think he found the movie he saw later in the day far better viewing.

First Jess took me on several buses, touring about London, sitting up the top of course. She reasoned many tourists do not utilise buses and believesthey give great views of the city.



We drove through West End ... where Les Miserables is still playing over 21 years since it debuted.



After, Jess took me down along canals, where colourful houseboats were moored. We passed a lock and were able to see a boat pass through.




Here is Jess, with her head held in a way suggesting - Do you REALLY have to take my photo. And the answer was - YES!



Jess had been here along the canals only a few weeks ago and was surprised at the green algae that had since spread across the water surface. It was so thick that rubbish was floating on top.


It was a perfect weather today, a warm 27 degrees. Jess declared it a "shirts off day" for London and she later took me through a park dotted with individual and small groups of sunbathers. And yes, many men had shirts off, soaking up that Vitamin D. Some women had even stripped down to underwear (no, not bikinis, bra and knickers) to make the most of this glorious day.

Some of the canal boats were restaurants.






I thought we might have been headed there, but Jess led me further on, and up some stairs, to a delightful pub tucked beside the canal. This was a real local pub, as it was well off the tourist beat.



The pint of cider accompanied our trout quite nicely. So we had a second pint each.



The plan was to ride bikes about, but we were foiled by a simple roll of paper. When the automatic machine did not print out the receipt, Jess phoned, to be informed the paper roll had run out, which prevents the whole transaction taking place.



The bikes stayed in their racks; we proceeded on foot, to the Geffyre Museum. This one my guide had selected especially for me. It shows domestic life for the British middle class from the 1600s to today. Complete rooms are set up, illustrating changes in wall panelling, tables, chairs and other decorations.



I thought the theme of one room summed up ME rather well. My red face probably summed up the two pints with lunch!



Behind the museum there is a series of gardens, which have a wonderfully restful and relaxing atmosphere on this warm afternoon. Strangely, signs declared that no picnics were allowed.




Next we wandered through the Borough Market, just as they were closing. I spied some of the flat Spanish peaches and, as Jess had never tasted them, I pleaded through the closed gates if they would still sell us some.






All this being very thirsty work, we retired to another pub. The first one Jess suggested is where you buy your drink, then everyone stands OUTSIDE in a roped off area on the pavement, to drink. I claimed old age, so we went close by to ...


where the seating was outside under an amusing collection of umbrellas.



Jessica probably guessed my proficiency with the Underground system, so insisted on taking me via the trains back to Earl's Court station, as our hotel is just around the corner.

It was a fantastic day. Lots of time to catch up and talk. Interesting to gain her perspective on Life in London. And marvellous she was willing to guide me around for the day!!!

Stone Henge and Tower of London

Yesterday, on our drive to London, we were able to visit Stonehenge. Woodsie was keen to return our hire car before the afternoon traffic chaos and definitely not keen on any detours along the way. But when the map showed Stonehenge was right on our route to London, we were able to go after all!!

I had only really heard of this ancient site, but in fact England has many of these stone circles, with Avebury we saw with Louise a really significant site too. What sets Stonehenge apart is the sheer size of the stones, especially considering one third of each is below ground.

How on earth did these ancient people manage to bring the rock from Wales to Wilshire on the Salisbury Plains? How did they gain the knowledge to set each main stone with such precision in relation to the sun's rays? How did they raise the lentils in place?







These days, access to this ancient marvel is restricted to a walkway around the site.




Once again, an audio guide provided so much more than I have understood by just walking around. At various points, main features were explained.




Then it was on the road again, to Old London Town. Today we caught the train to see the Tower of London. I had absolutely no idea of the scale of this place. It is not a tower. It is many towers, with names like Byward, Lannthorn, Beauchamp and St. Thomas's. It is an inner wall and an outer wall. It is a whole series of buildings, various cobbled and bricked pathways and even a large green lawn.



Construction was begun by William the Conqueror. Seems not everyone liked his Norman storming into England, killing poor King Harold, then claiming the throne. So he needed a secure base in the most powerful city if he was to retain power. But subsequent kings and queens have all left their part, as evidenced in part by the different parts of this one wall, various sizes of stones, then bricks on top.


Traitor's Gate is situated under a medieval palace and the King's barge would also enter through here.


The Tower is guardian of the Crown Jewels, which were magnificent to see. The original set were ordered destroyed by the Parliament when Cromwell to rose to power. Once the monarchy was restored, new ones were ordered. Only the 800 year old coronation spoon used in the an anointment survived. It was sold, keep hidden by the new owner, then offered back for sale - at a tidy profit!



This glass sculpture is a reminder of the executions of various Tower prisoners that took place. Interestingly, most were executed OUTSIDE the Tower walls. Special grandstands were built for spectators and one execution recorded 110,000 Londoners turning up to watch. Only occasionally did a sympathetic sovereign grant THE PRIVILEGE of losing your head inside the walls, where a far smaller crowd of invited guests would witness your demise.

So many characters make up life at the Tower.



Steely-eyed guards in their famous fuzzy hats and modern weapons are there.



At one stage, a Yeoman marched along, shouting at tourists to get out of the way (and scramble aside they did!) as a group of guards smartly marched behind him. Woodsie noted the amazing shine of their boots in particular.



The 35 Yeomen play a role of providing information, taking tours, plus living permanently within the complex with their families. Each Yeoman has serviced at least 20 years in the armed forces, reached warrant officer, plus be over 40 years old to be eligible.


Other characters included these two, who hatched a plan to steal the Crown Jewels. Others then appeared to involve the crowd to give chase. (We slipped off at this point.)




Wire shapes remind us about various exotic animals, gathered from around the world, including a polar bear and an elephant, that were kept at the Tower, before being moved in the 1800s to the Zoo.


The below two characters would defend the tower in time of attack.



The Tower Bridge with the Olympic rings looms behind Woodsie.


Next we headed to high end stores Harvey Nichols and Harrods. In our casual clobber and comfortable runners, we were NOT the typical client. But the doorman at Harvey Nichols never batted an eyelid as we sailed in on our mission. We had a list to purchase on behalf of one daughter!!!