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London 2009 |
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Are you surprised to see London here? Well you can see all my musical reports from London on the Musicals pages, but since I was during touristy things in London for the first time in ages and took my camera along, I took plenty of normal photos, trying to capture both famous sights and glimpses of "my London". So enjoy the photos!
Since my Mom was coming along and forking out for the hotel, I could finally choose something more upmarket - my choice fell on the recommended Jolly St.Ermin's Hotel in St.James, squished between New Scotland Yard and the Ministry of Justice and just south of St.James Park. It was a really lovely building (apparently it used to be a monastry centuries ago, hence the name) and we could walk through the park towards the West End.
I also enjoyed the view from our hotel room - overall not very nice, but I loved the glimpse of the "Underground" sign for St.James Park Station which was literally just around the corner (although the exit closest to the hotel would always get locked early, so when I came back from the theatres in the evening, I still had to walk around the block).
Here are some photos from St.James Park - flower beds in full bloom and oddly and sadly a drained lake which made for a not-so-picture perfect view towards Buckingham Palace. I loved the view to the other side though, the time-honored impressive building of the old Admiralty from the days when Britannia ruled the waves and behind it, the 21st century London Eye being visible.
Two of London's most famous sights here... I already loved Trafalgar Square when I first visited London in 1987 but after years of gobbling Hornblower, O'Brian & Co, I see it with different eyes and it was nice to get close to Nelson's Column again and see the pictures of the battle of Trafalgar at the base. Piccadilly Circus meanwhile will probably never change :-)
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Two glimpses of "my" West End: A funky lion lurks at the entrance of Wardour Street in Chinatown and a look along Shaftesbury Avenue with its four theatres door-to-door. |
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Next morning we went to the Tower early - which is a good thing to do since you get to have the place almost to yourself, even the crown jewels, so you can take your time admiring the stuff and generally being able to enjoy everything at a leisure pace instead of fighting your way through hordes of groups and school classes. Make sure you know where to go though... this sign at the entrance amused me no end with its directions towards "Beheading"...
There is some sort of medieval "village" set up in what I assume used to be the moat and later in the day (when we left) there were people demonstrating archery and other medieval activities and kids getting a chance to try for themselves. Oh and here's the probably most-photographed bridge in the world....
Above is the "Traitor's Gate" through which prisoners were brought into the Tower (as seen in many a historical movie) and the Beauchamp Tower, a tiny tower that consisted of just this one room where most of the prisoners were actually kept, including the famous Ladies who lost their heads inside the Tower late, Lady Jane Grey and Anne Boleyn. There is actually a lovely memorial now (see below) on the little lawn where those beheadings took place to commemorate those unfortunate souls. And here are also some of the ravens that guard the Tower and the Empire...
Above is the White Tower, the original medieval fortress that was the first "Tower" - everything else was added later. Right now it held an exhibition on Henry VIII. (he of the six wives) and his favorite pastimes, jousting, playing the first tennis in the world and going into battles in heavy armour. It all brought Tudor Life back with many fascinating details, for example when I saw how huge those jousting lances were and that men were quite a bit smaller five centuries ago... just how strong they must have been to handle those things and how strong the horses must have been to carry such knights in full shining armour. The other photo shows the entrance to the Jewel House were the Crown Jewels are kept under tight lock and key (and photos were not allowed, boo).
Are you screaming "Enough of the Tower already!" Well okay, these are are the last pictures - the lovely recreation of the first medieval palace close to the Thames (where the King had a good look at the river and of people coming and going) including a "reconstruction" of Edward I.'s private domicile, and the funky iron guards they have placed at a few points along the walk of the outer Tower Wall. And I loved this look towards the famous "Gherkin" (official name "30 St.Mary Axe") rising up behind the ancient buildings of the City
And here we're in Westminster with the most famous clock tower in the world and the London Eye |
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Shopping Heaven in Shepherd's Bush: The new Westfield Shopping Centre. Loved the airy architecture! |
Warning: I absolutely loved the Victoria & Albert Museum, so there are LOTS of photos from there... here are some of the amazing dresses from the 18th and 19th century...
Just for the record - the clothes above on the right side were NOT female dresses - they are male clothes from the Mughal courts of India. Another lovely piece from India is the actual mechanical toy of Tippoo Sultan, one of the Indian rulers who fiercely opposed English colonial rule and gave the Brits plenty of headaches. He had this toy made of a tiger mauling a British soldier...
I absolutely LOVED all the stuff they had collected from the old Asian cultures... from Persia and the Indian Mughal Courts to the Far East with many amazing exhibits from Japan, China and Korea. I could have made hundreds of pictures to keep a memory of all these items which I've come across in so many movies or books already.
Here are finally some pictures from the building itself - the lovely courtyard with its little lake, where you could sit in the sun, recover from spending hours of wandering around and bringing refreshments from the cafe out. There was also the restored Victorian wing from the time when the museum was first built and meant to "show off".
One of the more curious (and really mindblowing) parts of the museum are the so-called "plaster halls". They date back from the ancient days before bargain airlines and package tourism made jaunting about the world easy. Since art students and scholars couldn't just jet to Rome or Athens to get a look at antiquities, the antiquities came to them in form of copies made of plaster. I was amused to see the copies of the tombs of Eleonor of Aquitaine, Richard Lionheart, Henry and Isabelle, having visited the real ones in Fontrevaud Abbey in France last year (and immediately recognizing them). But the really mind-boggling stuff was the life-sized copy of Trajan's Column from Rome or the portal of the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela.
Last but certainly not least here are the exhibits from the old Theatre Museum that have now found a home at the V&A including a recreation of Kylie Minogue's wardrobe from her last world tour (though what that has to do with theatre is anyone's guess) and to stay in Aussie theme, Dame Edna's "Sydney Opera House" hat.
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An interesting model of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane showing how it all looks backstage and in the wings. And prices that would make you weep - if you had any idea how much they are actually charging on that board. Someone work out a conversion of the old shillings and let me know! |
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There are also tons of costumes on display including some of West End stars I actually know, but all in all I found the collection very disappointing considering that London is the world capital of theatre. The Hollywood Museum in, er, Hollywood, had done a much better job of bringing the world of Hollywood movies to life in their building. I especially can't understand that they don't show ANYTHING of the big musicals that have drawn millions of tourists to London's West End in the last 20-30 years.
 After nearly three hours in the V&A it was time for a break in Hyde Park, soaking up the sun and discovering this lovely little garden tucked away somewhere in the park. |
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And you know... I loved taking photos in London so much, I might just do it again next time... so brace yourself for more :-)
