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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 20:45:32 GMT
There seem to have been quite a few threads here about a random day spent in London and perhaps not enough about well-planned trips to see specific things. I must classify myself in the "random" category once again, since yesterday's trip to London had the sole specific purpose of just going to the theatre. However, since I had all sorts of extra hours before and after this event, I wandered around quite a bit, mostly along the Thames but not exclusively. So I will just be showing a few of the oddities (or niceties) that I observed during that 24 hour period. To begin, naturally I arrived at St. Pancras International on the Eurostar, but my hotel was next to Euston Station which is just a few blocks away. Frankly, I do not understand all of the London train stations. Great Britain does not have a bigger population than France, and yet the capital city seems to have twice as many train stations and all of them seem to be mobbed at all times. Clearly, I need to make a more thorough investigation some day, but basically I am left with the impression that there are all sorts of huge train stations right next to each other and I have no idea where anybody is going. London is a huge city, but it seems to lose an immense amount of space to all of these train tracks everywhere. Maybe one of our British members can make a report about all of this some day. Anyway, I made the short walk to Euston from St. Pancras (which is also King's Cross but not really -- there seem to be 3 stations right next to each other). As spectacular as the historical buildings of St. Pancras and King's Cross are, Euston station is a 1968 horror. Yes, this nasty old place was knocked down to be replaced by a more appropriate modern station OLD NEW I confess that I was unable to take a picture of the area, so instead, after locating my hotel (too early to check in), I just took the underground one station to Camden Town. Frankly, I had little desire to visit the Camden market again, especially on a very busy Sunday morning, but I killed a little time looking at stuff. I did not venture into the back alleys like on my last report.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 20:57:51 GMT
It was getting busier and busier, so I really did not spend too much time. After checking into the hotel (and resting a bit since I had awakened around 5 a.m. - can't help myself when I am on a journey), I went back out and began wandering along the northern side of the Thames Walk.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 23:08:33 GMT
Nice to look through these photos, Kerouac. It looks like it had been raining or was going to rain? I thought I knew London so well, but hardly recognize anything at all! I do remember Shakespeare's Globe, it's quite near London Bridge station I think. I vaguely remember walking over the river and bridge to get to it one time...
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 5:53:53 GMT
In spite of the rather uncertain weather, Londoners were out en masse to take advantage of their Sunday of leisure. From the Millennium Bridge, I could see all sorts of things happening. Blowing bubbles was one of my favourite activities as I child and I was quite skilled at various tricks, such as making a bubble in a bubble in a bubble. I must have had a lot of time on my hands. However, I could not fail to be fascinated by this technique using buckets of soap solution and contraptions simply made of string and sticks.
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Post by bjd on May 14, 2013 6:30:54 GMT
It looks like shopping has replaced going to church as a Sunday activity.
Your photos confirm my impression that London is just a total mish-mash of buildings, no attempt to integrate a new building into the neighbourhood. Not that I agree with Prince Charles, and there are modern buildings that are fine, but it just looks like such a mess.
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Post by mossie on May 14, 2013 7:09:50 GMT
The reason for the muddle of train stations is because they were built for different companies as the London terminus for their network. You should go to Clapham Junction which has about 26 lines. The Big Smoke has always been a muddle of overlapping villages, the blitz gave considerable clearances to allow trendy architects to run wild. They have to compete to see which one can produce the "statement".
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 10:23:54 GMT
If I am not mistaken, although the office parts are far from finished, the observation platform has already been opened. However, I did not seek out the access to it or even find out the price, because I figured that it would be a madhouse on a Sunday afternoon considering the quantities of tourists that I had seen everywhere. Anyway, it is at London Bridge station, and I was not done with walking yet. Since I didn't want to backtrack the whole way, I took the Underground to Waterloo, which would allow me to cover a lot of new territory.
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Post by fgrsk8r1970 on May 14, 2013 13:48:45 GMT
Fantastic photos as always Kerouac !!! I especially love the one in #1 where the pigeon replaces the woman's head LOL.
There are so many places you are showing that we were very near to, but I don't recognize. Since my love of London was replaced by my love of Paris I doubt that I will have a chance to go back anytime soon - but one never knows!
Looking forward to the continuation ;D
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 14:21:50 GMT
And then I was back at the Millennium Bridge. I like the young birch trees in front of the Tate Modern. I finally walked into the Globe box office and bookstore area. There had actually been some tickets available earlier in the day. We all had to wait in the holding tank before we could enter. It was hard to tell if it was going to pour or not. Light sprinkles were coming down. The inside area is very nice once you have entered. Real chairs for people who spend real money. There was still another half hour to wait. Some people were equipped. 700 people fit in the standing area. I don't know how many seats are upstairs. Father Christmas was there incognito. At intermission it was still not completely dark. This play lasts 2h50! It was not a warm evening, but the play was magnificent.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 14:36:47 GMT
Thanks, all. It should be mentioned that I forgot my map of London at home, so I was obliged to wander aimlessly no matter what -- following the Thames made sure that I remained reasonably on course.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 16:48:11 GMT
Once the play had ended, night had finally fallen and I had to walk back to London Bridge to get the Underground back to my hotel.
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Post by patricklondon on May 14, 2013 17:29:28 GMT
To be pedantic, it was built to replicate some of Francis Drake's historic voyages. The skateboard area always was an unofficial use of a dead space in that unlovely 1960s construction, but just recently there are plans to swish it all up with yet more shops and move the skateboarders elsewhere - and they're up in arms, hoping to use a piece of legislation intended to preserve village greens from developers. www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/10/skateboarders-village-green-society-southbankAs for the Shard, I don't think you missed much. £25 to go up to the observation gallery strikes me as a rip-off (especially since their website has splendid panoramic photos of the view already, and no-one can guarantee the visibility up there). And I still haven't acutally been to a performance at the Globe (hanging my head in shame).
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 17:35:08 GMT
The next morning was devoted just to killing a few hours before my train. I kind of regretted not having scheduled an earlier train, but at one point I had had a fantasy of doing some shopping. I thought of London as a place where any major street would be a shopping street, but in the Euston-King's Cross-St. Pancras area, it appears that unless your idea of shopping is a Pakistani grocer or a Turkish kebab place, there is absolutely nothing to do. That didn't stop me from wandering around, though.
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Post by fgrsk8r1970 on May 14, 2013 18:44:26 GMT
The night shots are amazing !!! One day I want to wear a hat/fascinator like that.... just because
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 21:35:28 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 22:00:41 GMT
My departure time was approaching. A little question to you various British type people. I was surprised to see the word 'charcuterie' used at various places around London. The (what I thought was an) English language word that I learned for this sort of item was 'cold cuts' but now I am wondering if that is just an American term. So do the British really called cold slices meats and sausages 'charcuterie' or is this just a recent fashionable (?) affectation? Somewhere else (no idea where) I think I showed the giant 'meeting couple' statue but this time I was more interested in all of the little things going on in the base of the statue.
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Post by htmb on May 14, 2013 22:08:20 GMT
Oh, wow. How nice of them to send you off in such style.
Coincidentally, I will be attending the Queens Theatre to see Les Misérables during my visit next month.
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Post by fumobici on May 15, 2013 2:12:46 GMT
You got all these amazing photos in one day? And slept (I presume) and saw a long play as well? Remarkable productivity! And an impressive endorsement of the place of course.
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Post by nycgirl on May 15, 2013 2:57:00 GMT
King's Cross station is a visual feast. Did you happen to see a Platform 9 3/4? I agree that London's architecture seems to be a somewhat awkward hodgepodge, but I do think the Shard is cool-looking. There's no way the view can possibly be worth 25 pounds, though. You did the right thing photographing it from the ground. Glad you got photos of Shakespeare's Globe. Every single theatre I've ever been to in my life, from the Metropolitan Opera House to the open-air Shakespeare theatre in Central Park, has barred photography. Drives me crazy. If I don't take any pictures of the performance, how is it hurting anyone? Anyway, I'd love to see a play at the Globe one day. How early did you show up? Did you get tired of standing? I'm going to echo Fumobici and say well done on covering so much ground and getting so many great shots in one day. Impressive!
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Post by lola on May 15, 2013 4:17:39 GMT
Fun, K. You did cover some ground.
Nice shots inside the Globe. I'm glad it was a good production. I've never been able to wrap my head around The Tempest, probably because of having seen only student productions.
I guess the British Library was closed. I like the new building a lot, including the greatest hits rooms.
Those bubble blowing devices are great.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 4:45:39 GMT
You got all these amazing photos in one day? And slept (I presume) and saw a long play as well? Remarkable productivity! And an impressive endorsement of the place of course. Yes, one hand just snaps away while the rest of me does nothing!
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Post by patricklondon on May 15, 2013 9:56:31 GMT
Good question. I think, but I'm happy to be corrected, that "cold cuts" is indeed more American, and that we didn't have a separate term for it until it began to be a separate area in supermarkets - before that, you got cold meat or cooked meat from the butcher's and didn't need a distinctive term (and there was nothing like the international range of things available now). It would be about that time "delicatessens" (a word from the German) started opening up all over the place (selling charcuterie among other things). Both are examples of post-rationing and not always unjustified snobbery about Continental food (and a not-too-subtle indicator that you're about to be charged extra).
There are, but only for substantial structural changes and changes of use. Paint jobs don't count (unless the building is specially listed for heritage protection). I remember on a childhood holiday seeing a country cottage painted in crazy streaks of clashing colours, and being told that the owner was so furious with the local council for not letting him build some extension or other that he decided to paint the house in the ugliest colours possible because the planners couldn't do anything about it.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 11:10:38 GMT
Thanks, Patrick. Something did seem 'too American' about the term cold cuts to me, but of course charcuterie sounds 'too French'.
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Post by lugg on May 16, 2013 19:26:55 GMT
Well, I just loved reading about and seeing the photos of your "odds and ends"- fabulous. Some of the areas were very familiar to me , some were completely new. I now want to visit St Pancreas to see the sculptures and the frieze.
I had no idea about how the globe looks inside so really enjoyed seeing your photos, much more ornate than I imagined. I remember my niece taking great delight in explaining to me how in the past the floor of the Globe was covered in hazelnut shells, to soak up the urine and associated aromas.
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 20:00:53 GMT
The Globe was more ornate inside than I expected, too. In keeping with the fake rustic exterior, I thought the stage would just be a wooden floor with some straw tossed across it.
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Post by lugg on May 16, 2013 20:23:12 GMT
I never thought of the Globe as having a "fake" rustic exterior despite it having been rebuilt in modern times. To me it is a pretty good replica. I particulaly like that instead of painting the wood a more photogenic black it is kept in a more authentic (but less photogenic) limewashed state.
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 20:59:12 GMT
Well, after reading all of that stuff about it being an authentic replica built by special craftsmen using olde tyme skills, I was standing up against the edge of the stage and saw that everything was assembled using modern phillips screws rather than wooden pegs or iron spikes, which really made me lose my faith in its "authenticity" except for the shape and size of the place.
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Post by lola on May 16, 2013 23:11:35 GMT
You construction material purists.
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Post by lugg on May 17, 2013 5:48:04 GMT
Oh I see - now I understand what you meant.
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Post by patricklondon on May 17, 2013 11:02:57 GMT
You have the reason why there are so many different ones - competing companies launching different lines at different times (that's why, for example, Victoria and Liverpool Street stations are actually combinations of two stations, if you look closely at them). The numbers are, I think, explicable in terms of the extension of the London commuter belt, often promoted by the railway companies (some of whom were in the property business as well).
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