At Home in London
Aug. 11th, 2002 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetAfter B. left on Tuesday, I mainly spent the rest of the week relaxing and
trying to catch up on the various little things that had been allowed to
slide during her visit. Regis & Claudia seemed quite happy to take
themselves off to enjoy London on their own. On Thursday they took a bus
tour out to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Avebury and then we all met at
Mornington Crescent for sushi at Asakusa.
On Friday morning we went back to the Houses of Parliament and went on a
tour of the Clock Tower. On our first tour of the palace, our guide had
told us that we could arrange to see the Clock Tower by contacting our MP.
We don't exactly have one--not being UK voters, after all--but the MP for
our area, David Lammy, was happy to set it up for us. We got to go in a
separate door from all the tourists touring the Houses of Parliament, which
made us feel privileged. Up to 16 people are allowed on each tour--there
are three each day--but there were only 8 total on ours and the other four
all had badges suggesting that they work there in some capacity. Our guide
met us at the far end of Westminster Hall and escorted us up the tower.
There are 344 steps. Whew! He explained to us the history of the palace
and the tower. It was originally intended to be called the Albert Tower, to
correspond with the Victoria Tower at the other end of the palace, but
following Prince Albert's death, everyone thought it would be too sad for
the Queen, who could see it from Buckingham Palace.
We had a brief stop in what was once the prison cell where recalcitrant MPs
were once imprisoned. One of the most famous occupants was Mrs. Pankhurst,
who chained herself to the gates of the palace--guess they figured if she
liked the place so much she could stay there! After we caught our breath we
went up to the clock faces. Since one usually sees only one face at a time,
it was somehow strange to circle around past all four at once. From there
we proceeded up to the belfry, arriving in plenty of time to watch the bells
toll eleven o'clock. The vibration of Big Ben--which wasn't as loud as I
had feared--seemed to resonate with our tear ducts, as well all got a bit
misty. The bell is called "Big Ben" because that was the nickname of the MP
who wrote up the original order to the foundry. The original bell cracked
during testing, so it was recast by another foundry, the one in Whitechapel
that also cast the Liberty Bell. No surprise then that it cracked after two
months of service. The managed to patch that crack, turn the bell and
switch to a lighter hammer and the bell has remained in place ever since.
The original bell would have been too large for the shaft in any case,
probably a result of the poor working relationship between the architect of
the palace and the designer of the clock. Our guide said that the only
evidence of communication between the two men comes from the archived
letters page of the London Times.
After the striking of the hour we descended slightly to the the clock room,
where the guide explained the mechanism to us and we watched the workings at
that end as the quarter-bells chimed the quarter hour. Possibly the most
fascinating aspect of the system is the integral part played by a stack of
old pre-rationalization pennies and ha'pennies, which are used to counteract
the stretching and shrinking of the 14-foot pendulum in different seasons.
One penny makes the clock two-fifths of a second faster over 24 hours.
We descended once more and got to use the pass-holders' entrance to access
the tube. Regis & Claudia headed off to the British Museum and I talked
Jason into accompanying me to South Kensington to help me carry back the
books I wanted to buy there. He got a Cornish pasty for lunch out of the
deal, so I think he felt it was a good arrangement. I picked up some
groceries at Sainsbury's and made a nice roast chicken with roasted
potatoes, broccoli and stuffing as a farewell dinner for our guests.
They left on Saturday and we got a call from our friends, Claudia & Jim,
saying that Jim had been asked to sit in for the drummer in a Grateful Dead
cover band at a Festival in Honor of Jerry Garcia at a pub not far from us.
So we left shortly after Regis & Claudia and walked up to Seven Sisters,
where we met Jim & Claudia at The Fountain. Things were slow getting
started in the very nice outdoor area at the back of the pub--there was free
barbecue, which would have been more entertaining if the food had been
better--and then there were interruptions due to rain. The band for which
Jim was drumming got to play only three numbers. He was fairly unhappy with
the experience, but we were reasonably impressed--at least his band was
miles better than the first one. Jim & Claudia walked home with us--we were
so glad they'd called--and then we realized in the excitement, we'd
forgotten about a barbecue we'd planned to attend up in Cambridge, at the
home of one of Jason's co-workers :( It was too late, so we just hung out
here and watched an hour of the BBC version of _Mansfield Park_.
Today was too pretty a day to sit indoors, so I pulled out the _Walking
London_ book and decided it was time to explore Chelsea. We took the tube
down there and walked along the high street, down to the river along
intensely picturesque streets, and along the water as far as the grounds of
the Royal Chelsea Hospital, where the annual Chelsea Flower Show is held.
It looks very different without the enormous pavilions and show gardens in
place. The hospital is London's version of the VA, but with lovely
architecture and gardens and monuments to the loyal dead of a hundred
different minor wars through the centuries. There were many old pensioners
in uniforms sitting on the benches--somehow it had the aura of a real
community.
We walked up to Knightsbridge and hopped on the tube to Leicester Square and
made a survey of the movies available at the seven local cinemas, finally
deciding on _Lovely & Amazing_. It starred Catherine Keener, Jake
Gyllenhaal, Dermot Mulroney, James Le Gros, etc. It was very well done,
although kind of depressing, being about a group of fairly dysfunctional,
neurotic people. But the acting was excellent and there were cute guys and
kissing. After the move we walked around exploring the dinner options and
finally settled on Pizza Express, where we had a quick meal. I wanted a bit
more walking, so we walked up to Holborn and then over to Russell Square,
past Bloomsbury Square and the British Museum. From there it was a quick
ride home on the tube.
trying to catch up on the various little things that had been allowed to
slide during her visit. Regis & Claudia seemed quite happy to take
themselves off to enjoy London on their own. On Thursday they took a bus
tour out to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Avebury and then we all met at
Mornington Crescent for sushi at Asakusa.
On Friday morning we went back to the Houses of Parliament and went on a
tour of the Clock Tower. On our first tour of the palace, our guide had
told us that we could arrange to see the Clock Tower by contacting our MP.
We don't exactly have one--not being UK voters, after all--but the MP for
our area, David Lammy, was happy to set it up for us. We got to go in a
separate door from all the tourists touring the Houses of Parliament, which
made us feel privileged. Up to 16 people are allowed on each tour--there
are three each day--but there were only 8 total on ours and the other four
all had badges suggesting that they work there in some capacity. Our guide
met us at the far end of Westminster Hall and escorted us up the tower.
There are 344 steps. Whew! He explained to us the history of the palace
and the tower. It was originally intended to be called the Albert Tower, to
correspond with the Victoria Tower at the other end of the palace, but
following Prince Albert's death, everyone thought it would be too sad for
the Queen, who could see it from Buckingham Palace.
We had a brief stop in what was once the prison cell where recalcitrant MPs
were once imprisoned. One of the most famous occupants was Mrs. Pankhurst,
who chained herself to the gates of the palace--guess they figured if she
liked the place so much she could stay there! After we caught our breath we
went up to the clock faces. Since one usually sees only one face at a time,
it was somehow strange to circle around past all four at once. From there
we proceeded up to the belfry, arriving in plenty of time to watch the bells
toll eleven o'clock. The vibration of Big Ben--which wasn't as loud as I
had feared--seemed to resonate with our tear ducts, as well all got a bit
misty. The bell is called "Big Ben" because that was the nickname of the MP
who wrote up the original order to the foundry. The original bell cracked
during testing, so it was recast by another foundry, the one in Whitechapel
that also cast the Liberty Bell. No surprise then that it cracked after two
months of service. The managed to patch that crack, turn the bell and
switch to a lighter hammer and the bell has remained in place ever since.
The original bell would have been too large for the shaft in any case,
probably a result of the poor working relationship between the architect of
the palace and the designer of the clock. Our guide said that the only
evidence of communication between the two men comes from the archived
letters page of the London Times.
After the striking of the hour we descended slightly to the the clock room,
where the guide explained the mechanism to us and we watched the workings at
that end as the quarter-bells chimed the quarter hour. Possibly the most
fascinating aspect of the system is the integral part played by a stack of
old pre-rationalization pennies and ha'pennies, which are used to counteract
the stretching and shrinking of the 14-foot pendulum in different seasons.
One penny makes the clock two-fifths of a second faster over 24 hours.
We descended once more and got to use the pass-holders' entrance to access
the tube. Regis & Claudia headed off to the British Museum and I talked
Jason into accompanying me to South Kensington to help me carry back the
books I wanted to buy there. He got a Cornish pasty for lunch out of the
deal, so I think he felt it was a good arrangement. I picked up some
groceries at Sainsbury's and made a nice roast chicken with roasted
potatoes, broccoli and stuffing as a farewell dinner for our guests.
They left on Saturday and we got a call from our friends, Claudia & Jim,
saying that Jim had been asked to sit in for the drummer in a Grateful Dead
cover band at a Festival in Honor of Jerry Garcia at a pub not far from us.
So we left shortly after Regis & Claudia and walked up to Seven Sisters,
where we met Jim & Claudia at The Fountain. Things were slow getting
started in the very nice outdoor area at the back of the pub--there was free
barbecue, which would have been more entertaining if the food had been
better--and then there were interruptions due to rain. The band for which
Jim was drumming got to play only three numbers. He was fairly unhappy with
the experience, but we were reasonably impressed--at least his band was
miles better than the first one. Jim & Claudia walked home with us--we were
so glad they'd called--and then we realized in the excitement, we'd
forgotten about a barbecue we'd planned to attend up in Cambridge, at the
home of one of Jason's co-workers :( It was too late, so we just hung out
here and watched an hour of the BBC version of _Mansfield Park_.
Today was too pretty a day to sit indoors, so I pulled out the _Walking
London_ book and decided it was time to explore Chelsea. We took the tube
down there and walked along the high street, down to the river along
intensely picturesque streets, and along the water as far as the grounds of
the Royal Chelsea Hospital, where the annual Chelsea Flower Show is held.
It looks very different without the enormous pavilions and show gardens in
place. The hospital is London's version of the VA, but with lovely
architecture and gardens and monuments to the loyal dead of a hundred
different minor wars through the centuries. There were many old pensioners
in uniforms sitting on the benches--somehow it had the aura of a real
community.
We walked up to Knightsbridge and hopped on the tube to Leicester Square and
made a survey of the movies available at the seven local cinemas, finally
deciding on _Lovely & Amazing_. It starred Catherine Keener, Jake
Gyllenhaal, Dermot Mulroney, James Le Gros, etc. It was very well done,
although kind of depressing, being about a group of fairly dysfunctional,
neurotic people. But the acting was excellent and there were cute guys and
kissing. After the move we walked around exploring the dinner options and
finally settled on Pizza Express, where we had a quick meal. I wanted a bit
more walking, so we walked up to Holborn and then over to Russell Square,
past Bloomsbury Square and the British Museum. From there it was a quick
ride home on the tube.
