Bloomsbury and the British Library

Streets in Bloomsbury 

Some beautiful entrances

Russell Square - lots of people enjoying the quiet space

Courtyard of British Library (St Pancras Hotel and train station in background)

Entrance to building

From Soho to Bloomsbury

We covered two areas today - started at Oxford Circle coming up to West End shopping area on Oxford Street. This high-end area is quite a contrast to the Whitechapel market we left behind. We zigzagged through Soho stopping at Liberty first. Bill headed for the cafeteria while I drooled over liberty fabric and products. Then off down Carnaby Street. Probably no resemblance to the 60's but alternative life styles still celebrated here. We stopped at Berwick Street Market for fresh fruit (grapefruit introduced to London for the first time here in 1890's) then over to Charing Cross Road to check out the book stores.
Crossing Oxford Street took us into Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia. We planned on dropping into the British Museum but the hour-long line (just to check bags) changed that - better to wander the streets and sit in Russell Square for a while. Then a few more blocks took us to the British Library. No  line ups there... People don't know what they are missing. The building alone is spectacular, listed as "London's most important building from the late 20th Century" took nearly 20 years to build with much controversy. We spent our time in the The "Greatest Treasures" room. Where else can you look at Mozart's notebook with notations of musical ideas, Handel's last page of the Messiah, Beatles' ideas for songs written on napkins, The Gutenberg Bible, Da Vinci's architectural notes, Jane Austen's  novels in tiny fine handwriting, George Elliot's even smaller writing, to scratch the surface. Virtually every printed book resides here - 16 million.

Coming up to Oxford Street

Second floor in LIberty

Liberty's mock-Tudor facade. Opened in 1875

Carnaby Street

Diana Ross meet Will Shakespeare

A matinee in the Globe Theatre is an experience. The cheap seats are for standing room in front of the stage for 5 pounds. It was full and people hung in there for two and a half hours. But I sat with the mucky mucks under cover on a cushion! Twelfth night was a scream. Really a fun way to see Shakespeare. Purists would have been appalled but I found it really funny (as did the crowd) It was a campy 70's version with song and dance. The narrator was a huge black fellow with a deep baritone voice who channelled Diana Ross - huge hair and a glamorous gold lame dress. He was a huge (literally) presence. Malvolio in contrast was a tiny girl? who was seriously hilarious - physical comedy was her specialty. Such a contrast to the stuffy normal rendition of the role. Mixing races was the norm here as well as in the Open Air theatre in Regent's Park - completely colour blind. I sat beside an Australian on one side and Canadian from Vancouver on the other. We all agreed this is the way to learn Shakespeare. 

I met Bill outside and we raced to St Paul's across the Millennium Bridge to arrive in time for Evensong. It was a chance to sit in the breathtaking cathedral (we were sitting right under the dome) and listen to the choir and organ. We politely stood and sat at the right time and took in some of the full-on high Anglican service but mainly absorbed the incredible setting. 
Pictures are not adequate. St Paul's up close is too big to photograph and cameras are off limits at the Globe (with volunteers ready to pounce on anyone foolish enough to tentatively raise a phone.)

Perfect ending to the day

We rolled in the door, full but happy after our Indian meal at Mala restaurant. Were there almost three hours and loved the whole experience. Better do 20000 steps tomorrow to wear it off!

War in the morning, the palace in the afternoon and the Raj at night

Pretty swell way to spend a 48th anniversary, I'd say.

Took the tube to Westminster on our way to the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. It is always a thrill to come up the stairs at this station and be faced with Big Ben (although he is clad in scaffolding). We saw more of the neighbourhood than planned but don't mind taking wrong turns - you never know what you'll find and it is always fun to ask directions. At one point, Bill walked up to a burly police officer and asked the way. He later admitted he just wanted to talk to him! We also had a nice chat with a lady and her dog Gladys who helped a few blocks later. This was across the street from John Guildgud's home. Needless to say, we were in a tony neighbourhood.

Finally found the museum and spent a few hours in the warren of rooms used for the war cabinet throughout WWII. It was under a government office building and a well-directed bomb could have destroyed it. And when you know that 436,000 private homes were destroyed in the war, it wasn't impossible. More examples of the dedication and sacrifice of men and women during the war.

We came out to cool weather but no rain and enjoyed a walk through St James Park coming out at Buckingham Palace. Last visit we weren't able to get as close - a garden party and our invitation must have been in the mail. Better this time. The Queen is here but we only saw the curtains move a bit.

Tonight we are going for dinner at the Mala for an Indian Curry. It is located at the foot of The Tower. We'll be on our best behaviour.

Westminster Palace - parliament currently in session. Wouldn't want to be in Theresa May's shoes these days...

The Cabinet Room - steel reinforcement holds up 1-3 meters of cement added partway through the war.

A posh bedroom for Churchill's Aide de Camp. The carpet and better bed reflected his status . Staff stayed down for weeks and worked 12 hour shifts. Sun lamps were used to provide Vitamin D.

Looking at Palace from The Mall.

Best laid plans

Today was a good example of how days can go when you travel.
We had a plan to explore the Piccadilly and St. James area stopping at King's Cross on our way to have our train tickets to York confirmed and printed.

We easily made our way to Kings Cross-St Pancras. Then, following signs, wound our way out of tube station, through St Pancras rail station, across street and into the cavernous Kings Cross railway station. We stopped in travel information and were assured that we could just find any train ticket machine, enter our confirmation number,  the credit card used, and the ticket would be printed. Well.... long long story short, the system didn't recognize our number, the ticket office couldn't find our name or ticket order (three different somewhat bored agents tried) and when we finally got to the bottom of it, found out the on-line order was through a booking agency who doesn't talk to the train line. No record of our ticket would ever show. We were finally advised to phone the agency (no office) and try to figure it out.

The difference between this and 1973 is that we were planning ahead, in no hurry and calm!
We looked outside the station, planning on carrying on to Piccadilly and were greeted with a downpour. That is the other difference. We have time, like a certain level of comfort and, let's face it, older! We chose to stop for lunch, ponder our options, then decided it was okay to just call off the day. Oh to just sit and read books (Sunne in Splendour in preparation for York), have an afternoon nap, get ticket mess sorted (on-line chat did it) and plan for another day.

Kings Cross Railway Station

Addition to Kings Cross Station. Feels like a giant sports stadium. 

Addition just attached to the side of the old building like half an umbrella

St Pancras Station across Street. Was originally a  hotel

Exterior of Kings Cross

Ki

A few scenes from yesterday

Globe Theatre - on the South Bank

The Globe with neon lights (!) celebrating "The Summer of Love" 

Lloyd's of London - looks like a gas plant to me....

We wandered Marylebone Street in Regent's Park - Named from St Mary at the bourne or bank of a small stream.
In the background, St Marylebone Parish Church where Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett were secretly married. She was right to be worried, her father disinherited her when he found out.

Park Square East across from Regent's Park

This little unit is for sale for £11,500,000.
If you are interested in it, look up Park Square East and you can see the floor plan. 

Regent's Park

On the town...

A much more relaxing day today - Bill went for a long walk to seek out the base of the Gherkin that looms on our horizon. Once close, it was tricky to find - curving side streets were a challenge until it finally appeared.
We spent the afternoon in the Regents Park area then had tickets to the Open Air Theatre for a performance of "On the Town". It was like time travel - could have been sitting in a 50's theatre watching Frank Sinatra in his sailor's outfit. The dancing is probably more athletic and there was one scene with two gay guys that wouldn't have happened then but otherwise it was unchanged from what I guess must have been the original. Corny but fun! The weather was absolutely perfect - a relief - rain was predicted a few days ago but we had a reprieve. Leaving the theatre was interesting - we had no bearings but just followed the crowd out of the park and happily enough ended up at the tube station a few blocks away.
More pictures tomorrow.

The stacks of blocks don't hint at the colourful show

Just about show time

Base of the Gherkin

More London skyline

One London Bridge- a spectacular building. I'm underneath it looking up.

One London Bridge - another angle

Cheese grater and gherkin which is slowly disappearing behind taller buildings

St Paul's still stands out - especially when the light hits the dome. But the cranes lurk...

The Shard with Pimms

The Shard has been beckoning from all points in London. Today was the day to seek it out. It reminded me of walking down New York streets looking up and occasionally catching sight of the Empire State Building. We were on the same mission. Came up to the surface at Monument Station and found out why that is what it is called. The monument is a Christopher Wren design built to commemorate the great fire of London in 1666. Flowers and notes have recently been left at its base in memorial to the Grenfell Tower fire.

Coming around a corner to London Bridge, there it was. All 111 stories! Once we crossed the bridge, we lost it again and wandered narrow streets catching glimpses and getting closer. Once at its base, we skirted the lineup for a £39 view on the 69th floor and after a thorough security check, took the elevator up to the 31st floor, made ourselves comfortable in the bar with window seats and an adequate view. I checked off one other item on my wish list and ordered a Pimms. Pricey enough to make Bill quiver but completely wonderful! I'll be serving it all summer!

We wandered many streets of The City and south bank ending up at the Globe where we stopped at the box office for a ticket for Thursday's matinee of Twelfth Night. How good can it get??

Christopher Wren's Monument - increasingly hidden by new buildings

Shard from across London Bridge

View from 31st Floor - looking at north bank of Thames

Looking easterly to Tower Bridge

It's another day...

After a slow start today we caught the tube and for the first time headed in two directions!! We both got off at South Kensington Station and I walked to the Victoria and Albert Museum while Bill changed trains to go out to North Kensington/Nottinghill area. He wanted to see the Grenfell Tower. I didn't but understand his interest. It has been front page news since it happened ten days ago and will be a huge political issue for some time to come. (Last night, 4000 people were asked to evacuate from other buildings with similar cladding!)
I spent two hours in heaven. I love the V&A, the history of design and decoration. I concentrated on British from 1500 - 1760!
Bill found the tower with much difficulty. The tube is closed in the vicinity to avoid debris falling on the track so he took the bus and walked. He found it sobering.
We met as planned outside the V&A, stopped into the Museum of Natural History across the street until it closed then walked Exhibition Road to Hyde Park where we found another little restaurant. It rained while we were walking there but we sat under a tree in the park and sure enough it passed. We are loving being cool and even some rain is a relief after the heat wave.

Natural History display on Earthquakes. Looks like we are presently in a good place.
Do you west coasties have your earthquake kit up to date?? 

Hyde Park looking towards the City - the Shard and the Eye in the distance

Threatening weather over the Serpentine

Embassies line the streets in South Kensington 

Museums on either side of Exhibition Road the results of Great Exhibition of 1851