London in the Spring: 2010

Sunday and Home

Our last full day in London. Our four day British Rail Passes had expired but our London Transport Oyster Cards were good through Monday. Michael and I headed out early into a typical London drizzle for the underground. We took the District line to its western terminus at Richmond. Two stops west of Earl's Court the underground emerged and became elevated giving us a good view of the London suburbs. Five hundred years ago when founded by Henry VII, Richmond was considered way out in the country; today it is a suburb of London. The drizzle let up and became mist as we walked the quaint streets to the Thames River. The river is much narrower here though there is still a lot of of boat traffic. I saw houseboats and canal boats tied up on the far shore. We strolled past the site of a former royal palace, of which only a few outbuildings remain, and past small expensive residential neighborhoods. Richmond Green, a huge expanse of lawn had hosted a county fair the day before. We could see the tents waiting to be removed and strange markings on the grass where games had apparently been set up. It was a peaceful Sunday morning, practically no one else was out and about. The Richmond theater was worth a look. It is a restored Victorian structure that is used for theatrical touring companies and West End previews. It is a popular location for film makers.

We walked back to the train station and on past Old Deer Park, now mostly playing fields where enthusiastic cricketers and spectators were ignoring the damp while enjoying their sport. We eventually came to the south entrance of the Royal Botanical Gardens or Kew Gardens. This was one of the "must see" places that I had told Michael that I wanted to visit. The greenhouse with the orchid display that I particularly wanted to see is on the north end. We took a leisurely walk to and through the Temperate Greenhouse, the largest surviving glass Victorian structure. It has been beautifully restored and is full of exotic plants. A trip through a greenhouse set up to display plants that have survived since the age of the dinosaurs got us to the "treetop walkway". There we climbed fifty feet to view the gardens from the tree canopy.   We continued on the Holly Walk past the rose garden, not yet in bloom, to the Palm House.

The Palm House was so humid inside that our glasses fogged up instantly. No pictures were possible there. We eventually made our way past a pretty lake and a woodland garden to the Princess of Wales Conservatory, our destination.   The Conservatory has ten sections, each representing a different climactic zone. There were two sections featuring Orchids from around the world. I took lots of pictures until the camera lens started to fog from the humidity. Beautiful.

It was a short walk to the river after we exited the botanical gardens main gate. Michael and I walked across the Kew Bridge and a few blocks to the Kew Bridge Engine Trust and Water Supply Museum. This quirky treasure is located in an old water plant and is a tribute to steam powered engines of all kinds. Sunday is the day the curators fire up many of the old 19th Century engines. We watched as the cylinders went "poketa, poketa", the leavers moved, the governors whirled and big beams went up and down. It was Geek heaven. They had a tiny narrow gauge rail line that we rode from one side of the building to the other. One way was pulled by an ancient diesel, the other by an old steam engine. One room in the basement had a display of objects that use water. There were toilets, washing machine, sinks, fireplugs and other water using equipment bolted to the wall. I think I can use my photos as modern art. There was even a display of British water pipes from ancient Roman through the modern era. What a hoot.

Following our steam museum experience we took a commuter train back to central London's Waterloo Station. We walked through Sauthwark along the Thames. Some of it I had seen the first day. After a wonderful lunch at the cafe at the National Theater we walked further than I had gone before We stopped at the Tate Museum of Contemporary Art which Michael was eager to show me. We took a quick tour, too tired from sightseeing to really appreciate it. It will be high on the list of must see places next visit. I took a picture of Michael and me reflected in the glass door. Michael took a picture of us reflected in a mirror that was really a display object. The day had turned sunny and warmer so we kept walking. I was surprised to come upon a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, one of many picture taking moments. We passed through some really narrow streets. I saw The Clink, the original jail that gave us the slang ...to be thrown in the clink. I also saw a reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake's ship, The Golder Hind. It looked really small compared to the World War II warship permanently moored just downriver.

Michael joked that the new London Bridge is already falling down. We passed a bridge that looked like London Bridge a large section of which was covered with scaffolding. Some kind of repairs were underway.   It was really Southwark Bridge. We kept walking along a detour that eventually lead us back to the real London Bridge.

We crossed back to the north side of the Thames on London Bridge. I had been looking at St. Paul's Cathedral during our entire walk from Waterloo Station. I suggested we finish our walk by going to the cathedral. Little did I realize that St. Paul's is BIG. It looked a lot closer than it was. We walked quite a distance through The City of London financial district before we reached the church. We were able to go inside. There was a service in progress so we were unable to take pictures or engage in any conversation. The cathedral is huge and very beautiful but I think I appreciated York Minster more.

By this point we were both very tired. We had walked about nine miles altogether. Michael found us a bus stop and we took the next available bus going to Victoria Station. We really were lucky; I got to ride in a London double decker bus as we rode through Fleet Street, the Strand, past 10 Downing Street and much of the British government at Whitehall. The route continued past Old Scotland Yard, the Parliament, Westminster and New Scotland Yard. I saw all the traditional tourist sites in comfort.

At Victoria Station we hopped on the underground back to Earls Court and eventually, dinner at a Lebanese restaurant that turned out to be a total delight.

Michael's iPhone went off at 4:00 a.m. United Airlines called to let him know that our flight had been delayed several hours and we could sleep late. We had been concerned about the volcanic ash situation so we were glad that the flight had not been canceled.

Since we had several extra hours, we breakfasted early and set out to see Harrods department store. Michael really wanted to show me their gourmet foods department.    We had a nice walk from the underground stop at Hyde Park Corner along Knightsbridge Road to Harrod's on Brompton Rd. The store didn't open until 10 a.m. and it was only 9:15. We decided to walk around this immense building and look in all the store windows. The merchandise on display was very expensive and the little of the interior that was visible was very ornate. Three quarters of the way around we came to a door for the food sections. The food courts opened at 7:30 a. m. so we went in. The basement held a wine shop. There were separate rooms for cheese, chocolate, cakes and pastries. The prepared food section held exotic offerings at exotic prices. A coffee bar had miscellaneous treats appealingly stacked near the counter. I purchased some chocolate covered ginger to bring home. By this time it was just past ten so we were able to exit by walking through the other departments on the first floor. There isn't much there I could afford but it was certainly fun to look.

We picked up our luggage at the hotel and made it to Heathrow Airport by noon. This time we breezed through security. Leaving Britain you don't even have to remove your shoes! Our plane was scheduled to leave at 3:20 p.m. Air traffic had backed up as there were few routes available around the ash clouds that the Iceland volcano was still spewing. We were further delayed until after 5 p.m. The wait would have seemed even longer had Michael not discovered some friends from Las Vegas. They had just finished a cruise and were also returning on our flight. I was really glad that the Star Alliance Lounge at Heathrow had real food available. Our next meal wouldn't be served until we were airborne, well after 7:00 p.m., London time.

Our flight lasted an unusual 10 hours. The airplane flew northeast over England and Scotland until we were at a latitude well north of Iceland. It then turned west and we got a good view of Greenland's glaciers and ice pack from about 39,000 feet. Much of the flight was over Canada. We did not reenter U.S. airspace until North Dakota. All of the aircraft flying west over the North Atlantic had been routed far north to avoid ash clouds. With the seven hour time difference, we landed after 10:00 p.m. Denver time. We were able to catch the next to last bus to Boulder and managed to get home before midnight. We had been up 24 hours straight since waking in London.

It was a marvelous trip. I took more than 770 pictures. I think we crammed about as much as humanly possible into six wonderful days.