Last London Scenes

The packing squared away, the arrangements made, everything seen that we wanted to see, we spent our last time in London just walking around a bit. Much of our time is on foot, either getting somewhere, shopping, getting our exercise steps, or, much of the time, just wandering around to see whatever we might happen onto. In an old place like London, rich in history, art, and architecture, you can never wander very far without seeing something of interest. Sometimes, things of surpassing interest.

Liverpool station and environs: contrasts!

At another entrance to the station, Richard Serro's
Fulcrum; 53 feet tall, the steel plates 2+ inches thick;
we loved his work--a whole special wing--at the
Guggenheim in Bilbao

Apparently rustoleum red was the color that year

A block or two away, a lonely menhir, obviously lost, 
attempts to hide

At an ancient brewery, Whitbread's, that we walked past; what
did the receiving department think when the king and queen
showed up?

Now walking past Smithfield Market, London's meat
market since the 10th century, and only ancient 
market still in operation in the same place; obviously
the building is much younger, although not so young
the developers are not eyeing it greedily; we think
the paint job may not be Medieval

Peering in; it's the afternoon and, in the meat market business,
you'd better have your job done by 7AM or so; I doubt we'll
ever seen this historic market in operation

Main Hall

Moving right along, we are now in Trafalgar Square;
all my previous pix of the Nelson column have been
of the back-side, so I wanted to get one, respectfully,
of the proper side

Tourists waiting for horse to kick or bite

The horse does not like his job; I wonder if they have considered
an animatronic horse; Disney Paris could probably loan them one 
to try out

So I knew of the Banqueting House, a part of the
Whitehall complex that was designed by Inigo
Jones in the early 1600s, but for whatever reason
it did not figure on our desirables list after the
Houses of Parliament; our final wanderings took us
by it

Apart from the art and architecture, the Banqueting
House was where King Charles I was executed; right
there by the plaque; beheaded; I wonder how many 
Americans know about this, or that there was a Civil
War somewhere other than the US

Moving right along, we are now in or near
Parliament Square looking at what we think was
the ground-zero designation for the Jubilee
Walks that cover much of historic London

Cross the street and you're in St. James Park; can't believe how
close it all is together

Looking in the vicinity of 10 Downing St.

Iconic view, showing how close it all to the Eye

As close as we got to Her Majesty that day; we got way closer 
at the Braemar Gathering, in September, 2009

Just outside the Admiralty Arch, Captain Cook

We ended our last day's little excursion, as several
others, at Covent Garden

These Are The Parks In Our Neighborhood

London is not known as a particularly green city. But central London, it seemed to us, had green aplenty, from the huge public parks...Hyde, Green, St. James, Kensington, Regent's...down to the smaller (a city block) parks and gardens in every part of the old city. From our location on Handel St., in Bloomsbury, there were four such parks within two blocks' walk, one just five doors down the street. All were beautifully landscaped and cared for, with 200 year old plane trees and others and ample benches. All found abundant but respectful use by the people of the neighborhood. All had excellent signage about their histories and features. And all were quite different. [click to enlarge and read the signs]

The red dot is where we live: St. George's Gardens to the east,

Brunswick Square Gardens to the south, Regents Square to the 

northeast, and Bramber Green to the north...if I were to go out 

three blocks or so, there would be half a dozen more parks and 

gardens...

Five doors down Handel St.; was originally the cemetery for two
churches; by Victorian times it was "overcrowded" and disused
and was then converted to a public park; most of the tombstones
line the perimeter, but the larger monuments were left in place

A line of stones separated the two churches' burial ground; still
there

Shakespeare in St. George's Gardens, the third week we were
there

When you're a 70-something, sitting on the ground is not all
that appealing; but listening to the Elizabethan language through
the open windows was fun

Regent's Square Garden was the plainest; a heretical 18th
century Scottish preacher and his church were the main story,
but a V2 destroyed the church in February 1945; not rebuilt

Badly damaged...

Brunswick Square Garden was perhaps the largest; just the
other side of the Pharmacy School behind us

Famous for its former residents

But famous also for its giant plane tree, 2nd oldest and 2nd largest
in London 

Thus

Bramber Green, on our way to Kings Cross, was the most 
traditional park, to our American eyes

With a doggie run

Human exercise facilities

A kiddie play area; rare in our experience here

And some sculpture, which also served as a kiddie play area; it
was also a filming location for a forthcoming Netflix series, but,
alas, I didn't have my camera with me that day...

British Museum: The Exciting Conclusion

On our last full day in London, August 30th, we made our final visit--for this campaign--to the British Museum. Again, we were thwarted. The classical stuff we wanted to see was closed; still. Maintenance issues, we were told. We decided to look at the norteamericano archaeological stuff instead, and then spent the rest of our visit in Room #1, the former King's Library, later the British Library, and now the Museum's "Enlightenment" room (really a long hall), a hugely interesting collection in which the Museum reflects on its origins and founders, the Age, and its role in that Age and the growth of the sciences. This is museum introspection, which we are seeing more and more, especially in those institutions that have become more than the sum of their collections. 

In the American West, native costumes, etc.;

of which we saw plenty in our 13 years in Montana;

I had the privilege of knowing and working for

a variety tribal leaders, writers, and others in

those years

Smoking pipe; the stem would be wood; I bought one, not this
elaborate, in Pipestone, MN, in 1972; even smoked kinnikkinnick in it,
setting off fire alarms...

Possibly a Green River knife...acquired from
fur traders

Moving further north, this is an Aleut hat and cape,
made from sea mammal gut, cut, scraped and dried,
then sewn together with sinew...the cat would
definitely follow you around if you were wearing this 

Now we are south of the border

Most incredible find of the day: the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, a 14th
century painted screen fold-book, detailing the Mixtec dynasties
from the 8th century on...see description below

Pretty incredible!

Turquoise mosaic mask, Mixtec/Aztec, 15th century

Now we are in Room #1, the former King's Library, then, until
1997 or so, the British Library; when we first came to the British
Museum in 1979, it was still the Library...

Now the Enlightenment Room, as explained above...representing
how knowledge was organized in the days of the Museum's founding,
its contributions to that knowledge and organization...etc.

A New Zealand ceremonial axe, "brought by 
Captain Cook"; the age of exploration brought
many items to the Museum

Medallions of Cook apparently were popular both
before and after his death; this is a posthumous one

Sir Joseph Banks; accompanied Cook on the first

south seas voyage as botanist; associated with both

the Kew and the British Museum as a contributor, 

trustee

The age of great wealth accumulation in Britain depended
crucially on slavery and the Atlantic slave trade; here and
elsewhere the Museum is very candid and apologetic about
this; above, a depiction of an 18th century slave ship

Cases and cases of scientific instruments of the era

Also cases and cases of vases and other artifacts from
the ancient Mediterranean world, amassed by collectors, 
antiquarians, early archaeologists

Mosaic from Pompeii

The original flint axes that that began queries
about how long people had been in Britain...

Cases and cases of jade axes and other artifacts
collected and donated in the 18th and 19th centuries

The William Allen box...three trays of an antiquary's collection
of Roman/British artifacts; here, mostly silver pins and brooches

"Ancient" rapier, swords, and spear-head from a peat bog find in 1741;
pre-Roman; found without use of metal detector too!

So now we have moved on from room #1 to rooms #2 and #3,
where are displayed a few gifts from prominent members/collectors,
specifically, in #3, Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, of Waddesdon,
pictured above

The Ulm Book Cover, silver and parcel gilt, New Testament,
pre-Reformation, from the Ulm Munster (cathedral); nice, huh, Mel?

So if anyone needs gift ideas for me, an amber
beer tankard (silver gilt, of course) like this would
be nice; must be dishwasher safe, however;
Koenigsburg, mid-17th

Holy Thorn Reliquary, Paris, about 1400; enameled
gold; rubies, sapphires, and pearls (oh my!); Holy
Thorn not included

Exit through the gift shop; one among many gift shops at the
Museum; only this one is still in the King's Room area, so the
merchandise appears on the original old book and display cases

Thus; nice concluding touch! Bye, British Museum!