The Big Red Bus

Hello London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty much a day of moving to our Notting Hill Apartment (30 Edge Street), getting some groceries at the local Tesco and hitting the Big Red Tourist bus for a 3 hour tour of London's big attractions.

 

 

 

 

 

The plan was to use the map and see the sites, write down a few points and enjoy the day. All good. Except of course that a nice Summer solstice day in the UK is not complete without a bit of rain.

 

 

 

Hey Cisco, Hey Poncho

 

 

 

 

We started the tour in Notting Hill just along the border of Hyde Park or Kensington Park - they kinda merge to me, then ticked off the sites

 

 

• Marble arch - designed by famous architect John Nash and modelled on the arch of Constantine. On the corner of Hyde park near speakers (now should be renamed as begging gypsies) corner. Until 1851 was actually in front of Buckinham palace as a ceremonial entrance (see pic) but was moved when that entrance became closed off by further development of that wing.

 

 

MArble arch whilst still at Buckingham Palace

 

 

 

• Regent Street
• Marleybone Street

 

 

 

 

 

• Oxford Street
• Piccadilly Circus - Circus is from the latin word for Circle ie its a roundabout not as Drew thought (as you would) a circus in the middle of London - although that would both be cool and famous.

• BIg Ben, Parliament - but no roundabout. the movie scene was faked. Damn you Chevy Chase. Note that Big Ben is colloquially the clock tower and the clock and the bell but is officially the nickname of the biggest bell in the clock tower known officially and imaginatively as "the great Bell". The tower which was also imaginatively named as "The Clock Tower" and then renamed in 2012 as "Elizabeth Tower" to celebrate teh Jubilee. Big Ben (the bell) was probably named after the rotund Benjamin Hall who oversaw its construction. The bell, by the way, is big - about 14 tonnes. It isn't the original though - that was cracked whilst being tested. The replacement bell also cracked after 2 months so they blamed the bell hammer, chipped out a bit of the bell and then gave the cracked bell a small twist (and changed the hammer). That was in 1862 and it has not cracked again since then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

London Eye - nice cloudy backdrop

 

 

 

 

• Trafalgar Square - concert on that evening so not quite as majestic a place as the lions usually guard

 

 

Trafalgar lion

 

 

 

• Tower of London - more on this in a few days time
• London Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

• Saint Paul's Cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

• Madamme Taussauds - note there is no apostrophe (they officially deleted it). Anna Maria Grosholtz (aka Marie Tussaud = too-so) was French and learned her wax trade in Bern when she was working as a housekeeper for a guy who was a physician and wax sculptor (that old common double up). Like a sensible chap he gave up medicine (the sensible part) and moved to France to become a full time wax sculptor (risky business?). He became successful (who woulda guessed?) so Marie and her mum came out to join him (dad died just before Marie was born). Marie started doing celebrity wax heads - her first was Voltaire and became to be on good terms with the French Royal Family. She was actually arrested and had her head shaved for the guillotine before she was freed for reasons I couldnt quite follow. She was commissioned to make wax heads of some of the famous guillotined heads (gross) which were then kiinda used as mascots by the revolutionaries. She gets married to Mr Tussaud and moves to London where she exhibits her heads before going on tour through UK and Ireland. FInally she sets up a permanent exhibition in Baker Street which got famous because of it's "chamber of horrors" - remember those guillotined heads? She adds more and more celebritites and gets more famous. Later the museum moves around the corner to Marylebone street (where it is today). Alas for family Tussaud, the cost of the move and real estate left them poorly off financially. Tried to get family moeny, then start a company but the family fought over money and eventually the whole thing got sold off (in 1889) and thus.....it's been a long way....the apostrophe of Tussauds is no longer as the museum is no longer under the control or ownership of family Tussaud.

 

 

No apostrophe

 

 

 

 

• Westminster Abbey
• Fleet Street

Many others which escape my mind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't this sposed to be in NYC. Looks a bit like the Flatiron building

 

 

 

The rain stopped just before the tour ended so we got off at the North End of Hyde PArk, popped into a "Pret" for a post tour snack, then walked back to Notting Hill along the side of the park - lufflee.

 

 

Tomorrow is a day trip to Hamptom Court Palace.

 

 

Enough

 

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