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Posts Tagged ‘Landmark’

Photo of the Day: Visitors of Stonehenge

Posted in Around the UK, Art, Landmark, New Age, Photography, Stereotypes, Travel, travel photography, Wiltshire, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2012| 1 Comment »

Last month I had two BFFs come all the way from Texas to visit. Of course in the line-up of events was the obligatory trip to Stonehenge where my lovely friend, Jennifer, snapped this one.

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Pilgrimage to the Royal Wedding

Posted in British History, buckingham palace, Events, Green Park, Landmark, Monarchy, Papparazi, Pilgrimage, Pomp and Circumstance, Royal Wedding, Victoria, Waiting, Wedding preparations, Will and Kate, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The night before the Royal Wedding, the Mall and Buckingham Palace were already packed with people who had flown across the world to sleep in a tent in a foreign country’s public park along side strangers. Their dedication made me envious. I knew it was impossible to sleep in a comfortable bed AND get a glimpse of the royal couple on their wedding day. You can guess which option I chose.

The dedicated hailed from many backgrounds with the Americans making a big showing. Also making a big showing were flags and pajamas.

Pajama Party along the Mall

These ladies were making it a Girl's Night Out

Home sweet home

Having a kip. (That means nap.)

This guy offered to trade me a cupcake for a kiss. Thanks, but I'm not hungry.

Country of Georgia, represent!

Texas girls, represent!

We all know why the souvenir shop owners are smiling.

Prepared for the big day.

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Bluebells and Lesnes Abbey

Posted in Abbey, British History, Day Trip, Flowers, Landmark, Parks, Ruins, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2011| 2 Comments »

After my post about bluebonnets and daffodils, I was pointed to this Guardian article on bluebells in Southwest Britain. Seems like the UK has it’s own spring time sea of blue. In the past few weeks I have started to notice blue flowers in small and large patches of green around town. For an excursion, a friend recommend I check out Abbey Wood.

A walk through the ancient south east London woods did not disappoint.

Bluebells at Abbey Wood

Bluebells in Abbey Woods

As we wandered through the woods, we eventually came up on Lesnes Abbey. The abbey, now in ruins, was founded by Richard de Luci in 1178 as penance for his involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket. In 1524, Lesnes was closed by Henry VIII along with scores of other monasteries in England and Wales. The ruins make an interesting backdrop for picnics and the like. The proximity of the woods and abbey to London makes it an easy place to visit.

Lesnes Abbey

Lesnes Abbey

Lesnes Abbey

After our outing, we stopped by the Old Mill, a converted 18th century mill with a large beer garden. The locals were on good form and so was the owner, so we ended our day in Southwest London with a few real ales. I am embarrassed to admit that  real ale tastes like flat warm beer to me. Perhaps I need to spend more time at the pub to develop a true appreciation.

Authentic Real Ale at the Old Mill

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Avebury

Posted in British History, Day Trip, Free, Landmark, Landscapes, Parks, Stone Circles, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2011| 1 Comment »

Leroy and Mariah were both in town visiting. We were at a pub looking through our travel guides  and trying to decide what exactly it was we wanted to do with our week. The contrasts were stark.  Husband was completely embarrassed by our public display of tourism. Mariah, ever the planner, had her wheels spinning. Laid-back Leroy was agreeing to every suggestion without too much enthusiasm. That is, until we mentioned visiting a few monoliths. The Discovery Channel buff in him suddenly perked up and Mariah and I knew we had to make it happen.

Since Mariah and I had already been to Stonehenge, we decided to visit Avebury. Word was that it was better and the oldest stone circle in Europe. The stone circles are multiple in number, more accessible and integrated into the town. In fact, the town is built inside these massive stone circles.

Luck was with us as the sun was shining for our drive out to Avebury. We parked the car and quickly found the main attraction: strategically placed large stones. Although Avebury does not carry the iconic image that Stonehenge has blazed in our collective consciousness, the sheer number of stones and organization was much greater than that of Stonehenge.

Avebury

After a bit of walking around the stones we headed into the museum. I needed context for what we were viewing. The staff at the museum was a breathe of fresh air. Tourist sites have a tendency to make one feel like cattle. The people at Avebury seemed generally excited to have our company. It was a bit like dating the sister of the prom queen.

A walk through the stones.

Let’s consult Wikipedia for historical background.

Constructed around 2600 BCE, during the Neolithic, or ‘New Stone Age’, the monument comprises of a large henge, surrounded by a bank and a ditch. Inside this henge is a large outer stone circle, with two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre of the monument. Its original purpose is not known, although archaeologists believe that it was most likely used for some form of ritual or ceremonial usage. The Avebury monument was a part of a larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby, including West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill.

In the Late Mediaeval and Early Modern periods, locals destroyed many of the standing stones in the monument, and a village was built in the centre of it. The antiquarians John Aubrey and William Stukeley however took an interest in Avebury, and recorded much of the site before its destruction. Archaeologists proceeded to excavate at the site in the 20th century.

It’s wild to think about someone chopping down this ancient stone arrangement to build onto their house. I guess it felt silly to go in search of new raw materials when these had been delivered right to your doorstep.

Stone Marked Road

Constructed around 2600 BCE,[1] during the Neolithic, or ‘New Stone Age’, the monument comprises of a large henge, surrounded by a bank and a ditch. Inside this henge is a large outer stone circle, with two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre of the monument. Its original purpose is not known, although archaeologists believe that it was most likely used for some form of ritual or ceremonial usage. The Avebury monument was a part of a larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby, including West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill.

In the Late Mediaeval and Early Modern periods, locals destroyed many of the standing stones in the monument, and a village was built in the centre of it. The antiquarians John Aubrey and William Stukeley however took an interest in Avebury, and recorded much of the site before its destruction. Archaeologists proceeded to excavate at the site in the 20th century.

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Monument

Posted in Architecture, British History, Landmark, Views, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2010| 1 Comment »

www.themonument.info
Open Daily: 09.30 – 17.30 (last admission) 17.00
Phone: +44 (0) 207 626 2717

Ever wonder why there is a tube stop called Monument? I didn’t, but it didn’t surprise me to learn that there was an actual monument there. I don’t expect there to be a real Chalk Farm or an actual Elephant and Castle, but we all know there is a Tower Bridge and a Marble Arch. Sometimes tube stop names are still relevant, sometimes they are not.

Monument

The Monument was built in the 1670s to mark the rebuilding of London post the Great Fire of 1666.The structure, built by Sir Christopher Wren is 202 feet tall which is the distance between the monument and the location that the fire began.

Plaque on the Monument

Everything before the fire that wasn’t built of stone was a goner. The city must have felt so new and young in the years directly after the fire as a whole new generation of architecture made its way to the forefront. Wren built 51 churches after the fire. Would he have ever had such an opportunity? Would he be a common household name otherwise? What would the cityscape look like now if there had never been such a destructive event?

This type of opportunity intrigues me. I’m reminded of cities like Le Havre, France that were completely bombed out during WWII. The city now feels strangely overwhelmed by immediately post WWII design. If the whole city hadn’t needed to be rebuilt, would Oscar Niemeyer have found another forum for his googly hand?

Niemeyer's The Volcan in Le Havre

Anyway, for £3 you can climb the 311 steps to the top of the Monument and take in the views. Honestly, you can get better views in other structures around London, but it is neat to try and imagine where the fire started. If the monument were to topple over, there is a chance you would land there.

Views from the top of the Monument

Views from the top of Monument

While the climb up got narrow and uncomfortable, the climb down made me really dizzy and claustrophobic. Flip flops were a bad choice of footwear. At one point I lost a shoe and decided it was safer to make the remainder of the trip barefoot.

Dizzzzzzzzy.

As I exited, I was awarded a nice little certificate to show off that I had made the journey to the top. The certificate depicted how the Monument appeared when it first opened. Nice touch.

An engraving by Sutton Nicholls of the Monument in 1750

Drawing from Certificate, courtesy of http://www.themonument.info

Bottom Line: It’s a good way to contemplate the Great Fire of 1666. I am glad I did it once, but I don’t think I need to do it again. Wear appropriate footwear.

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Freud Museum London

Posted in Landmark, Museums, tagged , , , , on August 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

Freud Museum London

20 Maresfield Gardens
London NW3 5SX
Tel: +44 (0)20 7435 2002

£6 adults/ £4.50 Seniors /£3.00 Concessions/ Kids Free

I was meeting someone near Camden  and needed to justify the trip up north, so I decided to make an afternoon out of it and stop by the Freud museum.

I read online that visiting the museum only took an hour, so my plan was to be there at about 11:30 and move on to my appointment at 1:00. When I arrived, I realized that the place didn’t open until noon. I had thought it was enough to remember that the museum wasn’t open on Mondays and Tuesdays. I hadn’t bother to check the hours!

I sent out a quick text to push my appointment back to 1:15 and patiently waited out front with the other random Freud pilgrims. At 12 pm sharp, the doors opened and I made my way to the back to purchase my ticket.

Now that I’ve completed the tour, I can say that it’s not that the Freud Museum is boring as some reviews online implied. It’s more that it’s small. This is the house that Sigmund purchased after fleeing Austria during WWII. Turns out he didn’t live here very long before he passed on, but his daughter Anna continued to live and work in the home until 1982.

While the museum has loads of family portraits, quips about diagnosis and family heirlooms placed in the different rooms of the home, the real attraction of the museum is the study. You can see all of Freud’s Eastern artifacts placed around the office among his countless number of books. Some people like to check out other people’s CD or DVD collection. I like to check out other people’s book collections. I thought I might recognize some of the books and even probably have read a few. I was wrong. There were plenty I did recognize, but most went over my head and others I have to admit I wouldn’t be interested in. I guess I’m not as intellectual as I thought. Eh, I’m OK with that.

Anyway, other than books and travel collection, you get to see the chair that Freud had specially made to his ergonomic specifications and the lounger that his patients would lie down on as they rambled on in free association. Photos aren’t allowed, but oops I didn’t learn this until after I snapped a few pictures.

Freud's chair and desk

The Couch

The museum covers a good bit of information on Anna Freud and her work on child psychoanalysis. She was an avid weaver and you can view the loom she used as she diagnosed her patients.

One thing I found interesting is the friendship Freud had with Dali. The museum has a picture Dali drew of Freud. Apparently Dali never showed it to Freud because he was convinced it foretold Freud’s impending death.

Sigmund Freud died of cancer of the mouth, which is not surprising since he smoked up to 20 cigars a day. He also really upset the maid with his constant spitting about the house. They finally had to place a spittoon near the stairway to keep the peace.

There’s a small garden which I found a bit underwhelming, but it’s possible I missed part of it. I made it to my 1:15 appointment, and while I could have stuck around and watched the video going on upstairs a bit longer, I feel like an hour did the job pretty well.

Bottom Line:  Interesting, but save it for when you are in the area unless you happen to be a psychoanalysis fanatic.

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