Simplify, simplify

I've heard it said that with age comes the desire to simplify.  I think there must be some truth to that because that is exactly what has changed the most about my method of travel.  It used to be that if I was going on a two week trip, I'd be taking one jumbo sized suitcase packed with all my clothes and one roll-on bag filled with cameras and lenses, one change of clothes (just in case my bag was lost or delayed) and anything else I thought I couldn't do without.  On this last trip to London, I changed all that.

For this trip, the cute little red roll-on suitcase pictured above, was all that I took with me along with one small shoulder bag that fit under the seat.  It's amazing how quickly you can get through customs when you don't have to claim any luggage.  

There was one other new thing I tried on this recent trip.  Instead of booking a hotel in London, I tried that relatively new service called Airbnb.  It's a service that matches people looking for a short-term place to stay with people who have rooms or apartments to rent.  In my case, I booked a room in someone's home.  The photo above was taken in my room on the morning I was leaving to return home.  The room was comfortable and I had my own bathroom to use.  My hosts were very friendly and helpful and I must say, I enjoyed their company while I was there.

Another great thing about traveling light was that when I arrived in London, I got on the underground with my bag, changed lines at one point and got off at my destination station and then followed the directions to place I was staying.  No fighting with a huge suitcase and no expensive taxis.  It was so easy and had the added benefit of giving me a great feeling of accomplishment.

Another added convenience was my great little Nikon Coolpix camera.  I only have to take one camera with me and no extra lenses.  It does it all, excellent telephoto, wide angle, macro, and a variety of settings that let me take just about any type of exposure I wanted.

So my new motto when I travel, simplify, simplify!

San Francisco Views

When I was working in San Francisco back in 2001, a friend of mine was also working there and had been there longer than me.  I always enjoyed visiting her apartment there not only to visit with her but to get a peek of this fabulous view.

This is the building where I was living at the time.  It was new building so the apartments were fresh and new but it didn't have those great views.  No matter, San Francisco is a wonderfully walkable city and I was always out exploring.

Fool on the HIll

Can you imagine my surprise while driving the beautiful roads of Vermont, when I rounded a corner and saw a hillside dotted with tiny sheep and cows.  I couldn't imagine what I was seeing.

As I got closer I could see that it was some kind of business and I knew I had to stop and check it out.

It was a gorgeous business selling fruit, vegetables, flowers and all kinds of gifts and crafts.  It was a joy walking around and admiring all the beautiful things.  Almost as much joy as that gorgeous Vermont scenery was supplying.

I did some internet searching to get more information about this place but, sadly it seems it has closed.  It was located in the town of Quechee Vermont.

Highgate Cemetery

More years ago than I'd like to admit, I took my niece who was about 14 at the time to London.  Her mother, my sister Pam went along also.  In planning that trip I bought a book about what children would enjoy doing and seeing in London and one of the things featured in the book was Highgate Cemetery.  The author of the book said the eeriness of the place was appealing to kids and fed their imaginations.  I'm not sure my niece was so keen on a visit there but, evidently the "kid" in me was all for it.  So, on a drizzly day we went and I loved it and have always wanted to go back and get some proper photos of the place.  My November trip to London gave me that opportunity.

The cemetery opened in 1839 as a privately run company but by 1970 it was no longer profitable and the place fell into the not so kind hands of nature and vandals.  It is now operated by an all volunteer group who take tours on the older side of the cemetery and use the money raised to maintain and restore the place.  
The above and below photos feature a place in the cemetery called Egyptian Avenue.  The people of the Victorian era had a fascination for all things Egyptian fueled by the discoveries of ancient treasures by the explorers of the day.

Egyptian Avenue features family vaults where prominent London families were interred.

On the tour they tell you about some of the people buried there like this fellow, Thomas Sayers.  Sayers was born into poverty but established himself as a prize fighter, a nefarious business.  Even though the fighting was illegal and frowned on by society, Sayers had developed a following.  His last fight went 40 rounds and injured him so badly that he had to retire from the business but,  his admirers raised around 3,000 pounds for him to live on but, he only lived another five years. When he died, over 100,000 mourners attended his funeral. The chief mourner was his beloved mastiff, Lion who is memorialized guarding his tomb.

The cemetery gets it's eerie atmosphere from the overgrown look of the place with tree roots and vines crawling all over the monuments.

Even though this side of the cemetery is only accessible by tour, burials still take place here.  If you have family buried here, you get an ID card that lets you in at anytime to visit the grave.

To the left is one of the recent graves. It's the grave of Alexander Litinenko, the ex-Russian spy who was poisoned by radioactive material just a few years ago.  I bet you remember reading about that incident in the news.

You can visit the newer side of  Highgate Cemetery on your own after paying an entrance fee.  That side of the cemetery is well known to many people because the grave of Karl Marx is there.  I didn't visit that side cemetery on this trip.  I was much more interested in the overgrown and tumble-down side I've pictured here.

Not your usual tourist spot

Fortunately there is plenty of indoor things to do in London, perfect for those ever present rainy days.  I spent one rainy afternoon in the British Library.  I had never been before but had read about some of the interesting things to see there so I put it on my list of places to go in case of fowl weather.

The library is housed in a modern building with a large piazza in front of it and a bronze sculpture of Isaac Newton perched above.  The sculpture shows Newton crouching over some mathematical calculations.

The inside of the library is open to a six story atrium with a center bookcase that stretches that whole distance.

The huge bookcase is sealed behind glass and it contains the King George III collection of books that was originally housed at the British Museum.  That floor to roof bookcase is quite a site to see and I found myself standing in front of it and admiring all those beautifully bound manuscripts.

In another section of the library I found sculptures and artifacts like this ancient printing press on display.  In another room dedicate to the "Treasures of the British Library", I spent time  being awed by a Gutenberg Bible, pages from the original version of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", sections of the Magna Carta, Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, and the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays published seven years after his death.  And, that's just a few of the precious documents on display here.

On the lower level, I found myself struck by this wonderful 3D painting.  I stared at it for a long time and wondered how it was painted with so much depth.

Then I stepped to the side of it a saw that the depth was actually built right into the canvas.  A very interesting technique.

If you are ever at the library at lunch time, I can highly recommend the King's Library restaurant for a delicious lunch.  I ordered a very tasty chicken pie that was the perfect thing to warm me up and take the edge off of the cold and wet day outside.

Canary Wharf

A trip to Canary Wharf on the far east side of London can feel like you've left England completely.  Once the primary harbor for the Port of London, this area has been transformed into a modern business and shopping complex complete with luxury hotels and apartments.  You can get there on the Jubilee Line of the London underground and arrive at station that is straight out of an episode of "Doctor Who" as evidenced by the photo above.

When you take those escalators to the top, you will find yourself  surrounded by ultra-modern skyscrapers and briefcase carrying commuters heading to and from work.

There are skyscrapers in every direction you look and hovering over the arched entrance to the underground station and the park area that runs behind it.

In the center of the area and over the top of the underground station is a beautifully landscaped park complete with a long fountain-stream running through the center with pedestrian paths on both sides.

Along one of the paths is the entrance to Jubilee Place, an underground shopping mall that would rival any mall you would find in any American city.

Inside you will find everything a super mall has to offer, department stores, groceries, jewelry, galleries, drug stores, restaurants and trendy pubs.

When you are ready to head back to the historic city of London you can either take the Docklands light rail line that runs above ground or…..

…..you can go back down those futuristic escalators to the underground station and have the Jubilee Line whisk you back to the heart of London.  You might feel as though you've somehow been transported in a time machine.  Did I happen into a TARDIS without knowing it?

More to see in Brighton

There is of course, more to see in Brighton than just the Royal Pavilion.  A stroll a few blocks away will take you through a central park surrounding a fountain.

And a short distance from the park is the Brighton Pier.  I didn't want to miss a stroll out to the end of the pier even if there was a cold wind blowing in off the ocean.

From the pier, you can look along the shoreline at all the hotels built facing the water.  Brighton is a very popular summer vacation spot.

Or, you can try your hand at one of the many games of chance inside the piers 19th Century pavilion.

Another entertainment option might be a ride on the giant Ferris Wheel at the edge of the beach.  Brighton has a lot to offer the tourist.  If I'm ever in England in the summer time, I might venture down here again and see just how busy the place gets.

A short trip to Brighton

When I made the short journey to Brighton in November, I had one thing in mind.  I was going to get a photo of that outrageously ornate Royal Pavilion.  I had it pictured in my mind and my image was very much like this photo taken by someone I follow on Flickr.  But alas, the best laid plans often go awry.

Erected smack-dab in the middle of the lawn in front of the pavilion was a giant temporary tent.  You can just see the edge of the tent roof in the photo to the left.   I didn't take a photo of it because quite frankly, it was not a picturesque sight.

I made due with several photos of the ornate details of the outside of the pavilion and I took the tour of the inside and I'm so happy I did.  The inside, although a little down-at-heel, was spectacular.  There were some rather amazing chandeliers and antiques to feast my eyes upon.

The Royal Pavilion was built by King George and became a royal playground for the king and his circle of friends.  After King George's death, the pavilion was used as a residence by King William IV and by Queen Victoria until 1845.  In 1850 it was sold to the town of Brighton after the interior had been stripped of its furnishings.  The long process of restoration started and still goes on today and with the cooperation of the Royal Family, there are many beautiful pieces on loan to be displayed inside.

Outside the Royal Pavilion, stands this statue of King George IV by Sir Francis Chantrey.

All in all, I'm glad I went.  The tour was great and I even had a tasty lunch right inside the pavilion at their small dining room.  However, getting that one photo is still on my list of things to do.

I'll share more photos from Brighton on a future post.

Exploring on a whim!

The first time I visited London back in the 1980’s, I fell in love with the city and I’ve found myself returning many times and always finding new things to experience and old favorites to enjoy again.  Needless to say, I’ve made use of London’s mass transit system known as “the tube” to get from one side of the city to another.  If you have ever used that system, you know how efficient it is and you might also know that each train is announced by its end point destination.  I’ve always been curious about those end point destinations so on this trip I decided that I would ride one of the lines all the way to the end and get out and look around.  That’s how I happened to visit the pretty village of Amersham located at the very north-western end of the Metropolitan line.  It was interesting to see how the crowds on the train thinned out the further out we got, dwindling down to just me and two other people at the very end.

The city is located 27 miles northwest of London and is split into two districts, Old Amersham in the valley and the newer and rapidly growing Amersham-on-the-hill located around the rail line.  It was the newer section that I explored on my short visit there.

 I walked through the business district with its half-timbered buildings and shops as picture above and to the left.

I also ventured into some residential streets where I found lovely tree-lined lanes and beautiful brick homes with half-timbered trim. 

I enjoyed this exploration so much, that I’m sure I’ll do it again the next time I’m in London.  Maybe I’ll head to an eastern end point the next time.  

Christmas in London

There were certainly a wide variety of beautiful Christmas decorations in London when I was there but, I think I enjoyed all the decorations at Covent Garden the best.  The night I was there, the disco ball was spinning and the light it created looked like snow falling on the jazz group that was playing downstairs.

Just outside of the building, this giant "Rudolph" was the perfect meeting spot for shoppers.

On Regent Street, these pretty Christmas lights were keeping the street well lit.  

And inside the entrance to Fortnum & Mason, the grand staircase was wearing festive holiday decorations.  

Christmas in London

My latest trip to London was in November and by that time most of the Christmas decorations are up all around town.  Today I'm featuring a few of the scenes I enjoyed.  Above is a carousel that was in front of the Natural History Museum.  Behind it you can see a sliver of the ice skating rink that was also there for holiday revelers to enjoy.

The famous department store Fortnum & Mason had all of it's windows decorated with a variety of Christmas scenes.  This was my favorite.

A Christmas tree decorated with royal crowns was located at the entrance to the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace.  Of course it should have royal crowns to adorn it's branches.

On Sunday I'll show you more beautiful Christmas decorations!

A Bird's Eye View of London

Personally, I think that riding on the London Eye is a must for every visitor.  The views in all directions are breathtaking and if you've been to London as many times as I have, you will recognize all the key historic sites when you see them below you.  When the ride begins, you start to rise and you begin to see buildings like Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey much more clearly than you see them from the ground.

As you get higher, you see in much further distances and when you are at the top, you can see the passenger compartments that are next to you very clearly.  In fact, you could almost have friends in that next car and snap their photo.  I didn't but, what a great idea.

Using my telephoto, I could zoom in and get a great view of Westminster Abbey with Big Ben looming in the foreground.

I even zoomed in on Westminster Bridge to get a shot of two of those iconic red London buses passing by.  I've been warned that a ride on the "Eye" is very expensive but looking at my Bankcard statement, I see that it was only $24.63.  I really don't think that's too expensive for the fabulous views you get and the wonderful photo opportunity it provides.  In addition, it's just great fun!