June 15 (Day 5)

Day 5:

The Banqueting House was closed today, too, so missed that one again.

1) Kensington Palace State Apartments. This became William of Orange's (aka William III, William the Conqueror) and Mary's palace, and has since served as the home of half a dozen monarchs, including Queen Victoria, who was born and spent her childhood and adolescence here. The state apartments have also been the home of the family of the reigning royals - i.e. Charles and Diana's first residence, and hers continuing after their divorce. Large parts of the palace are still used as a personal residence for the royals, and are thus closed to the public. What belonged to William and Mary, Victoria, and such are open and preserved. Anyways. Ya'll saw pics from Kensington Gardens the other day on here. Same place.

Pics weren't allowed inside the castle - but here's outside of it.

Showed this before....now I know more what it is. : ) It's the private royal garden belonging to Kensington Palace. Thus, the no admittance.

There was a random display there, too, beyond the strictly historical domain - "The Last of the Debs." Oh, Erin, I wish you had been there with me. I think we would've had fun. Apparently, 1958 was the last year that debutantes were officially presented at Court to the Queen. This little pop culture history went through the whole deb process, what it was like, the dresses, the dates, all that. Guess what the costs were for the average deb? In today's money, a "shoestring deb," aka doing it as cheaply as possibly, would spend about L11,000 in the "season" (the five-ish months full of dances, balls, cocktail parties, teas, etc., as well as all the necessary dresses, accessories, hair appointments, and finishing school things, like learning French), where the "deluxe deb" would spend L130,000. So, $22,000 and $260,000. Glad I wasn't a deb, Mom and Dad? Anyways. I alternated between being highly fascinated and being highly amused.

Apparently, I do have good and decorous posture when I choose, though - I was able to walk with feet perfectly positioned and balance a book on my head without much effort. Crazy, huh? Who would've thought? I even managed to walk a straight line!

2) Hyde Park. This borders Kensington Gardens to the east, but I didn't make it that far the other day. This time, I did. It was a lovely walk. I took some time to take my shoes and socks off and sit in the grass with my Jane Austen, as well as write near a fountain in the rose gardens, which were beautiful. Then there was Speakers' Corner at the far end, where, I guess, anyone can get up and mouth off on anything they wanted. There were half a dozen folks scattered around, each with their own captive, and often ornery, audiences. Debate flowed back and forth between the speaker and the audience, and within the audience, on various issues. One fellow was talking about civil servant strikes here, and how the French had it right; another was talking about the Genesis creation account and modern science. Folks were getting pretty fired up. Interesting stuff....

For readers of Little Women: Remember when Laurie's friends from England come to visit, and they all spend a day together on that little island or whatever? There was a girl, Grace, about Amy's age? And she told Amy of riding horses on the Row, who would never admit she did not know what the Row was, but spoke of how she would much prefer to visit Rome than the Row (something to that effect). Yeah, those lines, however they went, were running through my mind....because here's the Row in question, as near as I can reckon - an open horse path around Hyde Park.

Impromptu jam session.

Holocaust Memorial. There's an inscription from Lamentations on the other side of the stones, in Hebrew and English.

Pretty roses! Walking beneath a trellis....

Rose gardens.

More rose gardens....the fountain's in the middle of the hedged circle.

Late afternoon sun.

Relaxing place to be....

Waxing eloquent at Speakers' Corner.

3) Westminster Abbey, Part Two. This is something I really need to revisit. I just missed their closing time yesterday, and Sunday's are, understandably, only for services. So I attended evening services, which was good to do, and snuck peeks around before and afterwards. Have to admit, there is something a little strange over looking down and reading the words of "here lies the body of William Gladstone" under your feet. Hmmm....

Look at that evening sight....a bit of glowing in the sunset.

The soaring towers above the entrance.

A beautiful brief prayer....and nice to reflect on as I walked into what was going on next.

4) Engaging in a near-riot. Not a planned activity, but hey....why not, right? Yesterday, I heard that Pres. Bush was meeting with P.M. Gordon, and didn't think much of it. Last night, I saw half a dozen war protesters on the sidewalk outside Parliament. Again, didn't think much of it. On the way to the Abbey this evening, I passed a large crowd of demonstrators, waving signs and listening to a speaker with a bullhorn rail against Bush, the Iraq War, the potential of war with Iran, etc. Some signs also addressed climate change, Somalia, and recognizing Palestine. I stop for a few minutes, intrigued, then continue to the Abbey.

When I re-emerge 45 minutes later, the crowd numbers over 3,000, and is full of angry folks - anyone from 2 year olds clutching picket signs and their mothers' legs to 80 year old grandfathers with walkers to priests to hippie-types to....you name it. The streets around Parliament were totally shut down. Occasionally, shouts break out, like "Bush is a murderer!" A lot of the signs were very, how shall we say it, straightforward. In an incendiary sort of way. Swastikas, "number one terrorist," smears of blood, "wanted for crimes against the planet," that sort of thing, as well as straightforward political statements ("end the war," that sort of thing). There were rainbowed peace flags and old Communist flags flying proudly, while men climbed trees to hang large banners and various groups passed out fliers. I'm thinking this may not be the time to open my very American mouth, no matter what my opinion may be on the President, the war, and the other issues at stake tonight.

However, I do wander around and listen to folks talking, check out the signs, snap a couple pictures, make friends with some Socialists....yeah, a Socialist group had a table out with a lot of brochures and such, advocating working class rights, talking of how the Bolsheviks had it right, we can end violence, etc. I strike up a conversation with the woman behind the table. Oh, that whole unconscious accent-imitation thing I do when I'm around other dialects for a while? Yeah, it had set in without me realizing it. I did have the slightest of British accents. At least it sounded more credible than my fake one I do in the U.S. for fun! She did seem to think I was from around here, though, until she asked where I came from and I told her. Probably made me look extra-weird, with my hint of an accent. When I opened my mouth to talk to her, I really wasn't trying to do that, though! Anyways....we talk for quite a while on politics, here, in the U.S., and generally around the world. (She also does a bit of recruiting. Thing is, I do have a bit of the Socialist about me - I just realize that a total Socialist system can't work, for a variety of reasons *sigh.* Anyways.)

It was a very enjoyable conversation. She introduced me to her friends. Then, after a bit, one of her coworkers came back and announced the riot police had arrived. They pack up their table quick, I wish them the best, and they and I part ways. I stick around for a while though, rather intrigued. Folks are yelling at the police that they'll never leave. The normal police officers have blocked off the streets from traffic and closed two entrance/exits to the Underground stop there. The riot police are there with their face shields and riot gear, lined up and pushing against the protesters, stopping them from moving forward. Behind them are a large number of police vans and more police on horseback. After wandering through the crowds, I climb up on the short concrete wall beneath the fence in front of Parliament and hold on to the black iron rising behind me for balance and observe. The crowd is getting much more belligerent, and more cops are being called upon. After about half an hour, I decide it might be better if I took off. I don't know how the American Embassy feels about bailing out Americanos who are arrested at anti-America rallies. There would also be a certain irony were I to be wounded at an anti-violence rally. Anyways. There's that adventure of the evening.

Before I went into the Abbey....this fellow has a G.W. mask on, if you can't quite tell.

Still before....they're just starting to get fired up.

Overlooking the whole thing....I noted that the demonstrators also used the numerous statues of various war heroes around there to anchor their signs, as bulletin boards of sorts.

Closed two entrances to the Underground at Westminster, as well as a large chunk of Whitehall Street and some of the side avenues.

In front of Parliament.

A priest out to demonstrate.

Here come the riot police.

"We will not leave!"

Following this, I took the Tube as far as Piccadilly Circus, where I decided to get off and wander. I stopped at a pub near Leicester Square and stayed for a couple hours - eat, drink, read, write. And listen to cheering football/soccer fans. Then it was time for more wandering. No map for me - I think I've been in this area every night. Yep, every night. And I just want to meander. I find myself back at good old Trafalgar Square, and realize it's the perfect place to say goodbye to London - something I hadn't even really thought of doing until that point, but then realized its necessity.

Can you grow this attached to a place in five days?

The Square.

One of the fountains, with the National Gallery in the background.

Farewell, London.

Tomorrow, I leave for Ireland, land of my ancestors! The number one place I've always wanted to visit....can't believe it's happening.

Cheers!

Some London tips:

*Budget how much money you think you'll spend, and then double it. Because guess what: the American dollar sucks. One pound is worth two dollars (and one euro, about a dollar fifty). However, England prices are the same as American - i.e. if you look at something you'd expect to spend ten dollars for in America, chances are, it's around ten pounds. But then you just spent twenty dollars. And that adds up fast. By the way, most ATMs I've seen are free, as in no fees. Your American bank will charge their normal deal, but at least there's no local fee on top of it, like there is at most U.S. ATMs. On that note, I also recommend AAA's TravelCard - works like a debit card, but with all the securities and protections of traveler's cheques.

*Leave time to discover and follow up on random new things. Don't put yourself in such a tight schedule that you can't just let your feet wander where they will, or stop at an interesting new place.

*Prioritize what you want to see. You can't possibly do it all, and if you try, again, you'll end up feeling rushed and missing out on the glory of just taking in the city. Do the most important things first, so you know you'll get to them, and then just enjoy your time. I had a crazy-packed schedule....and I'm glad I realized the first day I needed to loosen it up, prioritize, and take the time to enjoy it all. (However, I still highly recommend having some sort of agenda, just so you can look ahead of time where things are at, have a general idea where you're going, and not spend all your time frustrated at the Tube or something while you're getting lost.)

*Leave deliberately unscheduled time in, too. Take several hours to wander around Leicester Square, sit by the Trafalgar Fountains, listen to the random shouting fellows at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park....I think one of my favorite London things was really just my meanderings, taking it all in.

*Invest in a good map. I would've been sunk without mine. It had not only the city, but the whole Tube system and major historical sites/museums/landmarks/fun things marked on it already. I could also write on it - i.e. to mark where my hostel was before I went.

*Get an Oyster card. I spent L24 (closest I can get to a pound sign there), aka around $48, and got unlimited Tube travel within Zone 1 for 7 days, which covered everywhere I needed/wanted to go, with the exception of the airports, Oxford, and Hampton Court Palace (the latter two of which I didn't make it during this week). Considering it's something like L2 per ride, and I took it anywhere from 4 to 10 times a day, it was well worth it.

*Hostels are worth it! I stayed at one of the cheapest hotels I could find in all of London my first night, just for a place to toss my stuff everywhere and have a bathroom to myself and all that while I crashed. I think that was a decent choice. However, that was something like L90 a night, whereas this hostel, which I actually happen to like much better, is closer to L20 a night. Granted, just like hotels, not all hostels are created equal....I'm glad my first official hostel experience was a good one, though. I really liked it here. It's also a great socializing opportunity, particularly cross-culturally.