The Final Two Days - London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
Where I stayed
B n B in my Little Stratford House
Rain. It finally really rained on us. It has been sprinkling, but the wind has always been too much to use an umbrella. Tuesday, the 31st, it just rained, and we got soaked.
Knowing what public transportation has been like (is always like) between Christmas and New Year's, we weren't certain where we could actually go, but when I checked the website the tubes were mostly running normally. So then, where to go and what to do? We had been antiquing, so we decided to go up to Camden Passage in Islington, not far north of central London. It is reputed to have lots of great shops. Perhaps that is so, but they were almost all closed with either bars over the windows and doors, or great metal doors down over the entire facade of the shop. So much for Camden Passage. It had started to rain harder, so we went across the main road to Costa Coffee, Britain's equivalent to Starbucks (but there are plenty of those around as well) to try to wait out the rain and figure out what to do next. It was only about noon, as we had gotten a late start, but seemed too early to just retire for the day. The other thought of the morning had been to go down to the southbank of the Thames and visit The Globe Theatre and Southwark Cathedral. I checked the tube map - the station we wanted was just a couple of stations on the way along the very line we had arrived on. That clinched it. We dripped down to the station and rode down to London Bridge.
When we got out of the station it was still raining. Oh well, it had said 100% chance of rain today. We were right by the famous (or infamous) London Bridge, so I had to take a photo. This bridge was erected in 1973. It had replaced the 'New' London Bridge which had been built in 1824 and was a simple series of arches over the river. That bridge had replaced the well-decayed 600-year-old bridge which was the one that was covered in buildings. Before that medieval bridge there may have been a bridge or two during Saxon times, which had replaced an old Roman bridge, so there had been a crossing over the Thames there for just a few years...
In 1967 the London City Council put the 'New' London Bridge up for sale. Thinking he was getting the really famous Tower Bridge which is the one by the Tower of London which has two great towers at both banks and is a drawbridge, Missouri entrepreneur Robert McCulloch purchased the bridge for $2,460,000. Oops. It has been reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Across the road was the tower with its four corner spires of Southwark Cathedral (pronounced Súthark). I had sung concerts there while I was a student at Trinity College of Music in London. Upon crossing the road we saw why the tower seemed so short - the ground level of the ancient building, since rebuilt after a fire in the Victorian era, was much, much lower than that of today, so the cathedral was sitting in a hole. More stairs. Even having been rebuilt, it was beautiful. Not like the really big names of Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, Winchester, etc., but still beautiful. And it was lovely to find the spot where I used to stand on the risers at the crossing right in front of the pulpit to sing those brilliant big choral pieces. All of the students at Trinity had to either be in the orchestra or sing in the choir, so although the college was small, there were a lot of performers.
Along the way we got good views of the Gherkin and the Shard, truly odd buildings when mixed in with the ancient history and the Victorian and Edwardian buildings left after the Blitz of 1941.
We also passed the replica of the Golden Hinde, the ship in which Sir Frances Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, from 1577 to 1580. He took treasure from an incredible number of Spanish ships along the way, earning him the reputation in Spain of being a pirate, but making him a multi-millionaire by today's standards.
Both my A-Z and the Google map did not show a very direct route to The Globe, but the fellow at the cathedral bookshop pointed out the river walk that would get us there. Whether he didn't explain thoroughly, or I just misheard, we actually got lost, one of the only times I have ever gotten lost in the huge metropolis of London. Even so, on the way we passed the notorious Clink dungeon gaol (the English spelling for jail). It is now a museum, so we paid our entrance fee and went down into the dungeon. It was filled with original implements of torture and descriptions of the hideous conditions, just a lovely place. It had been a gaol from around 1177 to 1780. It was not a prison, people were mostly held there until their trials (or until they died from their treatment) after which they were executed in a number of different, all equally hideous ways. It is reputed to have gotten its name from the sound of the blacksmiths hammering in the bolts to secure the manacles which were red hot at the time. Forever its name, 'Clink,' will be synonymous with jail or prison.
We didn't visit it, but the same can be said for the notorious insane asylum Bethlem Royal Hospital. It was nicknamed (or simply shortened) 'Bedlam' which is where we get our term for an uproar or confusion, of which Bedlam Hospital was full. Again, the treatment of the misunderstood mental patients was hideous as you might have seen a bit of in the film Amadeus about Mozart.
Getting lost: there was a sign to the Globe, but it was very ambiguous. I chose incorrectly so we walked and walked before giving up and asking again for directions. It turned out that we had long passed The Globe, it was on the riverfront, and we were considerably far away from the river by that time. With aching feet we retraced our steps and finally found the famous theatre. There was a tour starting in 20 minutes, so we bought tickets and found the nearest bench to sit down and wait.
The Globe Theatre is a reproduction of the original Globe Theatre in which Shakespeare was both a player and playwright. I had great difficulty in hearing the guide, so am not certain of a lot of the details, but it was originally a wattle and daub constructed building, meaning that between the visible timbers that you would recognise as Tudor construction is a mixture of soil, clay, sand, straw and animal dung. Goodie. The roof, covering only the stage and the outer seating, was thatched, but now has an extensive sprinkler system to prevent a disastrous fire. The centre floor of the theatre is standing room only, and had no roof. Lovely on those rainy days. The seating around the sides is just wooden planks with no backs which must be rather uncomfortable during some of the long historical plays. One detail that I did hear clearly was that people hardly ever bathed or washed their clothing (a fact that I already knew) so that, combined with the open sewer of the river, it would have been a lovely smell, but to top it off, people chewed raw garlic cloves. Oh joy. It is no wonder that Queen Elizabeth used to wave little posies of lavender and other fragrant herbs and flowers under her nose.
Knowing that it was a long ways back to the tube station, and just how exhausted we both were, Teddy and I decided to take a taxi back to the station, only we had not seen a vehicle in ages. We asked, and without winding our way in a very complicated manner to the south, the easiest way was to cross the famous Millennium foot bridge over the Thames towards St. Paul's Cathedral. So across the bridge we went. Since its origin it has been secured so that we felt absolutely no sway or movement of any kind, thankfully. The walk across was beautiful because directly in front of us was the stunningly lit dome of St. Paul's. Below that was a beautifully lit Christmas tree, making a lovely photo. Along the bridge were numerous vendors cooking peanuts and almonds with sugar. We had not had anything to eat since a snack with coffee at lunchtime, so bought a cup of nuts to get us home. I knew that the St. Paul's tube station was just on the other side of the cathedral, so we passed by many taxis with their lights on, meaning that they were looking for customers, walked around the East End of the cathedral and caught the tube back to Stratford. Even though it was rush hour, we actually got seats right away, a minor miracle!
In spit of it being New Year's Eve, Teddy and I relaxed a bit, fixed dinner and not long afterwards gave up on seeing the New Year in. I would have really liked to have gone to the Embankment area to see London's amazing fireworks show at midnight, but that would have meant another trip out, and battling many thousands of people. It was the one time that I really missed having a telly, as I could have watched it from the quiet comfort of home. Someone local's fireworks awoke me at midnight anyway, so I guess you could say that I saw the New Year in.
New Year's Day, my last day for this visit to England. I was to go south to visit my friends Bethan & Laurie in their new home near Brighton. Thanks to the rail works, I could not have gotten down there without a train ride and three different bus rides, so they volunteered to meet me where the train stopped in East Grinstead. My train was to leave Victoria station at 8:15 am, but with the combination of the holiday and the inconsistency of the tubes during this time period, I left home at 6:30 am. I was flabbergasted at the number of people on the streets, apparently just coming home from their celebrations. The tube came in quickly, and was filthy with rubbish. I only had to wait at Oxford Circus for 5 minutes before the next train arrived, so I got to Victoria station very quickly, leaving almost an hour before my Britrail train was to leave. The train was listed on the board, but no platform was given, so I strolled around the station, dodging pigeons. There was a coffee stand open, so I got a rather pathetic mocha latte, but then as I wandered by a French bakery they were just opening for the morning, so I purchased a croissant-like chocolate pastry which was heavenly. After finishing those I checked the board and my platform was listed, so I took off for the other side of the station. There were very few people on board, so I had my choice of seats. When I lived here before and had travelled all over the country by train I had discovered that I cannot ride backwards, so I was careful to pick a seat that would face forwards. This was the train to Gatwick, the other main London airport, but not as many people boarded as I had expected.
We pulled out of Victoria and into steady rain. The weather report had mentioned possible flooding for the south, so I was hoping the forecasters had been incorrect. No such luck. After just two stops and 45 minutes I arrived in East Grinstead. Laurie arrived and drove me down to their new home where Bethan was busy fixing some lunch. More big reunion hugs were in order. Bethan, Jonquil and I had been great friends at Trinity College of Music, Bethan and Jonquil both being singers whilst I was an organist. (Trinity, you remember was also where I met my violinist friend, Cyndy). As I recall, Jonquil, being from London, sometimes had to translate for me as I could not always understand Bethan's lyrical Welsh accent. I have gotten to know Bethan much better through the years, and perhaps being married to an Englishman helped, but Bethan seems so easy to understand now.
Their contemporary home is situated on a hillside. The view from their upstairs bedroom is over a bit of the town and into the English Channel. Bad timing for me as all I could see was grey rain and clouds. At least the view out the back up the elegantly landscaped hill to the summer house was visible. May I please move here???
We enjoyed refreshments, much catching up, exchanging of gifts and a delicious lunch before braving the rain for a local tour. We drove down to the seaside where the breakers were pounding the shore. It was simply gorgeous. I so wanted photos, but there was nowhere for Laurie to park, and it really was tipping down with rain, so my camera and I would have gotten drenched. Oh well, the photos are in my head. Perhaps sometime I can try to paint them, but I doubt I could do them justice. We drove on down the seaside into Brighton and up to the famous Royal Pavilion. With no nearby parking places in sight, Laurie dropped us off to brave the wind and rain into the Pavilion. The umbrella was basically useless.
The Royal Pavilion at Brighton was built beginning in 1787 by George, Prince of Wales, the son of George III who was the king during the American Revolution. George, Prince of Wales (meaning next in line for the throne) later became the Prince Regent when his father had bouts of and eventually lapsed completely into mental illness, and after his father's death became George IV. George (the son) was in a similar situation to Prince Charles in that he had to wait a long time to become king. Unlike Charles, George had no sense or self control. Bethan and I decided that it was a miracle that the British had not also had a revolution as a result of George's excesses. The Pavilion was built to entertain, show off, and meet with his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert, whom he could not marry openly as marriage of a royal to a Roman Catholic was forbidden under the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. He apparently did marry her in secret, however. His entire lifestyle was extravagant in excess - he eventually became too fat to even get upstairs to his own bedroom.
The Royal Pavilion was built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India, but the interior was decorated almost exclusively in chinoiserie, a seventeenth century European fascination for all things Chinese. The many of the furnishings had been carefully made to resemble bamboo, the walls had been painted in the trompe l'oeil style of mural painting specifically created for optical illusion. Having been in China so much, I was able to appreciate what was well done and what was really incorrect. Yes, they had been very aware of the importance of the dragon in Chinese culture, but the dragons which appear all over the Pavilion are European dragons rather than Chinese dragons. I got a real kick out of that. Chinese dragons are benevolent, creatures of water and are good luck to people who are worthy of it. European dragons are violent, flying, fire-breathing creatures who kidnap damsels. I don't think that they quite figured that out in the eighteenth century, but then China was a very closed society, so not a lot was known about their culture in the West. At the same time, in the huge banquet hall, the phoenixes in the four corners looked exceptionally perfectly Chinese.
As time was going by quickly, we had to forego listening to the narratives about much of the Pavilion, just walking through and being amazed at the over-decoration. Much of it was beautiful, but too busy in our opinions. Laurie picked us up and we began heading north towards East Grinstead. On the way they had planned to treat me to an exquisite High Tea at Gravetye Manor.
Driving along medium-sized roads, I was terribly impressed by the red reflectors embedded at the edge of the road showing the outside edge like little lights. At exits or turnings the reflectors were green. Very clear in rainy weather. But soon we were off the medium-sized roads and winding around on little country lanes. These lanes were just wide enough for cars to pass very carefully (but sometimes not even that wide), and were lined by thick, tall vegetation of hedges and trees. In some places the trees had been trimmed over the lane to form a tunnel. Even in the dark and rain it was beautiful. But - remember that I mentioned flooding earlier? Well here it was. Every little low spot in the road was a swimming pool, and some spots even appeared to have streams crossing the road. We were greatly slowed by all of the deep water. At long last we came to a sign to head deeper into the woods to Gravetye Manor. Finally pulling up to the Manor, its appearance bowled me over. I had had no idea where we were going.
A very special place for Bethan and Laurie, Gravetye Manor was built in 1598. I think that for my next visit with my husband we will have to make a special point to visit Gravetye Manor. The entrance and front room are entirely panelled by carved wood. The huge fireplace had a fire burning promoting a cosy feeling in this elegant room. There was a lovely Christmas tree, and gorgeous decorations on the two mantles. Little tables were set for high tea with china delicately decorated with flowers. Our coats taken, tea was brought and poured, and soon the food arrived. We were served many little sandwiches, cucumber, smoked salmon, egg salad amongst others and then it was up to the higher platter with scones, one plain and one with sultanas (raisins), both to be lavishly slathered with clotted cream and raspberry jam. Absolute heaven! The top platter contained four different types of cakes, including slices of English Christmas Cake. I mentioned that I had never tasted Christmas Cake, so even though I was ready to burst, Bethan and I split a piece of Christmas Cake. It is like the most wonderful fruitcake you have ever tasted, wrapped in marzipan (sweetened almond paste) and covered with royal icing which forms a hard coating. It was simply delicious, but I still think that I prefer Christmas Pudding. As we were all much too full to enjoy all of the treats we had them boxed to take away, took photos and headed towards the East Grinstead rail station. The train was waiting (just for me???), so our day together ended with big hugs and I boarded the train back to Victoria station. It had obviously been sitting there for a little while as it was packed with people and luggage. A gentleman allowed me to sit in the empty window seat beside him, which thankfully was headed forwards, so I settled in for the ride. Looking up at the running information sign I saw that I was on a 'milk train,' one that stops at every little station along the way. It did not leave for another ten or fifteen minutes, and then crept all of the way up to Victoria, taking an hour that seemed like at least two. I had originally planned to catch the 6:00 pm train, but this left at 7:45, so I was really later than expected getting back to Stratford. The way home was all but deserted, making me feel slightly uncomfortable for the only time walking that stretch.
Back at the house Teddy and I finished our packing, using my luggage scale to balance the three suitcases to make certain that none was over the fifty pound limit - they were all just about four pounds under. On the train I had thought about trying to negotiate Paddington rail station with our original luggage plus one more large suitcase, and thought that I would check on the price of the minicab all of the way to Heathrow. Once we were packed I rang them, and the price was not that bad, so even though we already had return tickets from Paddington to Heathrow we booked the minicab for the whole ride in the morning. Everything accomplished for a quick departure in the morning we went off to try to sleep.
Early the next morning we were up, eating a quick breakfast, and off to Heathrow. The driver gave us a great tour of much of the important sites of London so I got the opportunity to say 'so long until next time.' Even with the trip through the city, we arrived at Heathrow half an hour before expected, so were ready and waiting for our flight. It boarded right on time, but then we had to sit in the plane for a very hot, stuffy hour while they fixed the air-conditioning. Finally off, we actually were able to make up the time, and landed at DIA only a few minutes past the originally scheduled time. It was truly wonderful to see my husband waiting for us just outside of Customs, and in no time we were both home to unpack, recuperate and process the whole amazing experience.
I hope that you have enjoyed this blog as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing it!