London 2009 (Day 2)

I am so very glad we went to the London Eye the night before, because we awoke to a grey sky Wednesday morning that lasted the entire day. A bit chilly to start, but then it warmed up by lunchtime. This is the point where I wish I would have put my coat inside my backpack instead of just tying it around my waist, because somewhere around the final tube stop of our journey I lost the fucking thing and like I mentioned in the previous post, we didn't get blankets on our overnight train so it was a cold ride back to Glasgow. A bummer about the coat but, since that was the only bad part of our holiday, I've let that go.

Both Ginnie and I slept an hour past the original alarm setting, worn out from all the exercise. A nice hot-n-powerful shower perked me right up and I was looking forward to our next adventure. And coffee. I really wanted some coffee. First stop was back to the place we'd left off the night before, Westminster Bridge, where we continued on to the Westminster Abbey and then further on to St. James's Park. I spotted gargoyles, two crows trying to fight a squirrel for it's peanut (they weren't winning), more statues, tree lined paths, and Police patrols on horseback.

Eventually we arrived at our intended destination, the Buckingham Palace, to watch the Changing of the Queen's Guard. We were half an hour early and yet there was already a huge crowd gathered at one end of the forecourt. Ginnie I went to the opposite end and secured ourselves a spot to watch the ceremony, a space that we were basically squeezed out of less than an hour after the ceremony started. Or maybe it was only half an hour - either way it felt like ten. The ceremony? Not so exciting. Pretty uniforms, a crowd, and even a band, yet the best part was when some bloody tourists (erm, other tourists)were hanging on the fence and the security guard came over to yell at them. I don't know why they had to be told twice (maybe it was two different idiots) but he looked damn serious and there was a big part of me hoping for a third offense to see what he'd do. Heh.Leaving the Palace, we meandered up the Mall to Trafalgar Square and then over to Charing Cross to get something to eat. We stopped at the Princess of Wales pub where Ginnie got her requisite Fish-n-Chips and I got something.... can't remember now what I ordered. I know I thought it was good, the service was fabulous, and I also liked looking at the modern clock outside our window.Lunch over, we hopped the tube back to Tower Hill for a tour at the Tower of London. Normally I abstain from tours, because generally guides are hard to hear and either go too slow or too fast, but this Beefeaters Guide was quite good, easy to hear and had a great sense of humour. He seemed to know just how much info to give before moving us on to the next location. A nice perk to being on the tour was gaining access to the Chapel (no photography allowed), where I sat up front near the grave of Anne Boleyn. How cool is that? Okay, it's weird, but it's cool too. With the tour over, Ginnie and I were free to roam the grounds and take in exhibitions, like the Crown Jewels and Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill (again, no photography). Hands down, my favorite part was watching the free roaming Royal Ravens - 6 official and four 'spares'. Their names (from oldest to youngest) are Gwylum, Hugin, Munin, Branwen, Bran, Fleur, Colin, Gundulf, and Baldrick. I have absolutely no clue which ones I photographed. More info can be found in the article from the Tower link. From the Tower we went to Knightsbridge to visit Harrods and also, we hoped, to see Hyde Park. I should have planned a little better and gone to the park first, but we were worried the shop would close. As it was, the sun was setting when we exited the store and it would have been too dark to see much of the park so we agreed to save that for next time. Instead we took the subway over to Covent Garden to find the Punch and Judy to get something to eat. Over dinner and those ever-present vacation beverages we played crossword puzzles and watched other patrons, passing the minutes hours until we could leave for the train station. It was surprising to see such large throngs of people out so late on a Wednesday night, and I felt suddenly like Glasgow was a small hick town in comparison!

Utterly exhausted, Ginnie and I separated on the train- each taking an empty row- where we settled in for a long ride home...

London 2009 (Day 1)

Ginnie and I took the overnight sleeper train from Glasgow to London and the one thing I must say here is - spend the extra £20 for a sleeper berth. I, being unemployed and wiped out of all savings, opted for the 'reclining seat' figuring it would be like sleeping on a plane. No. It is not like sleeping on a plane, for on a train they do not dim the lights and you have people boarding and exiting through a doorway that leads to the cold COLD outside. You also have many, many, stops. Also also? You do not get a pillow and blanket with the sleeper chair.

So we arrive in Euston Station at around 6:30am. It is a bit brisk, considering it is a late September morning, but we've also just come from Glasgow so the temperature was about the same as my normal day high. We exited the station and spotted a very pretty sky, and when presented with the dilemma of what to do next I just shrugged my shoulders and suggested "Let's go this way". Turns out we chose to walk down Eversholt Street which put us in the neighborhood of the Camden Markets. We stopped quickly at McDs for breakfast (ugh) and a consultation with the map, and decided since the markets weren't quite open yet we'd just continue in the direction of Regent's Park and cross to the other side to see the famous Abbey Road crossing. I, of course, kept stopping to take photos but as I was also carrying a parcel that needed to be dropped at Post Office, I was only using the pocket Elph. Parcel finally posted (I'd sold my camera backpack on ebay a couple hours before we'd left Monday night, so I brought it with me to mail) and Abbey Road crossed, our next destination was going back to the other side of Regent's Park. We were still carrying our backpacks, and had already been walking for three hours, so we chose to hop the tube to Baker Street, where we next made a quick stop at the Sherlock Holmes Museum before continuing on to the park.By this time it was rather warm out, with full sun, so when we reached the park I stopped at the nearest bench to shed some clothes and get the Canon 40D out. I was trying to do this quickly, but quietly, as I didn't want to spook the birds. There was a black swan, of which I'd never seen one outside of photos, and also grey herons. LOTS of heron(s?) it turns out, and also Canadian Geese, a bird I'm quite familiar with from Seattle but had never seen on this side of the Ocean before. These were joined by the usual suspects (pigeons, crows, ducks & seagulls) in a cluster around a lady feeding them from a bag of bread. I was surprised at how close I was able to get to the heron, but unfortunately the swan was just too far out in the water for me to get a clear shot. I reverse this complaint when a few minutes later when we happened upon 30 or so heron who kept taking flight five feet in front of my face, but with my lens zoom lens I was too close to get a clear shot.The inner circle of Regent's Park contains the gated area of Queen Mary's Gardens. Here we saw the most beautiful flowers and plants, the amazing Triton Fountain, and the most awesome-ally 'because they were available when I desperately needed them' public loos. We sat on the bench in front of the fountain, enjoying the fine weather and pleasant misting the occasional breeze would bring across our faces, and I seriously considered stretching out and taking a nap right there in the hot sun.Our stomachs, however, had other ideas so against the protests of our knackered feet and wearied shoulders we hoofed it on out of the inner circle towards the tube to Piccadilly Circus, then strolled down to the Leicester Square area for some lunch. After lunch we knew we were fading fast, and after looking at my watch I suggested we go check into the hotel where we could drop off our bags and rest up for a bit and still have plenty of time to see the Tower Bridge and the London Eye before dark.Travelodge Tower Bridge is in a fabulous location being less than 5 minute walk from the Tower Hill underground and Tower Gateway (trains), and one block from a Starbucks. It claims the rates are cheap because of the fact that you are sleeping above the Train Station, but 1) £96 per isn't exactly cheap, even for London and 2) they do not provide any amenities, not even a phone in the room. The room appeared clean, though, and the housekeeper I found was most helpful in getting me the 2nd set of towels the front desk has assured me were in the room (they were not). I also did not hear the trains that night, but I'm hard of hearing and was so utterly exhausted that had I been sleeping on top of the actual trains themselves I doubt I would have woke.

The alarm on my mobile went off, forcing us up out of slumber to refresh ourselves and make our way to the River Thames, where the crowds were absolutely teeming, it being quitting time for most folk. We crossed the river via the Tower Bridge, stopped to take a photo (or 50), and continued along the waterfront looking across to the Tower of London and the Gherkin, and walking past City Hall, Hay's Galleria, and the HMS Belfast.We eventually made it to the London Eye where we lucked out with no crowd and no line. You buy your tickets, are shown where to pickup a pair of 3D glasses, and then ushered into a 4D movie which was very very cool. I think this was created to break up the wait time, which can normally be over an hour, and it shows you aerial views like you get from the Eye as well as bubbles you can touch and a seagull image that flies around the theatre and right up to your face and man I'd love take that theatre show home! Flick over we are shuffled out to board our pod and I was extremely excited because it appeared we were getting a crackin' sunset and I just knew my shots were going to be amazing.

(What I was forgetting to incorporate into my thinking is that while the pods appear to our senses to be stationary, they are in fact moving which creates vibrations and motion and translates to blurry photos. I probably shot 400, but only kept around 10. I also made a little video)

Man, what a ride! Overlooking the River Thames, Big Ben, Palace of Westminster (aka Houses of Parliament), and the Sea Life London Aquarium. There's a bunch of other stuff in the other direction, but I apparently focused most of my attention on that side. Once the ride was completed we stepped out of the pod, continued up the waterway to Westminster Street, and crossed over to St. Stephens Tavern where we flopped down at a table to plan the next day's itinerary and consume some supper with multiple alcoholic beverages. We'd had high hopes for a raucous night out, but instead found ourselves back at the hotel and in bed by 9pm - ooh, party animals us! More photos available here.

Ginnie in Glasgow

As is normal for me with regards to a holiday (whether I'm leaving or someone's coming), I'd been up all night and had practically naught hours of sleep so was completely knackered when it came time to pick Ginnie up from the airport. This was her first trip ever outside of the United States and I was really looking forward to showing her as much of this country as I could.

The morning started off on a chaotic note when ember's car wouldn't start, resulting in a mad dash call for a taxi with a quick stop at the ATM to withdraw the required cash. Ginnie was due in from Seattle about 7:30am but still had to get through customs, so I actually arrived with time to spare - which I used to stare at the hotties in uniforms holding machine guns. Welcome to Scotland!

We took a taxi back to the flat, she unpacked and gave me all the stuff from Sally (who's been hitting the dollar aisle in Target again, I could tell), and we chat for a few minutes while I wait for the jetlag to catch up to her. Sure enough, by 10am-ish she starts to droop and I send her off to bed for a nap. Goody, cos this meant I got to take one as well.

The alarm went off and we got going, stopping at the underground to purchase our subway passes and then riding out to city centre. We checked out the Buchanan Galleries mall, the throng of shoppers, the kitsch venues, and made it back outside in time to see Clanadonia performing on Buchanan Street - this time joined by special guest "Captain Jack Sparrow".

I have no words for this.

We stood back to watch as they set up but, when they asked the crowd to move in a little closer and not one person moved, I looked around and decided to be the big girl (indeed) and took a giant leap forward. This gave me another front row spot to take a couple shots (only had my the Elph with me though) and shoot a video.

I had a basic itinerary of things to show Ginnie when she was here, predicated on the weather and moods of us both. Over the next couple of days I showed her city centre, the West End, Botanic Gardens, Kelvingrove Museum, a few pubs, Glasgow Green (with People's Palace and Templeton Carpet Factory), and the Necropolis.
At the Kelvingrove Museum we saw an artist sketching a statue and while I've gotten a bit better about asking to take shots, I was still a little nervous and rushed this. I tried to sneak a couple of her while she was working, but they weren't sharp enough. It's a shame to lose a shot due to a lack of courage; guess I need a trip to Oz.
Finally, on Monday night, we boarded the Caledonian sleeper train for our overnight journey to London...