London

Camden Town

There is a funky area of London called Camden Town that is fun to visit. Apparently it is packed on Sundays when the market there is in full swing but we were there on a cold weekday. Many of the shops were open and there were all sorts of places selling food so we could eat whatever caught our fancy. There were many nice things for sale-scarves, jewelry, that sort of thing. There were all sorts of alleys and covered buildings and at times I had the feeling of being in a packed street in India or Mexico.

A look down one alley.

Another view.

There are locks there for the canal.

As you can see here.

We did a canal trip with Jason’s Boats and went under bridges and through tunnels and along really lovely homes, a zoo, an bird aviary and many canal boats parked along the side of the canal used as residences. There was only a path on one side as horses walked along these pulling the boats before gas engines came along. The canals were strictly for industrial use until times changed and now it’s for tourists wanting to travel slowly along the canals and dream of times past. Of course, the boat people had hard lives living in tiny spaces on the boats and getting no education.

Some of the canal boats tied up along the side of the canal as we exit the tunnel.

The Temple Church

If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code or seen the movie, you will probably remember this church in London. We went to the entrance of an alley that would have taken us straight there but it was blocked as they were filming a TV show there-something called “Silks” for BBC1. The man blocking our entrance said it was the number one drama. I’ll have to see if I can find it. I did see them film one scene. So we went way around to another alley and wandered around and finally found the church, one built by the Crusaders.

I’ve read that Crusader Churches are always round maybe because they believed that devils could hide in corners? I know there is a village somewhere with round buildings for this reason. Maybe the architecture was considered divine. Maybe they were easy to defend if necessary.

It turns out that these figures are not on top of tombs-there are no bodies there-but just memorials. If their legs were crossed they had died peacefully at home.

Spooky faces here and there.

A closeup of one of them.

A bit of color.

I liked these windows.

The Tower of London

A visit to the Tower of London is always a must if you are in London. It’s a little like Disneyland as it is so perfect and clean without any rides of course.

Love the Beef Eaters. They aren’t sure how they got their name. Prince Albert designed their costumes.

We took a free tour with this man who was very entertaining. They, the Beef Eaters, live on the grounds with their families. They are in the army before they take this post. Sometimes, he told us with horror, he has to wear tights with a special ceremonial costume.

You can see the Tower Bridge from there.

Some more soldiers changing guard there.

One view of part of the complex. Note the flag being whipped by the wind. Every day I ended up carrying my coat so didn’t take it this day and got very chilled in the wind.

We next headed to London. My friend had gotten first class tickets for the train at the same price I had paid to go second class when arriving. It was really nice with big roomy seats and free tea. Here are shots taken here and there in London, such a great city.

Lions and crowns on many buildings.

I didn’t go up on this but I bet there is an incredible view.

Soldiers and horses here and there.

We went in here and bought some tea. It’s much less expensive than Mariage Freres. And we found out that Twinnings is pronounce as twine not twin. I’ve always wondered.