London Reloaded

Like I said before, had a lot of ground to cover and very little time.

Sorry RC about the ambush pictures.  Way back in the stone ages (high school), I had a burning desire to be a photographer.  One of my buddies worked for the high school paper/yearbook had some really high end equipment at the time (Pentax with an array of lenses) and I was trying to follow in his footsteps.  I got a nice Cannon AE1 with a power winder and several specialty lenses (fisheye, 50-210 telephoto, star burst) and was trying my hand at some darkroom work.  I still have my Cannon, but have migrated up to digital.  For a shutter hog like me, digital is a godsend.  I tend to take a lot of shots and then pick out the best ones.  If you look at my Flickr account, you will see several shots of the same subject as I try to reframe the subject with a different angle or perspective and then I will chose the best one to post/use.  In the old Kodachome days, I used to wind up with a lot of crap (why the hell did I take that?) shots.  The beauty of digital is that, I can take a bazillion shots (doesn’t cost a dime) and then pick just the right one of two good ones to post.  I still think there are people out there who are way better than I with their photographic skills (aka Terri).  So, whenever I go to a new place, I usually take a ton of pictures of various subjects from different angles.  Always interesting to go back and pick up on what I missed the first go around.  


That's what I was doing around Buckingham Palace last week.  I didn't realize at first that I had snagged a back shot of RC until I started reviewing the files.  Even with all of those pictures, I am still pissed off at myself that I did not get one single picture of RC and I together.  


The second day in London did not leave me much time to explore.  Overslept a bit and woke up a later than I had planned and did not pack out until around 0800.  Had to be back in St Pancras station by 1100 to check in for my train so that left me with about 3 hours to exploit.

Ran back by Parliament and Big Ben and the London Eye for some daytime shots, but the famous London fog had settled in on the Themes so all of my long shots have that ghostly appearance.  It was a shame to have the fog that morning as the weather was unseasonably nice (clear & cool) for that time of year.  I got some nice foggy shots of Westminster Abby, Big Ben, Waterloo Station.  I was going to take a spin on the Eye, but it did not open up early enough and would have taken too long for me to make my train.  Hopped the Tube to take me back across town to St Pancras/Kings Cross.  The Tube is pretty neat.  Down here in south Texas, we don’t have subways or trains (lite rail doesn’t count), so it is always an adventure to figure out the system.  Spent a good part of my youth in New Jersey, so we are familiar with the Erie Lackawanna rail system and the New York subways.  In Germany, we used the train system fairly regularly, so I enjoy traveling by rail.       

I always try to take pictures of different/unique things that we don’t always see down in south Texas.  I especially love the architectural styles   St Pancras station has some amazing buildings/details.  Interesting small factoid I did not realize:  Kings Cross was actually shown in the Harry Potter movies as the train station for the Hogwarts Express  (that did not dawn on me until I was flying back watching the last HP movie). 

Some of the more interesting sights I spotted during my brief visit: 

Ship in a bottle (life size)

Only 284 days left until the Olympics

Trafalgar Square

Building artwork

Protesters outside of Parliament

And don't forget the souvenirs

And while wandering around St Pancras station, I discovered found the perfect statue that reminded me of one of my favorite bloggers.  I had an hour to kill before my train and I wandered up the street a ways to explore and came across the British Library.  While taking various shots of buildings and sites, I spotted this giant statue in the courtyard of the library and my first thought in my head was: MELEAH!    I hung around the gates for 20 minutes waiting for it to open so I can get a few close up pictures.  So, Mel, this one’s for you.     

Gate to the British Library

Meleah!!!

Seriously, all that it lacks is the Mac

How to do London in 26 hours

It was a fantastic trip last weekend, but honestly, 26 hours is not enough time to see/smell/taste London or the surrounding areas.  There's way too many interesting sites and places to see/do and anything less than a week does not not do justice.  


I made the trek over to London via one of those high-speed Eurostar trains that take you from one major city to another.  I thought it would be neat and faster to take train verses a plane and I was right on one part, it was faster.  Cheaper too.  I had some kind of romanticized version of taking the train to London and watching the scenery go by and watch as we go through the Chunnel.  First of all, for most of the ride was on rails surrounded by walls and berms.  What scenery we did see went by too fast.  And the Chunnel?  If you want to experience your own ride through the Chunnel, turn off the lights in your house and sit in your chair for 20 minutes.  That's it.  One long dark tunnel. 


Arrived in St Pancras/Kings Cross Station around 0900 with time to figure out how to ride the tube system to get across London to Buckingham palace to hook up with Rock Chef.  As RC mentioned in his post, one of the tube lines (Victoria line) was completely shut down for the weekend and, of course, that was the one I needed to take.  Had to figure out the map to take a different train to Piccadilly Circus and hoof it down to the palace.  Since I arrived earlier than I anticipated, I meandered over to Trafalgar Square & Admiral’s Gate and explored some of the historical sites.  At one time in my youth, I considered becoming an architect so I have a certain fascination of the local architecture of the areas I visit, especially some with some history.  London has some very interesting sites to visit/tour and I took lots of pictures (thank goodness for digital camera). 


Lots of unique buildings and famous sites, took lots of pictures. 


Wound up hiking down to the Palace around the time of the changing of the guard.  There was a massive mob of tourists all around the front gate Given the mob that was there, I was concerned that there was no way RC and I could find each other.  I milled with the mob for a while and watched the start of the changing of the guard, but honestly was too far away to get any good pictures and I did not have a program to know what was going on.  I began to scan the crowd looking for RC and getting worried that we would not find each other.  Remembering he told me we could meet up on the right side of the palace next to Green Park, I parked myself there at the street crossing and scanned the crowd for a familiar face.  Finally spotted him in the crowd taking pictures and looking like he was looking for someone.  I wasn't 100% sure, but I went up to him anyway and asked some lame greeting like "You look like a guy who raises rabbits" or something like that.  It would have been really weird/awkward if is wasn't him. 


RC is a great guy.  We decided to bail on the crowd of tourists and head up to Piccadilly Circus where there are lots of shops and restaurants to grab some lunch and a beer.  We spent a good amount of time comparing notes on our past and what we do.  We covered the gauntlet from family to cars to books to Star Wars.  It was really good to meet the brains behind the keyboard and I was glad to have made the trip.  


We parted ways as he headed north into Soho in search of a few guitar shops and me trying to get in some obligatory tourist sites.  I checked into my hotel (just a short hop from Buckingham) to drop off my pack and headed out to catch the Tower of London.  I made it there in time to catch the audio tour but the warders had finished up for the day. Was able to wander through most of the tower and get some of the details, but had really hoped for a warder's tour/comments.  Wandered back across town to take some shots of Parliament and Big Ben before heading back to my hotel.  Was a bit "geographically challenged" trying to find a good pub for dinner only to find out that the one I picked a hundred yards down the street from my hotel.  Crashed for the night and got up early to set out to do some more exploring.  Was able to get some obligatory foggy shots of Parliament and Big Ben, but did not have time to ride the Eye before heading back to St Pancras to catch my train back to Brussels.      

Trafalgar Square

Calvary

Buckingham Palace (note:  the flag is flying so the Queen is in da house)

Trying to catch a glimpse of the changing of the guard

Spotting a familiar face (or head) in the crowd.

The Famous Rock Chef in the flesh!

Tower of London

A Warder at the Tower

Tower Bridge

Big Ben and the London Eye at night

Westminster Abby

Big Ben and The Eye in the morning fog

Across from Waterloo Station

A Lego Christmas Tree in St Pancras Station

St Pancras/Kings Cross station

As I said, a lot to see & do in a short period of time.  This is only a few of the pictures I managed to take over the weekend.  Will post a few more tomorrow.  I even spotted a statue at the British Library that reminds me of a fellow blogger... 

European campaign - after action report

Thanksgiving was quiet.  Ate too much, watched some football, ventured out on Friday for a few bargains.  I am still trying to get over my jet lag and get back on Texas time from last week’s trip to Europe.  


The whole trip to Belgium/England was pretty neat.  When I wasn’t at the office, I spent time exploring the downtown area and taking lots of pictures of various sites/buildings.  I only wish I had more time and it was a wee bit warmer time.  Some of the local sites in Brussels:

Chocolaterie Manneken

Christmas on the plaza

Pick a restaurant

More Chocolate

The crowd around Manneken Pis

One of many, many excellent local brews

The plaza around the Grand Palace

In the spirit of giving thanks, I am thankful for the opportunity for this trip and a chance to visit some new and interesting places.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

A day, late, but I hope everyone takes time from the turkey & dressing induced hangovers and the Black Friday sales to celebrate with family and friends and give thanks for all of our blessings. I try to take time during these busy holidays to remember all of the blessings we have: life, family, friends, health, opportunity. I am especially thankful for the men & women serving abroad in the armed forces who could not be home with family during this time.

I intended to post a couple of additional updates from Belgium, but wound up working late each day and had to get up way early to catch a flight to Paris for the long trek back home. 12+ hours flying, 4 hours waiting in the airport, 4 different passport checks, 3 airport screenings, a gallon of coffee, and several rounds of airline meals, I finally made it home to Texas. Traveling on the 23rd wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated crowds had not yet started to stack up and there were no delays in my flight. I was up for 22 hours straight, tired and had hoped to come home, drop the bags, kiss the wife, hug/walk the dogs, and catch up on my sleep, but I walked right into a leaking water pipe in the attic. A small pinhole leak had sprung up over the last few days. It hadn’t been leaking long, but enough to stain the ceiling and drip through the sheetrock. Needless to say, I was not happy, to which my darling bride added (trying to lighten the mood) added: “Well, which dwarf are you?”.  Her funeral will be next week.  Given the holidays, I could not get a plumber out until the weekend, so, being an engineer, I ran out to the big box hardware chain and picked up a pipe clamp (no, the duct tape did not work).  I was able to clamp down on the pipe and stop the leak, for now.  We still need a plumber, but the crisis level has dropped to DEFCON 4 (for now).

I have started to pull together my notes/pictures from my week in Europe. I’ve got enough stuff left over from the weekend to fill up several blogs. Keep an eye on this place for some interesting tales and sites and more on my visit with RC. 

Tower Bridge

 

Brussels

Mind the gap

Some expressions stick with you if you hear them enough. 

Whoa. Sunday evening and I find myself sitting in a local hole in the wall (really is a hole in the wall) place in Brussels enjoying some different Belgium beers and trying to rest my dogs from the weekend. I'd like to spend my retirement working throught the myriads of beers over here, but I am only 54 and there is not enough time. Besides, there is that nasty addiction I have called "work".

It's been a whirlwind weekend. Probably due to jet lag or the anticipation of the trip, but I woke up way too early (0300) Saturday to catch the first shuttle to the airport to catch the train downtown to catch the Eurostar to London. Being an engineer and A/R to boot I like to work to a plan and hate when I am late. Besides the train to London left at 0759 and there ain't noway I am missing it. Made the train with plent of time and settled in for the 2 hour ride to London.

But, let's be honest, do you really want to hear about my exploits in London?  No?  

Ok. For those dying to know. I did hook up with the famous Rock Chef for a couple of hours while wandering about London. It was a great trip. Met up with in outside Buckingham Palace which is a whole story itself. Suffice it to say but that is not the place for a quiet, intimate gathering. A mob of tourists is not the best place to meet up with someone. In spite of that, I was able to track down RC in the crowd and we were able to meet right outside the palace.  Rock is great guy.  As funny & interesting just like I had pictured from our conversations on the net.  We hiked up through Green Park and up to Pickadilly Circus to find a good pub so I could satisfy my craving for some British food & beer. We shared some stories, talked about some of our similar interests like books, Star Wars, beer, cars, kids, you  know, guy stuff.  Spent a could  of hours sharing some really good beer and  swapping war stories and talking about certain other bloggers.  Iit was a long trip but I am glad for the chance to meet up with him.  Got a few pictures, but my one regret wasthat I forgot to take a picture of the two of us together.  We parted ways with him heading up into SOHO looking for guitar stuff and me doing the touristy stuff.  I have enough blog fodder for a couple of entries, but will have to save it for later since I am about worn down to a nub and have to go to an audit in the morning.  Look for some more postings over the next few days.

In the meantime, just to prove we actually met up, this one is for you, terri.   

Hmmm.  Braaains.

And here is RC and I enjoying our Brains...

Great trip.

So much to see, so little time

Hold on to your sombreros, muchacos e muchachas, time to shift gears and hit the rails!

Finished up work at the office and they cut us loose for the weekend.  Too late in the day to hop a train downtown for a bite & beer, so I'll have to hit the hotel bar for overpriced beers and something that resembles food.  Will save my culinary explorations for this weekend. 

I sorta feel like I am back in the Army.  I have a narrow 24+ hour pass/window available this weekend, so I am up at the crack of early to hop on one of those high speed European trains that will wisk me from the heart of Brussels and drop me off in the middle of London.  It's supposed to be a two hour ride that will take us through the Chunnel.  Kinda jazzed up right now.  I have never been to London (a 3 hour layover in Heathrow doesn't count) and it's always been on my bucket list.  A chance to tour Merry Olde England and meet up with a longtime blog friend, Rock Chef.  Trying to fit in time to share a beer with RC, swap war stories, trash talk other bloggers, create a general nusance, and still get in some obligatory site seeing.  We plan to meet up outside the gate of Buckingham Palace.  24 hours does not leave me much time so I will have to fleet of feet and flexible (Improvise, Adapt, & Overcome), but it should be a great time.  Bought a new 8 gig SD card  for the camera, so I have lots  of room for pictures.  Will post up pictures of the carnage later. 

My main objective is to meet up with RC.  I hope to have enough time to get hit the other spots (Tower of London, Tower Bridge,  The Eye, Parliament, Soho, Trafalgar Square), but honestly, 24 hours does not give me enough time to get serious.  Still, I will take advantage of what time I have. 

The road goes on forever and the party never ends. 

Culture from abroad

I've travelled a bit and been a lot of places.  I still tend to find new & interesting things that we don't see in Texas...

A nice place to hang out at 0700 in the morning during a 3 hour layover in Heathrow. I'm revising my Christmas wish list.

And, of course, who doesn't love Belgian Waffles and Chocolate?