Hampton Court Palaces
The Kitchen
The Courtyards
The Grape Vine--holds a Guinness World Record
My London Learning for the day comes from the section of a book that we purchased about Hampton Court Palaces. The section is called “Palace Particulars.” So here are some of the particulars:
- “241 decorated chimneys…[and] it takes 33 hours per year to peel off the 2kg of chewing gum [placed in these chimneys by visitors]."
- “Over 5,000 objects are displayed, including 44 tapestries…[which] laid flat…would cover an area of six tennis courts.”
- “Over 200,000 flowering bulbs are placed each year in the formal gardens and 140,000 plants grown in the nurseries.”
- “About 330,000 people go into the Maze each year.”
- “The Great Vine is 240 years old and over 36.5m long. It takes the Vine Keeper about three weeks to harvest all the sweet black dessert grapes in the autumn.”
Tuesday May 4, 2010
Follow Directions
My posting today is also my London Learning for the day, as well as a friendly reminder provided by the Transport for London…
Wednesday May 5, 2010
National Gallery and Trafalgar Square
The National Gallery is home to over 2,300 paintings, which are owned by the public. The collection began when the government bought several paintings from banker and art collector John Julius Angerstein in 1824. Today, I enjoyed art from the 13th-16th centuries. I plan to return at a later date to enjoy 17th-early 20th century paintings. Not that this should surprise you, but I was not able to take pictures of the artwork. But, I enjoyed viewing several famous pieces such as The Arnolfini Portrait (van Eyck), Venus and Mars (Botticelli), The Leonardo Cartoon (Leonardo da Vinci), The Ambassadors (Holbein), The Entombment (Michelangelo), and The Madonna of the Pinks (Raphael).
The main façade of the National Gallery faces Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is home to Nelson’s Column. Nelson was a British naval captain who died during the victorious Battle of Trafalgar.
When I left the Gallery a street performer was playing the drums and groups of people were gathering. The drum music was okay and I would have normally passed by, but when a group of students started dancing I, along with several other, stuck around for the entertainment.
My London Learning for the day is that Trafalgar Square is the 4th most popular tourist attraction in the world with over 15 million visitors a year.
Thursday May 6, 2010
Routine with a twist—Peter Pan
I did my usual lunch time concert at the church. This week was a teacher of some of the students that have performed in previous weeks, Irina Andrievsky. WOW! By far the best performance yet. She was so into her music, which was evident by her facial expression and at one point she popped off the bench. It is fun to see someone truly feel what they are performing.
It was beautiful weather today, so I decided to put a twist into the Thursday Routine and take a walk through Kensington Gardens. As, I mentioned in previous blogs Kensington is the western section of Hyde Park. It was once the gardens for Kensington Palace and is now home of the Peter Pan statue, which is said to be the most popular statue in London. J.M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan) chose the location for the statue based on his first book about Peter Pan, The Little White Bird. In this story Peter Pan flew out of his nursery window and landed in Kensington Gardens by the Long Water where statue now stands. In preparation for the statue in Kensington Gardens J.M. Barrie took pictures of a six year-old boy in a Peter Pan costume so that the sculptor could “recreate his vision.”
My London Learnings for the day 1) you can find a copy of the Peter Pan statue in New Jersey and 2) when the Peter Pan statue was placed in Kensington Gardens “Questions were asked in the House of Commons about whether an author should be permitted to promote his work by raising a statue of one of his characters in a public park” (royalparks.org.uk). Politics!?!…and they continue today as it is polling day in the UK.
Friday May 7, 2010
Hung Parliament
We woke up this morning to the following headline…
BRITAIN WAKES UP TO A HUNG PARLIAMENT
In the UK, “ a hung parliament is one in which no party has an overall majority, which means no party has more than half of MPs in the House of Commons. It means that which ever party ends up in power will not be able to win votes to pass laws without the support of members of other parties.” (bbc.co.uk). And unlike the USA, after the voting has taken place “the largest party does not automatically have the right to try to form an administration” (bbc.co.uk). So, now what? The current Prime Minster, Gordon Brown, remains in his position “until it is clear which party or combination of parties can command the most support in the new parliament” (bbc.co.uk). So we wait while negotiations, deals, and the like are made.
Also in the news have been stories about the frustrations of several hundred voters who were in the lines (or as they say here queues) and were turned away at the 10pm closing time not being allowed to vote. As for the dos and don’ts of the UK polling stations, I would like to refer you to the following article put out by the BBC, “What can you NOT do in a polling stations” It answers questions such as: Can I bring my pets with me to vote? And Can I play my favourite music to inspire me? Or I’ve been in the pub and feel drunk. Can I vote? Tony and I got a good laugh. Check it out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8661984.stm
My London Learning for the day is thanks to the BBC, “The queen is the only person who can invite someone to form a government and to become prime minister…but it is not her role to determine who should receive her invitation to exercise her authority.”
Weekend Saturday and Sunday May 8-9, 2010
Book Stores and Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
We started our Saturday by visiting two used book stores and a music store—Tony is on the hunt for guitar music to add to his growing collection. One of these used book stores could be considered a hoarders heaven and an anxiety therapist’s worst nightmare!! Books, stacks of books, and boxes of books everywhere—sometimes blocking aisles if there were even aisles. Mountain climbing skills/equipment would have been handy in this place. I am not sure how he did it, but when I asked the owner about a specific book I was looking for he knew exactly where to find it. I was amazed. Some pictures, which still cannot capture the true nature of this place…
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms were great. It was interesting to see how the Prime Minister lived, ran a country, and fought a war. One of the aspects of the culture here that Tony and I have come to appreciate is how the British people honor, respect, and value their history and heritage. We have found evidence of this not only in conversations with citizens, but also through things such as this museum.
The War Cabinet
Original Signs used Indicating Rooms
This was the weather indicator sign used and when air raids were occurring, the sign would say "Windy."
The Map Room
The Room and Office of Churchill--He gave several speeches from this room, which were broadcasted by BBC a few offices down the hallway.
As for Sunday, Happy Mother’s Day to our wonderful Mothers and Grandma Edrington. In the UK, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent, which would have been March 14, 2010. But we would not pass up the opportunity to celebrate and honor our mothers, so we are sending our love on this day from across the pond!
My London Learning for the weekend is that Winston Churchill is a Honorary citizen of the United States of America. He was given this in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. Prior to Churchill, the last Honorary citizenship was given to General Lafayette and only seven total have been given.
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