I've heard that quite a few parents, friends, and curious folks have been following along on the blog--thanks for reading. I'm now under more pressure to get all the grammar right. But we all wish that all of you could be here as well, so it's nice to know this is providing a connection.
If it's possible, we walked more today than any other. The day started slowly; there was nothing official scheduled for the morning, and since half the group was out until the wee hours (I won't embarrass them by giving the exact time), that's a good thing. Six of the group attended mass at Westminster Cathedral, which was reported to be impressive, but longer than they expected. After the hour and a half service, they just had time to meet the rest of us for the 1pm meet-up time in the hotel lobby. Some folks slept in until just before 1; I went out around 11:30 and found some lunch near the hotel.
At 1, we hopped the Tube north to Hampstead, a much different place than what we've seen so far. Hampstead is ritzy and rich, a quiet, leafy suburb where big houses cost multiple millions of pounds. Mike tells us that most of the rock stars and celebrities choose to live in Hampstead, and seeing the houses there you can believe it. Not mansions like in Hollywood or anything, but old three or four story houses with big yards--much larger and more elegant than anything near the city center. We stopped briefly at a sandwich shop for the church-goers and late risers to grab some food, and then we walked over to the Keats House.
The Keats House is one of my favorite literary museums. Keats only lived there for two years, but they were two of the most productive years of his short life, and it was there that he met and fell in love with Fanny Braun, literally the girl next door. The house is full of furnishings, paintings, and objects connected to Keats and Fanny Braun, including the engagement ring he gave her that she wore until her death sixty years later.
From there we walked over Hampstead Heath, a huge expanse of forest and open parkland that affords a great view of the whole city from one of its hills. Or at least it does when it's not raining, as it was today. We could see a fair amount, and it was nice to be walking in grass and trees instead of city streets for a change. Here's the group dripping on top of Parliament Hill:
You can almost see London in background there through the haze and rain. Here's Brandon and Ashley F.:
Then things got fun. We walked over the Heath to the village of Highgate (which is still part of London, it just likes to call itself a village) and went to Highgate Cemetery, an old Victorian cemetery with lots of atmosphere and some notable dead people. Ask one of us to tell you about the imperious old woman at the gate there, who didn't want a large group going through in case the graves got damaged. I don't have time to give her the cariacature she deserves, but she was worth the walk by herself. (Blogger tells me that cariacature is spelled wrong, but I don't have the energy to look it up. You know what I mean). Luckily our cemetery tour guide Susan (from Chicago) was much friendlier, and seemed apologetic about the dragon-lady at the gate.
The cemetery was great. I'd been there before, and it was just as cool this time. Large impressive monuments in various stages of decay, lots of trees and hidden places. The rain had stopped by now, but it was still cool and damp and misty, perfect for a place where some of the old Hammer horror movies were filmed. I'm familiar with Highgate because part of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula is set there (it's where Lucy is buried and later staked). Today it was easy to see why.
By now it was a quarter to five, which left us only an hour to meet Mike for dinner, and we were a long way from the meeting point for tonight. We walked to Archway Tube station, a not insignificant hike, and then hopped a train. And here is where I made the only howling blunder of the tour (so far). We needed to change trains to get to Queensway station, where Mike was meeting us. I looked at the Tube map, and read that we could change lines at Holborn, and told the group. They've gotten good at using the Underground, and in case of separation Mike or I always make sure everyone knows which stations we're heading for and where to change. BUT, I read the map wrong. And this was the first time that we did get separated. A train was about to leave as we reached the platform, and only some of us made it on before the train left. As I stood with the rest of the group waiting for the next train, I realized that Holborn wasn't on this line, and the change should happen somewhere else (as it happens, at Tottenham Court Road). The first half of the group were racing through the tunnels looking for the wrong station.
But of course, these are UMary students, and I have taught them well. When the rest of us arrived at Queensway station, everyone was already there, having easily figured out how to get there. So I didn't need to worry about what would happen if I lost half my students in a huge city 4,000 miles from home after all. Hoo-ray.
Each night the tour company books a paid-for dinner and Mike leads us over to the restaurant. We eat and drink and make merry, and plan the evening and next day as well. Dinner tonight was at Shish, a Mediterranean restaurant in Bayswater. As with every place Mike has taken us, the food was excellent.
After dinner, Brandon suggested we ride the London Eye, and as everyone seemed eager to do so, we took the Tube down and did it. The Eye is the largest ferris wheel in the world--you ride up in large glass rooms very slowly. The whole trip takes thirty minutes and the views are pretty impressive. Even though the rain had started back up a little (it never rains hard, just often) it was still amazing. More so even than the top of St. Paul's, the view from the London Eye shows just how large the city is. Here's a sample, but I wish you had been there...
After the Eye, we walked across Westminster Bridge beneath Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and everyone but me got the Tube home from Westminster Station. I went into a phone booth and called my mom and my wife. Then I walked the mile or so back to the hotel because I was looking for the small square where my favorite Dickens character was supposed to have lived. I found it, and it was charming, but it had already gotten too dark to get good pictures. On the way back to the hotel from there, however, I passed through a series of side streets and found the perfect final image for our Mother's Day in London. I bet you didn't know there was a union:
No comments:
Post a Comment