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The British Isles.... England, Ireland & Scotland
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| Slocum 43 Pilothouse Cutter |
Summer 2004 |
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Prices in London are double what they are in Florida. The Brits have to make regular "runs" to France for good prices on wine. We had difficulty with the English language as spoken by the English. Even the most English of liquors, gin, is cheaper in France. London's "road rage" is said to be the worst in the world.... almost as bad as Florida! Traffic is horrendous and crossing the street is a life/death adventure, especially for those of us who drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Polaris' hot water heater element broke and we had to trek to the marina showers for five weeks in freezing weather. We bought a TV but reception was poor and we only had five channels. The Brits bag their own groceries and we weren't good at it. We held up the line every time. Pubs are always smoke-filled. There are very few public trash bins (terrorism?). That means more litter than a beautiful city should have to suffer. The marina clothes washers and dryers are very expensive and hardly ever work well. A protestor dressed as Spiderman climbed a crane in St. Katharine's Dock and stopped traffic across Tower Bridge for five days. We had to reroute a lot of our planned excursions. Too cold, too much rain. Oh well, who cares? It's LONDON!!! We love it! "Warm-Up" Trip to St. Pete! When the hot water heater element broke on Polaris and we had to fight wind, rain and cold every morning to the marina showers over icy piers, a trip home to sunny St. Pete sounded great. We needed to thaw. ...and Bob had his wheels back for frequent trips to West Marine and MacDonald's. More Pix
Bobbies on Horseback
Prospect of Whitby Pub
Bob Gets Comfortable on One of the Works of Art at Whitechapel Gallery.
Bob Bonds With a White Pelican in St. James Park.
Old Observatory, Greenwich
Allison and Bradley Walters
Mayflower Pub
Light Art Exhibit, V&A
The Fabulous Victoria &Albert Museum, or as the Londoners like to call it, the "V&A."
Imperial War Museum
Kew Gardens Palm House
Our "St. Kat's" Marina Group Donned Hard Hats for Flood Barrier Tour
American Cruiser Friends From St. Katherine Docks Judy and Lee at Kensington Palace.
Christmas Carols in London
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A Fond Farewell to London Town London was Polaris' home from October of 2003 until April 1, 2004. Although we left her for warm weather over the bitterest weeks of winter, our months there were among the most enjoyable, exciting and amazing of our lives. We gorged ourselves on her history, her wide variety of cuisines, her beauty, her culture, her unique personality. In a race against the time when we would need to cast off for other destinations in the British Isles this season, we became pros on the bus routes, the trains and, of course, the famous "tube."
Art Lover at Whitechapel Gallery in East End.
The Late Edith Piaf's French Canal Boat, "Flamant Rose", Where We Shared Thanksgiving with Others in the Marina. We were introduced to the Wong Kei in Chinatown by three off-duty London police detectives whom we had met on the Isle of Guernsey at Peter Port. It became our favorite Chinese restaurant and we returned several times for breast of duck in plum sauce, crispy fried seaweed and other specialties. We also discovered wonderful new Indian cuisine in our own backyard as St. Katharine Docks are in the East End near Brick Lane, the Bengali district of London. Time Out magazine recommended the Sweet n' Spicy as most authentic of the area's cuisine and we became regulars.
A View of the River Thames and the National Maritime Museum, from the Old Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
No Floridian Could Resist Shooting Pink Plastic Flamingoes on an Upstairs Balcony in Brixton, London. On our quest to visit the marketplaces we "tubed" to Portobello in Notting Hill, Covent Garden, Petticoat Lane in East End, Spitalfields and Brick Lane in Jack the Ripper's neighborhood, Brixton on the south side, Leadenhall (ordered by Charles II to reopen immediately after the Great Fire of 1666 to feed the displaced masses), and our own neighborhood market, Borough.
Realistic Models in the Recreation of Churchill's War Rooms Underneath the Cabinet Buildings. His Living Quarters, and Those of His Wife Clementine, Their Kitchen, and all the Military Department Rooms Have Been Opened to the Public Just One Year.
Creative Graffiti in Notting Hill Section of London.
One of Several Hot Houses at Kew Gardens and part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Where George II's Kew Place Still Stands. Kew Is Famous for Its Orchids and Huge Variety of Botanicals.
Not Much for Directions, Bob and Bob Take a "Time Delay" Photo Like the Two Engineers They Are. Bob Mueller Stayed Aboard With Us for a Short London Visit.
We Missed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace So We Just Took Photos of Each Other.
Magnificent Orchid Exhibit at Kew Gardens. Famous pubs such as Prospect of Whitby (oldest on the riverfront), Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (oldest period), Town of Ramsgate, Captain Kid's (located next to the hanging wharf where unfortunate Captain Kid was hanged without much evidence of any crimes), The Ten Bells (where Jack the Ripper was seen leaving with a woman just twenty minutes before she was found butchered in an alley across the street), the Mayflower Pub (renamed years after the Mayflower ship left there with her first group of pilgrims to stage a crossing from Plymouth to America, and St. Katharine Docks' own Dickens Inn, just a stone's throw from Polaris' bow.
Hot House Stairway in the Palm House at Kew Gardens. And no search for the history of a civilization would be complete without visiting the many cathedrals, churches and ruins in and around London. The most famous is probably Westminster Abbey, where William the Conqueror was crowned as William I of England on Christmas Day, 1066. The Abbey is resting place of some of the most famous names in world history, including Charles Dickens, Sir Isaac Newton, five kings and three queens. St. Paul's Cathedral is most dear to Londoners. It's large dome is visible from all around the city and along the Thames River and its crypt holds the tomb of Lord Horatio Nelson, England's most beloved naval officer who died in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Westminster Abbey Caught In a Rare Spot of Sun. Southwark Cathedral on Bankside is built on the ruins of original Roman walls that encircled London around the time of Christ. It was also the church of William Shakespeare and his brother during their time in London. Nearby is the new Globe Theater, built under sponsorship of American movie producer Sam Wanamaker to the exact specifications of the original. It took Wanamaker about 20 years to realize his dream of giving Shakespeare a presence in London through the theater's replica, museum and international Shakespearean performances. We noted that Christopher Wren must have been the busiest architect/designer on record for all the churches, palaces and government buildings he redesigned after the Great Fire. One such church is the Temple, built by the Knights Templar and featured prominently in the recent best seller, The DaVinci Code. The palaces: Buckingham, Kensington where Princess Diana and her sons lived, Westminster, Somerset, Hampton Court a short ride out of town to one of Henry VIII's favorites. The ghost of Catharine Howard is said to haunt the halls where she raced to King Henry to beg for her life after being accused of adultery. Alas, off came her head. The gems in our adventures in England are the people as much as the places. Not just the hundreds of friendly, generous and helpful people from the British Isles, but also the other Americans we have met who sailed across the Atlantic to live the cruising lifestyle as long as health and circumstances permit. In our own marina, St.Katharine's Dock, we met Americans Lee and Joe on Southern Cross; Judy and Bob on Pooh Bear, Pat and Jack on Whoosh!, Cindy and Bob on Godspeed. And just next to us were Australian Ross and his wife Weh Weh on Gemini whom we had first met on our landfall in Portugal as they came up the coast from the Med and who were always quick with a helping hand.
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Big Ben and Parliament from the London Eye.
Fountains near New City Hall, Tower Bridge Behind.
The Guys at Sweet 'n Spicy Where We Became Regulars.
Friend Al Davis Flew In for a Few Days on Polaris While She Harbored in the Center of London. We thank Al for several digital photographs he shared for this site.
Reproduction of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre As It Was When He First Presented Many of His Most Famous Plays.
Saturday Afternoon in the Ten Bells Pub. This Is The Only Place Where the Man Called Jack the Ripper Was Actually Seen Leaving With One of His Victims. Her Body Was Discovered Twenty Minutes Later.
Al Davis at the Ten Bells Pub in Spitalfields, London.
London Will Always Be a Center for Fashion Statements.
Any Artist Who Can Make Hundreds of People Lie on a Concrete Slab to View His Work Has Done Something Right. The Atmospheric "Sun Ball" in the Entry to the Tate Modern Has Everybody Down on the Floor.
Hampton Court Palace, One of Henry VIII's Favorites After It Was "Given" to Him by Cardinal Thomas Wolesy When He Failed to Obtain Papal Approval for the King's Divorce from Catherine of Aragon to Marry Anne Boleyn.
Art from Lighting at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Cascading White Orchids at Kew Gardens.
Anybody Can Stand Up And Speak His Mind at Speaker's Corner Every Sunday in Hyde Park. This Tradition Was Sanctioned by the Government in 1872 For Citizens to Exercise Free Speech and Debate Public Issues.
Famous Piccadilly Circus, Near the Theater District.
Approach at Night to "London Eye", the Large Revolving Wheel That Is Now London's Biggest Tourist Attraction Since Being Built by British Airways for the Millineum.
Roman Well at Victoria and Albert Museum. London Police Detective Bradley Walters, one of the sailors we met in Guernsey, and his wife Allison, had us to dinner in their old English cottage in Seven Oaks, outside London. They are a lovely young couple whose sense of adventure and interest in the world have taken them to parts of the globe most of us will never see. It's difficult to leave London, but we cast off now for a new sailing season in the British Isles where we'll cruise the east coast of Ireland, west coast, canals and lochs of Scotland (will we see "Nessie" when we pass through Loch Ness?), down the west coast of Wales and back around the south coast of England where we plan to harbor Polaris next winter. For some of our excursions inland from London, click on the link at the end of this page and enjoy more of England's history and beauty.
Goodnight, Dear London, and Goodbye... For Now.
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