Home Again

Just letting everybody know I made it home, safe and sound.

I went to Portobello Road and Harrods on my last full day in London.

Thus ends the travel blog for London.

Until next time!

Cambridge

This picture totally proves that I went to Cambridge. I even attended a lecture there! It totally counts now. So, after we attended our lecture for class, we ventured toward the older portion of campus. There were banners up talking about their 800 year history, and let me tell you... the campus is beautiful. I don't care where you went in the states, your campus



ain't











got








nothin'











on








this.








Seriously folks. Once your campus gets a gold-plated clock with a giant grasshopper chronophage, you give me a call.







That almost wraps up my trip to England folks. I still have one more day, but no guarantees as to whether I post the pictures tomorrow or wait until I get back. It has been an amazing trip, and I am really glad I made the decision to enroll in this class. We'll see if I still think so after I write my 5 page reflection memo, do the take home exam, and assist with my group's 15-20 page paper and presentation all due in less than a month. All good things must come to an end, but honestly, I'm ready to fly home to DC (yes I live in Maryland, but telling people you are from Silver Spring doesn't elicit the same response). Cheers!

Transport

Yesterday the class went to hear from Transport for London. This organization is under the political umbrella of the Mayor of London and handles all the transportation needs of Greater London. After hearing from them, I was in such a transport related mood, I decided to go to the nearby Transport Museum and check it out. I was primarily interested in the Tube, but they had information there about how the train system, ferry system, road system, and bus system grew as well.


The Tube, or London Underground, had its first section open in 1863, predating the earliest line on the Boston T by a good 34 years. I liked how the museum had examples of the different eras of cars on display. (These two pictures are from the 1960s and 1970s I believe).





After visiting the museum, I stopped by in a nearby park for some snacks. I thought it was impressive there were this many people out in the park on a Thursday in the afternoon. It makes me wonder if building a park is a chicken and the egg scenario. Do people outwardly demand a park or do they start using a park if it is well placed and well designed? I guess that's the public administrator in me coming out.


Not much else to report, tourism wise. Today I'll be heading off to Cambridge where I'm sure I'll see a lot of neat stuff!

Winchester, Indian food, and the Broad Street Pump

Winchester Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in the world, and the largest of its day. We went to Winchester yesterday after visiting the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, home of the Royal Logistics Corps, for a talk about the utilization of partnerships, alliances, and contracts in the Ministry of Defense. I especially had a good time because this topic has a lot to do with what I did in my former career at Corpus Christi Army Depot. It was interesting to see how they grappled with many of the same issues the US Army did and still does. Back to Winchester...




The cathedral has 3 distinct architectural styles inside as it has been added to, and rebuilt since it was originally started in 1079. Winchester itself was once a major capital (or at least very important city) and had a royal palace at the top of the nearby hill for many hundreds of years, until it was mostly destroyed by the Cavaliers and Oliver Cromwell.



There are 3 main military memorials nearby the cathedral (and hundreds inside), this one our tour guide described as, "the only memorial to a completely ordinary British soldier," and, "the most photographed." Click on the picture to enlarge it, and see if you can figure out why.








The only building from the palace complex that survived was the Great Hall, which our tour guide told us had been used by the city for many important events and holding court. The city essentially bribed Oliver Cromwell's troops to keep them from destroying it. Henry VIII once held a meeting here with the Holy Roman Emperor, and that is where the final version of this round table is believed to have come from. While the table itself is indeed a real table, and much older than Henry VIII, they believe he had it painted in order to show he could trace his lineage back to King Arthur. If you notice, King Arthur looks very similar to Henry, and the giant Tudor rose in the middle should also give you a hint, this table may not be the mythical round table. It is still fun nonetheless.

Where the rest of the palace stood is now a set of buildings that imitate another set of buildings originally designed by Sir Christopher Wren that also were erected here. They all used to belong to the Ministry of Defense, but now only one does. The rest are luxury flats. As one solder put it, "I don't know why anyone would want to pay half a million pounds to life in my old barracks," but there it is then.


Now, going backwards in time a bit, this is the outdoor portion of a beautiful pub where we had a "salad lunch." A salad lunch consists of: two large pieces of bread, plenty of butter, cheese, a sausage, a large slice of ham, chutney, celery, half of an apple, and a little of what we think of as salad tucked away in a corner on the plate. This is exactly what I want and fully expect in the future if I ever want a salad for lunch.


This pub (I believe) is located in the city of Basingstoke, where they also have a few thatched roof cottages alongside.







Now, the previous day's activities (at the end of the day) consisted of my classmates and I venturing out to Brick Lane in London, which is known for its high concentration of Indian restaurants. When you go there, you are barraged on all sides by restaurant owners and their employees offering you different deals for coming inside. Since I was almost entirely with MBAs, I left the deal making to them, and was quite pleased at the results. Two drinks, an appetizer, and main course for 8 pounds. Not bad.

Even earlier in the day, I made my way to Soho, in order to take a picture of the infamous Broad Street Pump. Now this pump is a memorial put up much later, but it approximates the location of the original pump. The story behind it is contained within a wonderful book called, "The Ghost Map," which I encourage everyone to go read, or at least read the summary on Amazon. Then you'll get why I took this picture, and why there is a pub in the background called the John Snow.

So that's a quick rundown of the events of the last two days. We also spoke with the Office of Rail Regulation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Tuesday as well. Today we'll be talking to Transport for London (they run the Underground and Overground among other things), and later in the day, Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

School Daze

Today was the first day we had actual classes to go to. The morning session was good, the speaker was dynamic and engaging, and the topic was interesting. The afternoon... well, the room was stuffy and hot, and it was almost impossible to keep from nodding off. The talk at the end was good, once the speaker was finished with his slides.

In between the talks I went to the Imperial War Museum, which covers World War I, II, and other wars since. I really enjoyed the World War I exhibits. Maybe it is because the US really wasn't as involved as the rest of Europe, but I've never seen an exhibit as good as the one they have here. They even have a trench warfare recreation complete with smells. Yes, and I am glad I did not live during that era.

The entire museum was free, which was a welcome change from paying £10.40 (Student Rate) to see Churchill's bunker. They had an especially touching exhibit called, "In Memoriam" that highlighted the effects of World War I on individuals. It really drove home how utterly horrible that War really was. Sometimes I think World War II gets glamorized (especially in the US), but I don't think anybody tries to glitz up World War I.



After the museum (but before returning to campus for the lecture I almost dozed off for), I walked by Lambeth Palace and then along the Thames for another view of Big Ben and Parliament.

Tonight I plan to go to bed early (for a change) not in the least because I have to be at the Office of Rail Regulation bright and early tomorrow, ready to ask questions related to my group's paper (which is about UK Rail and Amtrak).

Cheers!

Bespoke Blogging since 2006

On the official tour we received yesterday, we went through Piccadilly Circus and saw many of the bespoke shops leading up to St. James's Palace. Many of these shops were hundreds of years old, and proudly displayed they were *the* royal shop of choice. Oooo, here's where Prince Charles buys his shaving creams and notions! Here's where he buys Lady Camilla all her fine jewelery. Here's where he gets his socks custom made! Lots of fun.


Here was an interesting plaque attached to the side of one of these buildings. Apparently the Republic of Texas had their representatives to the Court of St. James situtated in this very spot. Seeing as how none of my classmates even lived in Texas, I was the most senior Texas representative present, and made sure to talk it up in a most boisterous way.




St. James's Palace (near to Buckingham).









After seeing Buckingham (for some of us this was now the 2nd time), we walked through St. James's Park which, like most parks in London, is spectacular.







After which, we all stopped for a pint and ran into a group of veterans who stormed the beaches of Normandy. The youngest was in his early 80s. They were surprisingly agile, and I will say, tell fabulous war stories... after they've had a few.

New Accomodations

I moved into my new digs yesterday. I'll be staying in a college dorm for the rest of my London adventure. The school looks exactly the way you'd picture a university to look. It is surrounded by a huge park and gardens, so it feels completely cut off from the city. Most of the buildings are ivy encrusted and have windows that actually open (which is good because they also do not have AC). My roommate and I were the single lucky ones that got a corner room, so we have two windows for cross-through ventilation.

Now if there is anything watching Harry Potter has taught me, it is that every (proper) university has an owlery. Well I obviously found the bloke on campus who can supply you your owl for mailing. He was proudly displaying his wares. (Seriously though, there apparently was some sort of campus festival going on).





After getting all moved in, two of my classmates and I headed out to the British Museum.









This place is packed to the gills with amazing treasures from all over the world. As they like to say, it has been, "free to the public since 1759," although a British fellow sitting next to me at the entrance commented, "yes, but only because the rest of the world was free to us." I won't post all the pictures I took (because that would take forever), but, yes, I did see the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, Lewis Chessmen, and all the stuff from Assyria. They also had a fabulous clock and watch exhibit, and even an entire display case dedicated to "pocket watches throughout the ages."


What better way to wrap up the day? Score another win for British food!

For Reals

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am indeed really here in London, and this picture serves as total proof. Or at least proof that I know someone who is really good at Photoshop. Seriously though, I had a great time at the Tower of London, where I saw the crown jewels (among other things). On my way out, I saw Ms. Cameron (the first female Beefeater) leading a tour.




I then hopped aboard a ferry to go from the Tower up to Westminster. It was a lot of fun, and a welcome change from walking or taking the tube.







The approach...









Big Ben, et al.









The entrance to the Imperial War Museum encompassing Churchill's Wartime Cabinet Bunker (which I did go into, and even had a cup of tea in).







Guards on horseback.









I hear someone important lives here!










Nom nom nom nom, I loves the takeaway food!












That waffle is so dense they must use bits of neutron star in it. Delicious!

The British Life

Doing










it










right!

A Full Day

This post is brought to you by plants. Without them, I would not of had much to do today. This morning's activity was a trip to Kew Gardens. I like to wander around areas dedicated to plants, and Kew Gardens was most excellent. It is full of Victorian-era greenhouses.




Such as this one:
Lovely!

The many greenhouses at Kew house many wonderful plants. One of my favourites (getting that British spelling down!) was the Water Lilly house. For reference, the large lilly pads had to at least be 2 feet in diameter, if not a little larger.

I so wanted to hop on and try one out!


There were also appropriate looking buildings sprinkled throughout:



After Kew, I then wandered around the city mostly along Fleet Street down to the Financial District. Nothing like showing you're in it for the long haul:

If you can't see, it says: Royal Exchange, Trading Since 1571.

After a quick tube ride back to the hotel, where I was informed my previous room was a "deluxe" single, and I was now going to move into the regular single (which I'm not too happy about, but won't post a picture of because it is practically too small for me to actually take a picture of while standing in it) I went back out again to a pub to grab some dinner.
Nom nom nom.

Finally, I wrapped up the day by walking to the Tower Bridge.



Good night London! See you tomorrow morning!