Day 50 - Elizabethan Portraits, National Gallery and The Beatles

Entrance to the National Portrait Gallery

Hubby and I went separate ways this afternoon.  I chose to go to the National Portrait Gallery that has an exhibition on Elizabeth I, and he opted for the National Gallery.

Elizabeth I & Her People explores the remarkable reign of Elizabeth I through the lives and portraiture of her subjects.

Elizabeth I - Ermine portrait attributed to Nicholas Hilliard c. 1585

The reign of Elizabeth I from 1558-1603 was a time of extraordinary enterprise. The changes that took place during her reign dramatically shaped the future of England and Wales.  The Church of England was securely established and over time much of the country embraced the Protestant faith. The known world was expanding through maritime exploration and trade, cities grew in size and population and the economy flourished and purpose built theatres opened to the public.

The exhibit not only had portraits, but Elizabethan clothing, jewelry and weapons on display.  When I was done going through the special exhibit, I moved on to the Tudor section and followed it with the Stuarts through to the Hanovers.

While I was visiting Elizabethan England, hubby was taking pictures of Trafalgar Square prior to entering the National Gallery.

Trafalgar Square

Today, they had a tuba-playing musician who had fire coming out of his instrument as he played.

Tuba Player on Trafalgar Square

Prior to separating, Hubby and I agreed to meet around 6 PM at the entrance to the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields, so we could have dinner in the crypt's cafe.  A bit unusual, since you are actually eating over places where people have been buried beneath the floor.

Entrance to the crypt

For tonight's dinner we had lamb curry, with rice pilaf, nan bread, and salad with yogurt dressing.  I opted for a glass of wine and added a strawberry and jersey cream yogurt for dessert.

Crypt dinner

St. Martins had a special concert of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht Music tonight that started at 6:30 PM and our table was reserved for concert attendees, so after eating we promptly left the crypt and started our way to the Savoy Theatre where we had tickets to "Let it Be."

The Crypt Cafe

Let It Be is a West End and Broadway jukebox musical, based on the career of English rock band, The Beatles, from 1962 to their breakup in 1969. The musical debuted at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 24 September 2012. Its run at the venue ended on 19 January 2013, after which it moved to the Savoy Theatre and opened on 1 February 2013.  There is no story to the musical, but the show indicates the passing of time through showing some videos of commercials and events that happen during The Beatles seven years together, and the performers change costumes to reflect the changing times.  I would have liked more story about the musicians and the changes they went through as well as the reasons for their eventual break up, but this was basically a concert show.  An enjoyable evening, but more nostalgic than informative.

We were allowed to take pictures, so hubby snapped quite a few during the performance which I will share with you below.

Savoy Theatre

After the show, we walked back to Covent Garden and took pictures of the Christmas lights that had been turned on earlier tonight.

We're back at our flat now, and getting ready for bed.  Hopefully tomorrow I can fill in a bit more information on the earlier days, but we leave on Tuesday and there's still a lot we want to do and see.  Until tomorrow, then....

Day 49 - Bonfire Night and The Commitments

Palace Theatre - The Commitments

 Today was Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day, which celebrates a group of catholic supporters unsuccessful attempt to blow up Parliament.
Because of the day, several events were reported in the news.  One concerns the village of Lower Hartshay in Derbyshire, whose hedge clippings and scrap wood collected for a bonfire celebration tonight, mistaken for fly-tipping (illegally-dumpted) waste, was collected by the Amber Valley Borough Council and removed.

Sample Bonfire in England

Villagers said they were surprised and disappointed to find "environmental crime scene" tape surrounding their collection site along with a warning that their were heavy fines for illegally dumped waste, and that people were being watched.

Amber Valley Borough Council said it responded to a fly-tipping complaint and put up a warning sign first. They also said organizers should have applied for a temporary events license. Residents said they did not see the warning sign and villager David Crowder said they had never needed a licence before.

"I've been involved for the last 29 years, as long as I've lived in the village, so it has been a longstanding event," he said. "I'm sure the council have been aware it happens every year, so we feel it would have been better had they approached one of us, rather than take it away." He said the council should have realized the heap of hedge cuttings and scrap wood was for a bonfire, given the time of year. Children and adults usually help to build the material into a bonfire on the day of the event, which Mr Crowder said "brings people together".

A smaller event, with fireworks and sparklers, was held on Nov. 2. "We want to try and have a bonfire next year and we just want to work with the council now to ensure we do everything they want us to," said Mr Crowder. A council spokesman said the authority was happy to provide help and support for organizers of community events.  Sounds to me like someone had a splinter in their butt and wanted to make others pay for it.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE AND THE MILLION MASK MARCH

Million Mask March at Trafalgar Square

Today, at dozens of cities across the world, one million people will be marching. Many will be wearing Guy Fawkes masks, and protesting against the internet spying being done by the NSA and other government agencies. It is being coordinated by the Anonymous movement, a loose collective of like-minded individuals around the world mainly concerned about protecting internet freedom and opposing surveillance.

Guy Fawkes mask used in "V" for Vendetta

The date - Guy Fawkes Day - is of course intentional. The Guy Fawkes mask has always been the symbol of Anonymous, taken from the final scene in the movie 'V for Vendetta'. Guy Fawkes famously said 'a desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy' . Though the marchers aren't planning to blow up the Houses of Parliament, they do want to shake up the system. These individuals are out to defend Internet freedom, and they are growing in number.

For more information about Guy Fawkes and the role he played in history, please visit Day 46.

Bonfire Night Fireworks

Rather than attend any firework shows or bonfires, hubby and I chose to attend "The Commitments" playing at the Palace.

The Commitments - Palace Theatre at Night

I never read the book, but both hubby and I saw the movie on which the musical is based.  The movie definitely had more grittiness and heart to it than the show did.  However, these performers give all to their audience.  It's not their fault that the dialogue and conflict was trivialized.  Some of it, like the Irish rain being dispensed through a garden hose was intentionally funny, but other parts just missed the mark.

The Commitments starting to form their group - Deco is at the mike

I agree with Paul Taylor, the Independent critic who wrote " Though Doyle himself wrote the book, the storytelling lacks texture; the crude banter has been drained of most of its saving charm and the characters all come over as two-dimensional comic types. Newcomer Denis Grindel is winning as the band’s manager, Jimmy Rabbitte, who yearns to spread the gospel of soul to the Dublin working classes. But you’re never properly convinced that there’s real hunger behind this mission and that the music represents, for him, a rebellion against the material and spiritual poverty of the environment. Despite Soutra Gilmour’s looming tower-block set, the stakes feel low and the mood blandly upbeat.

The Commitments in an early gig with Deco in front again

Killian Donnelly is phenomenal as the obnoxiously big-headed Deco, his mighty voice ranging from a snakily sexy falsetto to a deep rasping boom. Even when scoffing a bag of chips as he performs “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (a feat Marvin Gaye curiously never attempted), he can imbue a number with insidious erotic drive. Persuasively charting their growing prowess, the engagingly cast band pound out the numbers with infectious zest and energy.

But the whimsical notion that they re-group as a spoof country & western outfit – on the grounds that sex broke them up and that playing country music is about as arousing as singing the phone book – is a flat-out mistake that merely exposes how dramatically flimsy the brawling disputes are that cause them to implode in the first place. And the encores, where the fourth wall is knocked down (“Hello, London!”) in too calculatedly frenzy-inducing a fashion, reinforce the feeling that this show about soul is itself a mite soulless."

Deco and Natalie

On the whole, you leave feeling that everyone in the show has given their all.  "There's virtually nothing to be faulted about the cast, the music or the glorious set. Soutra Gilmour has worked wonders with the strictures of the rotting old glory that is the Palace theatre, giving us a vaulting taste of the rain-streaked concrete of 1987 Dublin as the backdrop to the tribulations of an impoverished band trying to resurrect American soul; and musical supervisor Alan Williams can take many plaudits. The cast act their little grimy socks off: Denis Grindel is a lovely band manager, Jimmy Rabbitte; Steph McKeon has real chops for soul; and, of course, Killian Donnelly as the thoroughly unlikable Deco, unredeemed by the end but for his voice (which is to say, wholly redeemed), is the star of the show," reported Euan Ferguson for The Guardian, and he's right.

Hubby enjoyed it, but as much as I love the theatre, I left the show feeling somewhat deflated like I'd just eaten a large meal that was less than satisfying.

All the same, I stood at the end to applaud the performers, because like both Paul and Euan, I felt the performers deserved the accolade, and yet I wasn't satisfied by the show.

Finally, I want to close with a note about London's dressing up for Christmas.  I love the way this city gets into the spirit of the holiday.  Unfortunately, we're leaving too early to catch most of the lights and the pantos, but Covent Garden is scheduled to turn on its lights tomorrow, and Regent Street is lighting up on the 9th, which is also the Lord Mayor's Day.  Tonight, Slingsby Place had its Christmas finery on display, so I'll leave you with two pictures of it.  Click on them to view a larger image.

Slingsby Place dressed for Autumn:

Slingsby Place - Autumn

Slingsby Place - Winter and Christmas

Slingsby Place - Christmas

Until tomorrow.

Day 48 - A Visit with Friends

London Victoria Station (note Upper Crust on the right)

Today we took a South Eastern train from Victoria Station out to Herne Bay to visit our friends Jill and Jim, and the train actually arrived a few minutes early, which is unusual.

Photo of Kent countryside taken from the train

Because of its abundance of orchards and hop gardens, Kent is traditionally known as "The Garden of England" – a name often applied when marketing the county or its produce, although other regions have tried to lay claim to the title. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt. South and East Kent rely on tourism and agriculture, although coal mining has also played a part in Kent's industrial heritage.

After we got into their car with them, Jill offered us many options for sightseeing and one included visiting Dover with a quick trip through Canterbury.  We'd never gotten very close to Dover Castle, and even though we couldn't go in, because it was closed for the season, we opted to do that.

Kent's location between London and continental Europe has led to it being in the front line of several conflicts, including the Battle of Britain during World War II. East Kent was known as Hell Fire Corner during the conflict. England has relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of the past 800 years; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries (Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich) and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance to the country's security. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone, and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.

View of the English Channel looking toward France

Dover is a town that faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, making it a major ferry port as well.  It lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings. The town serves as home of the Dover Calais ferry through the Port of Dover with its surrounding chalk cliffs  known as the White Cliffs of Dover, and the narrow sea passage nearby – the Strait of Dover. Its strategic position has been evident throughout its history: archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for people entering and leaving Britain. The name of the town derives from the name of the river that flows through it, the River Dour. The town has been inhabited since the Stone Age according to archaeological finds, and Dover is one of only a few places in Britain – London and Cornwall being other examples – to have a corresponding name in the French language, Douvres.

There was a military barracks in Dover, which closed in 2007.  Services related to the Port of Dover provide a great deal of the town’s employment, as does tourism. The prospect of privatizing the sale of the Port of Dover to create increased cash flow for the government was given a recent ironic twist with the rejection of a possible bid from the town of Calais in France.  After opposition from the people in Dover against any sale forced the government to withdraw the Port from the market, local residents clubbed together to propose buying it for the community. More than 12,000 people have bought a £10 share in the People's Port Trust with the optimism that this would help save Dover from its decline.

Historically, Dover figured largely in the Domesday Book as an important borough. It also served as a bastion against various attackers: notably the French during the Napoleonic Wars; and against Germany during World War II. During mediaeval times, it was designated as one of the cinque ports.

Dover Harbor with a ship in port

We took lots of pictures of Dover, then Jim drove us around the coast of England through Walmer, followed by Deal, Sandwich, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Margate before finally taking us back to their house in Herne Bay.  A few more friends dropped over and we had cocktails and chatted for a bit before we sat down to the lovely dinner Jill prepared for us.  The evening went by so quickly we almost missed our last train back to London.  A 10:33 PM train, which was supposed to get us to London Victoria by 12:04 AM.

We were at the station and waiting for our train by 10:21 PM.  It had gotten a lot colder, probably in the high 30s F. So, we were chilled, but happy after our pleasant evening, until the monitor clock switched over to 10:30 PM, our train disappeared off the electronic schedule to be replaced by an 11:33 PM train that wasn't going into London.  When 10:33 PM came and went with only an express train whizzing by us at a speed that would have sucked us along had we been over the yellow line, we began to get a little worried.  However, the later the hour grew, the more discouraged the other passengers waiting with us became.  One gentleman insisted British Rail had cancelled our train.  Not a pleasant thought at all.

At 10:50, I tried to make some calls to National Rail, but their offices were closed.  Not surprising, given even the Herne Bay train station was closed.  There was a nice warm waiting room on the platform, but it was locked.  The door looked as though some people before us had unsuccessfully tried to pry it open with a screw driver and hammer.  Stranded, and not wanting to disturb our friends, we waited on the platform as we discussed our options.  Hubby decided we should wait for the 11:33 PM train and go as far as it would take us then see what arrangements we could make from there.

At approximately 11:05 PM a train destined for London Victoria pulled up.  Chilled and needing heat, we hopped on and found the first seats we could.  The train was very late, so we saw no sign of a conductor.  When the train arrived at Gillingham, the conductor announced over the speaker system that the train would be making a stop at Bromley South and then London Victoria.  If passengers on board needed any of the normal stops between Gillingham and Bromley South, they were instructed to get off the train at Gillingham and make other arrangements.  Probably due to the lateness of the hour, no one got off, so I guess the railroad's plan had some validity.

Even with five stops cancelled, we didn't arrive in London Victoria until almost half past midnight, and the tube was shut down for the night.  So we went looking for a night bus that ran from Victoria to Leicester Square.  We quickly discovered the 24 bus went in that direction, so we asked for directions to Wilton or Bridge Street, found stop J and waited once again--out in the cold.  The British are very patient people and calmly wait in line for just about everything they do.

Night buses will stop at their designated locations only if there is someone standing at the bus stop, or a passenger presses a stop button to let the driver know they want to get off.  So, we had about a twenty minute wait before a bus turned up.  At least it was warm.

As we traveled through Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square, the streets looked deserted.  I've never seen London so quiet, but then I can't recall being out on the streets past Cinderella's bedtime, either.  That's when we noticed a road crew had blocked off the Strand from Trafalgar Square. Then road crews seemed to be everywhere we looked.  It seems they do most of their work at night in order not to disrupt London's daytime traffic too severely.

We requested the bus stop at Leicester Square, and then walked back to our flat from there.  We finally arrived "home" at approximately 1:15 AM.

I'll have more pictures and information to share about what we saw, but will have to add them later. Unfortunately, that's becoming a habit.  It's nearly 2 AM, and time for bed.  A good day, with an exhausting finish

Until tomorrow.

Day 47 - Hyde Park to Harrods

Marble Arch

Today we walked from Marble Arch at one corner of Hyde Park down to the Wellington Arch corner of Hyde Park, then along Knightsbridge to Brompton Road and Harrods.  For more information about Marble Arch, which I wrote about earlier, see Day 33.

Near Marble Arch is Speakers' Corner, Though Hyde Park Speakers' Corner is considered the paved area closest to Marble Arch, legally the public speaking area extends beyond the Reform Tree and covers a large area from Marble Arch to Victoria Gate, then along the Serpentine to Hyde Park Corner and the Broad Walk running from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch.

Public riots broke out in the park in 1855, in protest over the Sunday Trading Bill, which forbade buying and selling on a Sunday, the only day working people had off. The riots were described by Karl Marx as the beginning of the English revolution.

One are of Speakers' Corner

The riots and agitation for democratic reform encouraged some to force the issue of the "right to speak" in Hyde Park. The Parks Regulation Act 1872 delegated the issue of permitting public meetings to the park authorities (rather than central government). Contrary to popular belief, it does not confer a statutory basis for the right to speak at Speakers' Corner. Parliamentary debates on the Act illustrate that a general principle of being able to meet and speak was not the intention, but that some areas would be permitted to be used for that purpose. Since that time, it has become a traditional site for public speeches and debate, as well as the main site of protest and assembly in Britain. There are some who contend that the tradition has a connection with the Tyburn gallows, where the condemned man was allowed to speak before being hanged.

Speakers' Corner Cafe

We briefly listened to a few of the speakers, then hopped over to the cafe for a hot chocolate and a mochaccino.  While we were sitting and drinking some riders came by with horses from the Hyde Park Stables.

Rider in Hyde Park

Though the day was cool, it was a perfect day for horse riding.  As I watched the horses, I saw a statue of a horse.  Getting up to take a closer look, I noticed it was the Animals in War Monument.

Animals in War Memorial- south side

According to Wikipedia: "The memorial was designed by English sculptor David Backhouse to commemorate the countless animals that have served and died under British military command throughout history. It was unveiled in November 2004 by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.

The memorial was inspired by Jilly Cooper's book Animals in War, and was made possible by a specially created fund of £1.4 million from public donations of which Cooper was a co-trustee. The memorial consists of a 55 ft by 58 ft (16.8 m by 17.7 m) curved Portland stone wall: the symbolic arena of war, emblazoned with images of various struggling animals, along with two heavily-laden bronze mules progressing up the stairs of the monument, and a bronze horse and bronze dog beyond it looking into the distance.  The Animals in War Memorial was officially opened on 24 November 2004 by Anne, Princess Royal.

Animals in War Memorial - North side

In May 2013, it was one of two London war memorials vandalized on the same night. The word 'Islam' was spray-painted on this and the RAF Bomber Command 

Memorial.

Beneath the main header, "Animals in War", the memorial has two separate inscriptions; the first and larger reads:

"This monument is dedicated to all the animals

that served and died alongside British and allied forces

in wars and campaigns throughout time"

The second, smaller inscription simply reads:

"They had no choice"

Upon the rear or outside of the memorial are these words:

"Many and various animals were employed to support British and Allied Forces in wars and campaigns over the centuries, and as a result millions died. From the pigeon to the elephant, they all played a vital role in every region of the world in the cause of human freedom.

"Their contribution must never be forgotten.""

Joy of Life Fountain

Continuing our stroll, we came upon the "Joy of Life" fountain, considered the largest fountain in Hyde Park. The fountain is decorated with bronze sculptures that float over a large circular basin. At the center are two adults, seemingly dancing and holding each others' arms. Around them are four statues of children who seem to hover over the water. The fountain, a work of sculptor Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones, was created in 1963. It is sometimes also called the Four Winds Fountain.

After admiring the "Joy of Life" we continued along "Lover's Walk" until we came upon the 7/7 Memorial.

7/7 Memorial

The 7/7 Memorial commemorates the victims of the terrorist attack of July 7, 2005. The monument consists of 52 stainless steel columns; with each column representing one of the victims of the bombings and marking the location of where they died

The 7 July 2005 London bombings (often referred to as 7/7) were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in London which targeted civilians using the public transport system during the morning rush hour.

On the morning of Thursday, 7 July 2005, four Islamist home-grown terrorists detonated four bombs, three in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city and, later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. Apart from the four bombers, 52 civilians were killed and over 700 more were injured in the United Kingdom's first suicide attacks.

The explosions were caused by homemade organic peroxide–based devices packed into rucksacks. The bombings were followed two weeks later by a series of attempted attacks which failed to cause injury or damage.

The attacks occurred one day after London had won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, which had particularly highlighted the city's multicultural reputation.

All but one of the 52 victims had been residents in London during the attacks and were from a diverse range of backgrounds. Among those killed were several foreign-born British nationals, foreign exchange students, parents, and one British couple of 14 years. Due to train delays before the attacks, as well as subsequent transport issues caused by them, several victims died aboard trains and buses they would not normally have taken. Their ages ranged from 20 to 60 years old..

Next we came across the Achilles Statue near the Queen Elizabeth gate in Hyde Park.

Achilles Statue

The Achilles Statue, considered to be the largest statue in Hyde Park, was installed there in 1822 to honor the Duke of Wellington, the victor over Napoleon's army at Waterloo. The bronze statue was cast from cannons that were captured from the French. The statue was created by Richard Westmacott, who based his design on the statues of Castor and Pollux at the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome. Originally, the statue was, like the ones in Rome, nude, but true to their reputation, the prudish Georgian Londoners were shocked and Westmacott was forced to add a fig leaf.  Ah well.

Next we came across the Queen Elizabeth Gate near Hyde Park Corner.

Queen Elizabeth Gate

Queen Elizabeth Gate, also known as the Queen Mother's Gate, is an entrance consisting of two pairs and two single gates of forged stainless steel and bronze situated in Hyde Park, London, behind Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner. There is also a center feature made of painted cast iron.

It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 to celebrate the 90th birthday of her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. It cost £1.5 million to construct, raised by private individuals and public funding, under the patronage of Prince Michael of Kent.

Queen Elizabeth Gate - close-up

The site's architect was Richard Rogers.The stainless steel and bronze gates, railings and lights were designed and made by Giusseppe Lund. The center piece, featuring a red lion and a white unicorn, was designed by sculptor David Wynn.

The organic nature of the forged steel reflects the Queen Mother's love of flowers, particularly those from a cottage garden. Her life spanned most of the century and this is represented by a flow from formal symmetry at the base of the gates upwards to an increasing freedom of line at the top. Many of the elements are free to move when touched and the whole structure vibrates when moved. This is in direct contrast to the heavier rectilinear gates found in other entrances to the park.

Queen Elizabeth Gate view from inside Hyde Park

Although much admired there were initial concerns that the metal was rusting due to a misunderstanding of the nature of the gate's coloring which was in fact a deliberate creation of chromium oxides with the application of heat. This treatment has since proved to be extremely durable thanks to the initial intensifying of the chromium content on the surface by the use of electro-polishing.

Just outside of the park is Apsley House, Apsley Gate, and the Wellington Arch.

Wellington Arch - Back view

Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or (originally) the Green Park Arch, is a triumphal arch located to the south of Hyde Park in central London and in an isolated traffic island on the western corner of Green Park . Built nearby between 1826-1830 to a design by Decimus Burton, it was moved to its present position in 1882-83. It once supported an equestrian statue of the 1st Duke of Wellington; the original intention of having it topped with sculpture of a "quadriga" or ancient four-horse chariot was not realised until 1912.

The arch, and Marble Arch (originally sited in front of Buckingham Palace), were both planned in 1825 by George IV to commemorate Britain's victories in the Napoleonic Wars. The Wellington Arch was also conceived as an outer gateway to Constitution Hill and therefore a grand entrance into central London from the west. The presence of a turnpike gate at this point had led, in the 18th century, to a strong perception that this was the beginning of London (reflected in the nickname for Apsley House as "No 1, London") and the arch was intended to reflect the importance of the position.

Wellington Arch viewed from the front

The monument was planned as part of a single composition with Burton's screen, which forms the Hyde Park Corner entrance to Hyde Park. The arch was originally positioned directly to the south of the screen, as part of a grand ceremonial route towards Buckingham Palace. Apsley House, the London residence of the Duke of Wellington, adjoins the screen.

It has a single opening, and uses the Corinthian order. Much of the intended exterior ornamentation was omitted as a cost-saving exercise necessitated by the King's overspending on the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, which was underway at the same time.

At this point we continued our walk taking a few more pictures of statues and a couple of Harvey Nichols Windows and a few rather sexy ones of Harrods.  I'll have to add these later, including a picture of the dinner we purchased in Harrods' food court.  I'll advise when I've added these in my later posts, if you're interested.

Until then, I'd best say good-night.

Day 46 - Catch Up Day and some Fireworks for Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night Celebrations

Today I spent most of the day continuing to update Day 44.  Almost finished with the river cruise, still have to do Greenwich, the continued bus tour, dinner, Dirty Dancing and Halloween.  Yikes.

As for Day 45, we've got a lot of pictures and info to add from the British Museum.

I reserve our Saturdays for updating the Saturday Spankings URLs, paying bills and doing a little cleaning.

Hubby did some shopping, but it was raining, so he stayed in most of the day, too.

Tomorrow, we want to try Speaker's Corner again, if the weather is better, and Harrods, so we can try to pick up our Harrods Christmas Bear, so we should have more pictures to share, though I'm already behind.

Monday we're planning a trip to visit some friends who live in Herne Bay, and Tuesday is Guy Fawkes Day. For those of you who may not have heard about this uniquely British celebration, Guy Fawkes Night originates from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed conspiracy by a group of provincial English Catholics to assassinate the Protestant King James I of England and replace him with a Catholic head of state. In the immediate aftermath of the 5 November arrest of Guy Fawkes, caught guarding a cache of explosives placed beneath the House of Lords, James's Council allowed the public to celebrate the king's survival with bonfires, so long as they were "without any danger or disorder". This made 1605 the first year the plot's failure was celebrated.

Guy Fawkes

 The following January, days before the surviving conspirators were executed, Parliament passed the Observance of 5th November Act, commonly known as the "Thanksgiving Act". It was proposed by a Puritan Member of Parliament, Edward Montagu, who suggested that the king's apparent deliverance by divine intervention deserved some measure of official recognition, and kept 5 November free as a day of thanksgiving while in theory making attendance at Church mandatory. A new form of service was also added to the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, for use on that date.

Bonfire with Guy Fawkes effigy burning

Following Charles I's execution in 1649, the country's new republican regime remained undecided on how to treat 5 November. Unlike the old system of religious feasts and State anniversaries, it survived, but as a celebration of parliamentary government and Protestantism, and not of monarchy. Commonly the day was still marked by bonfires and miniature explosives, but formal celebrations resumed only with the Restoration, when Charles II became king. Courtiers, High Anglicans and Tories followed the official line, that the event marked God's preservation of the English throne, but generally the celebrations became more diverse.

London Dungeon's representation of Guy Fawkes

Fawkes was born and educated in York.  His father died when he was only 8 years old and his mother married a Catholic who refused to attend the Anglican church.  Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England.

Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured, and eventually he broke. Sentenced to be drawn and quartered on 31 January, immediately before his execution, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed.

I hope to follow up with more "live" pictures from the celebrations this year.  Weather can cancel the fireworks displays, but I have captured some from previous years to share with you if necessary.

I can hear some fireworks being shot off tonight, and other areas had displays on Friday night.  We even heard fireworks on Halloween, so even though November 5th is Bonfire Night, celebrations are spread out both in area and time.

Sorry today is so sparse, but I'll continue to add photos and information to Day 44 and 45 until they are complete and will try to add new ones as we go along.  We have a little over a week remaining us in our trip, so we are winding down.

Until tomorrow....

Day 45 - The British Museum and Bangers and Mash

The British Museum on Russell St

Today we decided to visit the British Museum.  The place is huge and impossible to cover in one day, let alone hours.  We took lots of pictures, of course, but I'm going to have to add them tomorrow along with a mention of the eight or so exhibits that we visited out of the 30 or more available to see.  I did go back and add some photos to yesterday's post, but I have more to add, especially regarding the boat cruise, dinner, Dirty Dancing and all the Halloween characters we saw wandering about Leicester Square.

While at the museum, hubby and I lost track of each other for about a half hour.  It was a lift versus left instruction one of the room monitors gave us.  He could tell we were struggling, so he told us there were stairs and a lift on the left.  Hubby heard only stairs on the left and I heard "lift."  So, he went ahead and took the stairs while I continued to look at the counterfeit pound coins they'd confiscated back in 2011.  When I was done with that, I looked for hubby, didn't find him, so I followed in the lift.  Unfortunately, since I didn't immediately show up, he sat down on the stairs to wait for me, while I waited for him in the Great Court.  We intended to head over to the Hutton Soo exhibit, so I headed over there, no hubby.  Not sure what to do, I took the lift back to where we'd lost each other and sat down to wait.  He climbed the stairs again, cursing me all the way, then called out to me when he saw me, not a happy camper at all.

When we discovered how we lost each other, it was rather funny, though I don't think he found the situation the least bit humorous.  All humor aside, you need a phone if you lose another person in that museum.  We could have wandered about for hours and never found each other.  I informed him during my search for him that I'd found a quicker entrance to the Sutton Hoo exhibit, but that didn't appease him very much.

I'll add some pictures tomorrow, but the Sutton Hoo collection came from a ship-burial that took place in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk England, that researchers have dated occurred most likely during the early 7th century.  The find was excavated in 1939.  Sutton Hoo is considered one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and completeness, far-reaching connections, the quality and beauty of its contents, and the profound interest of the burial ritual itself. The initial excavation was privately sponsored by the landowner, but when the significance of the find became apparent, national experts took over.

After we examined the recovered gold and took some pictures, we had both had it for the day, but made a quick stop to look at the Easter Island statue in the museum.  The building is so large, it has replicas of other buildings inside it.  After hubby took a picture of the statue, we sat down and spoke to the room monitor. Paul has been working at the museum for thirty-five years and is scheduled to retire in a couple of years.  When we asked him the best way to get back to Covent Garden, he suggested we walk.  We had taken the tube to get to the museum, but considering how long our walk was from the Russell Street tube station we decided the station earned its name simply because it was within a mile of the Russell Street museum.  Covent Garden is almost as close, and walking is cheaper.  So, we continued to talk to our guide a little longer, then took his picture, too.

Once we said good-bye, we exited through the main entrance (see photo at the top) and hoofed it back to the flat.  I immediately started to work on this blog while hubby heated up our dinner of Bangers and Mash in the microwave.  In case you're curious, Bangers and Mash are sausages and mashed potatoes in an onion gravy.  A little on the heavy side, but not bad.  Took a picture of that as well, but I will need to finish yesterday's entry and add the photos for today, tomorrow.  It is almost 1 AM here now, so I'm just about done up for the day, and "After all, tomorrow is another day."

Until tomorrow....