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London is your typical big city - crowded, noisy, fast-paced. If I sound like I don't like big cities, well, I don't. I was in London many years ago, so there was little left for me to see that was new. But since this is a first-time experience for most of you, I will give some brief descriptions and you can see some photos I took during this visit. We arrived in London in late afternoon and found ourselves at the Hilton London Metropol hotel. That evening some of the group went to a production of The King and I. I opted to attend a hilarious production of "all of Shakespeare's plays in - 97 minutes." The show was done by three zany Yanks - er, Americans. The play was done in the picturesque Piccadilly district. (When I was here before, I roamed this area on my own one night - I won't tell you what all I got into back then.) I was a bit disappointed that we were not shown more on our half-day tour of the city. Many of our group had never been in London before. We went to St. Paul's and then to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. We only got glimpses of some other important places as our bus drove around the city. We passed by, among other places, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. When I was here before, we also toured Westminster Abby, which is one of the most beautiful churches I ever visited anywhere, and we stopped across the river from Parliament to take pictures of the building and Big Ben. Well, here is what I have from this trip. The first two photos show parts of the exterior of St. Paul's Cathedral. We did go inside and look around. I only wish I could have opened the book that was kept in a glass case in the section that is the memorial to U.S. servicemen who died during the WWII Battle of Britain. My dad's youngest brother, whom I never met, should have his name in that book. The other photos show a gate to Buckingham Palace, a portion of the nearby gardens, the palace itself, and the changing of the guard. There was one perk. Tony Blair, fresh from reelection victory as prime minister, whizzed by in a limo. I got a glimpse of him. In the afternoon, I went with a group to tour Hampton Court Palace. (Another option was the Tower of London. But I had been there, done that, many years previous.) Here are some pictures I took at Hampton Court, one of the Royal residences in the London area. The photos show the exterior and several of the formal gardens inside. The clock facade is really an astrological clock dating from the 1500's. It still works.
Another perk - I noticed a bus parked outside the palace. You can see it in the first picture. The logo read "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra." Wow! One of the world's finest symphony orchestras is here? And so they were. The orchestra was rehearsing in the courtyard of the palace for an evening concert. I could hear them playing Wagner as our group roamed around inside. Finally, I left the group and walked back to the courtyard. A number of tourists were gathered there, listening. For about a half hour, we gloried in some first-class music making. But then, it was time to leave. That final evening in London, I took a boat ride on the Thames. (That's pronounced "Tims!") We cruised past Parliament and Big Ben, and some members of the House of Commons actually waved! Could they have mistaken us for British voters? These lawmakers were in a riverfront cafe-like setting next to the Parliament building, enjoying their tea and crumpets - or ale - or whatever. The next morning, luggage had to be outside our hotel doors at 5:15 am for the long ride to Gatwick Airport. Ouch! I had to get up at 4:00! AM! Thus ended my memorable visit to Ireland and Great Britain.
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