London: Thursday 9 August

I slept in a bit today.  Joshua went over to Kensington Park to do some practicing on his bagpipes.  He quit after a while because, even though he was off the pavement, he was gathering a crowd, and didn't want to be accused of busking without a permit!  

Then we headed over to Knightsbridge for the afternoon and evening.  First, we stopped at the Genting Casino for Joshua to do some real gambling (machines, not the tables).  No photography was allowed inside, so we had to settle for a photo of Joshua coming out of the casino.

It was a fairly simple walk over to Royal Albert Hall where we had tickets to a BBC Proms Concert.  The hall itself is very impressive, and we enjoyed the concert very much.

 our approach

 closer - one of many doors, but not ours

 Queen Victoria monument from inside RAH

the hall - from Joshua's camera

the organ

the ceiling from our seats

the floor (standing) from our seats 

to the left from our seats

to the right from our seats

above & behind our seats

Prom 36:  Mahler, Wagner, and Webern

Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra take a journey from the aphoristic brilliance of Webern through the bittersweet beauty of Mahler’s unfinished Tenth Symphony, to Wagner’s expansive music-drama Die Walküre.

Programme

Anton Webern:  Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10

Gustav Mahler:  Symphony No. 10 – Adagio

INTERVAL

Richard Wagner:  Die Walküre – Act 1

Performers

Anja Kampe:  Sieglinde

Robert Dean Smith:  Siegmund

Franz-Josef Selig:  Hunding

Philharmonia Orchestra:  Esa‐Pekka Salonen, Conductor

the final bow

It had rained, but was clearing up now.  Joshua needed to do laundry Friday morning, so we walked back to Notting Hill via Kensington Church St., passing St. Mary Abbot's Church on the way.  (Kensingon park closes at 10:00pm.)

London: Wednesday 8 August

Joshua and I had to be up early today, to get to Westminster Abbey for a 9:15 guided tour.  We met our guide, and waited for the rest of the 22 people to arrived.  As she went to get our wrist band admission tickets, she suggested that we stay together and mingle.  One young lady, with her brother and parents, said she "didn't mingle".  I suggested that "those who don't mingle tend to stay single."  She and her mother laughed, and the mother said that was a good idea.  There was also a family from Freeburg, Illinois, a town somewhat near where I grew up.  The mother had attended St. Theresa's Academy, which was co-institutional with Assumption High School.  She also has relatives who were in my class.  Yet another "small world" proof!

We were allowed  to take photos in most parts of Westminster Abbey, with a few exceptions:

the west front

the London Eye

the tour entrance

inside the Dean's Garden (cloister)

Then we exited the Abbey (after a rest stop) and crossed the street to the Houses of Parliament.  There is very high security there - bags checked, metal detectors, etc.  Also, professional tour guides are only allowed to get you started on your individual head-phone tour, and answer your questions afterwards in the Great Hall.  We took our time going through.

Here is a description from Wikipedia:

Sir Charles Barry's collaborative design for the Palace of Westminster uses the Perpendicular Gothic style, which was popular during the 15th century and returned during the Gothic revival of the 19th century.  Barry was a classical architect, but he was aided by the Gothic architect Augustus Pugin.  Westminster Hall, which was built in the 11th century and survived the fire of 1834, was incorporated in Barry's design.  Pugin was displeased with the result of the work, especially with the symmetrical layout designed by Barry; he famously remarked, "All Grecian, sir; Tudor details on a classic body". 

Victoria Tower

up closer

the window in Westminster Hall

a lighting sconce in Westminster Hall

the entrance to St. Stephen's Hall

in St. Stephen's Hall - Joshua taking it all in

We went out to lunch at a pub in Knightsbridge, taking a quick look at the London Oratory, and Victoria & Albert Museum.  We got to the latter just before they started closing for the day, but got to see some interesting exhibits.

It was soon time to head to Shakespeare's Globe Theater on the South Bank.  The play  was "Othelo", and it was very, very good.  We both enjoyed it more than we expected.

the stage and the "yard" - for standing patrons

view of the yard and three levels of seating

our seats - up high, above the stage

At the intermission, I mentioned to other patrons near us that this was yet another Shakespearean irony:  those who were standing needed to sit, and those who were sitting really needed to stand and walk around some!

the exterior at the end of the play

To get to our preferred tube stop, we crossed the Millennium Bridge, and had a great view of St. Paul's Cathedral at night: 

Summer Trip 2018 - UK

This summer's trip is to the UK, London and Glasgow.  Joshua will be at the World Bagpipe Competition in Glasgow on 18 August, and I wanted to be there this time.

I arrived mid-day on Saturday, 4 August, quite tired since I didn't sleep well at all on the flight, and took the Tube from Heathrow to London.  Some of the lines were down, and I had to make a couple of train changes to get to Notting Hill.  I was too tired to go and get a SIM card for my UK phone.  I just went to bed after a late lunch.

Sunday morning, I decided to ring at St. Martin in the Fields, where I've rung before, and then go to Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Gregory for the Anglican Ordinariate Mass.  But another ringer came and announced the he had to leave at half past nine to help ring at Christ Church, Spitalfields.  This is a tower I had not rung at yet, and I wanted see the tower captain, Alan Regin, so I rang some at St. Martins, then rang at Spitalfields.  I spent the afternoon and evening with my friend, Katarina, in Mottingham.

Joshua arrived from Canada Monday morning.  This is his fourth trip to Scotland, but he's never been to England.  I convinced him to spend a week in London with me before heading to Scotland.  So, here we are, doing touristy things in London!  (I confess that I did drag him to one bell tower for a practice night and pub afterward.)

We're staying at Pembridge Hall (Imperial College housing - summer B&B), the same place I stayed back in 2016.  It's quite convenient for everything we want to do.  I did have some trouble getting connected to the internet here, so I'm behind on blogging this trip.

Joshua's room

my room

We had lunch at The Old Swan, a nearby pub that I went to a number of times in 2016, and took in some of Kensington Park.

Tuesday, we headed up to the RAF Museum near the Colindale tube station.  They have aircraft from before WWI all the way through today.

They have a Lancaster bomber:

A Vulcan bomber:

And a Spitfire "experience", i.e. I became the kid and gave Joshua the camera:

There had been a Spitfire I could have sat in two years ago at the Flying Legends Airshow, but I didn't get to it.  It turns out that was a replica.  This one was real.  It was built near the end of WWII, and didn't see any action, but became the personal plane of one of the Air Marshals.  I saw a photo of it painted white, with all the markings, including the pilot's Squadron, family coat of arms, and his rank on the fuselage.

On the way back, we stopped at Selfridge's Department Store (the original) to look around, and ended up getting a snack at the Kitchen on the top floor.  (You can seen quite a few photos of Seflridge's if you scroll back to my 2016 visit to London.)