A Georgia Girl in Germany

Last Thanksgiving, I took the kids to London (yes, Thanksgiving 2007 -- I am again horribly late updating the blog from our trips). We didn’t necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving there, but instead took advantage of the time off to squeeze in a little traveling.

We took a tour bus to London from Stuttgart, which made for a LONG drive. We had a short break from the drive when we arrived in Calais, France, to catch the ferry across the English Channel to Dover. You can tell by this photo that Benjamin enjoyed looking at the “big boats” much more than posing for a quick picture.

Daylight began breaking as we neared the White Cliffs of Dover. The breeze on the ferry’s deck made it rather chilly outside, so we didn’t stay long. Late November also meant it was cold outside. This was essentially the same ferry ride I took back in 1984 when I was an exchange student to England -- except then I traveled south from Dover to Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, and back.

Our first stop was to the Tower of London where we saw the Tower Bridge opening to allow a ship to pass through on the Thames River. While we were there, a Japanese lady grabbed Benjamin and had her photo taken with him. I’m glad I was keeping a close eye on him and was able to immediately step in. I don’t think she meant any harm by it, but it certainly got his attention -- and gave me an opportunity to stress the importance of staying close together on trips!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go inside the Tower of London, so had to settle for a photo of the kids with it in the background. In 1078, William the Conqueror conquered all of England except London so built the tower as a fortress. His guards were the first “beefeaters,” and were all retired NCO’s.

I remember going through the tower to see the Crown Jewels and hearing the story of how Queen Anne Boleyn’s ghost still haunts the place when I visited England in 1988 with Mom, Dad and David. She was beheaded there in 1536 for treason against King Henry VIII, and has allegedly been seen haunting the chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula, where she is buried, and walking around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. I may have to bring the kids back so they can get a glimpse of the amazing jewel collection and display.

After the long bus ride, our introduction to London was a driving tour of the city’s highlights. I would have liked to have left the bus to visit the insides of these amazing buildings, but time was a premium and therefore didn’t allow us to do so. Plus, I think they wanted to go easy on us that first day after having to sleep on the bus overnight. Again, I think another trip to the city is in order.

Here’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. When the Romans left London in 400 A.D., the Brits built the cathedral, and have held daily services on this very site for 1,400 years! This is where the 80th and 100th birthdays of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother were celebrated as well as where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married.

This is the Great West Door of St. Paul’s Cathedral. During World War II, everything around the cathedral was bombed, so guards walked on the rooftop and threw off any embers that landed up there and managed to save the cathedral by doing so.

Benjamin was intrigued that a clock tower could have the same name as him, but quickly was able to recognize Big Ben no matter where we were in the city when we saw it. There are nine tons of gold leaf on Big Ben -- that’s a lot!

Here’s Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament on the banks of the Thames River. The River really does snake its way through the middle of the city.

We quickly drove past the Jewel Tower of the Houses of Parliament. From 1621 to 1864 the tower was used as a government office and to store records of the House of Lords. When a fire engulfed the Palace of Westminster in 1834, only the Jewel Tower and Westminster Hall survived.

Another view of Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey -- officially known as the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster -- is a large, mainly Gothic church just west of the Palace of Westminster. It’s the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and later British monarchs. Since the coronations in 1066 of both King Harold and William the Conqueror, all English and British monarchs (except Edward V and Edward VIII, who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey.

Who couldn’t recognize Buckingham Palace!?!! When the union flag is flying, like in this photo, it indicates that the Queen is not there.

St. James Park is across from Buckingham Palace, and was built 300 years ago to look “natural.” In fact, Charles II used to walk through the park in order to flirt. Oh, those royals! :-)

We then went to Trafalgar Square, with Admiral Lord Nelson’s column dominating the square. When I visited London with my exchange family in 1984, I remember my host-brother, Michael, pointing out Nelson’s Column, then looking at me with bewilderment as he asked, “You mean you don’t know who Lord Nelson is?” I politely said no, but took a photo of the column to show that I quickly understood that he was a significant individual in the British Navy. He first went to sea as a 12-year-old cabin boy, and rose through the ranks to vice-admiral. He became famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory in the war, during which he lost his life. As a side note, he was so short that he had the legs cut off his chairs so his feet could touch the ground when he sat down.

These are three of the four lion statues surrounding Nelson’s Column, representing his four great victories. The sculptor wanted to accurately sculpt the lions, so studied a lion from the zoo. Unfortunately, the lion died of fright when he was taken out of the zoo (imagine that!), and the sculptor ended up accurately sculpting rigor mortis in the lions’ paws!

Labels: Benjamin, England, MacKenzie, Travel, Zachary