Well, there are an assload of pictures here, and a lot of them are very, very cool. We spent the day in London on Monday and were very touristy. Will have to let the results speak for themselves.
Anyway, we took the 10:01 train from Oxford to London Paddington. Once we were on the Underground to Tower Hill, Gillian had a good idea: it was right on the way and our cards are good for all day, so let's stop off at King's Cross.
You know, that King's Cross.
I swear, I had the idea too, she just mentioned it first.
Yes, the trolley is supposed to look like that. Really makes you wish you could walk right through.
Anyway, we got back on the subway and went to the Tower of London, where we stood in a long line for tickets. AKA we should have remembered to do this online.
A catapult in what used to be the Tower moat.
Gillian in St. Thomas's Tower (yes, another saint) which used to be the living quarters for several kings of England.
Me. Um. Yeah. Not fascinating.
Costumed re-enactors in the Tower.
The throne in St. Thomas's Tower.
Plaque commemorating the spot of Henry VI's death.
Gillian on the wallwalks with Tower Bridge in the background.
Gillian with her good buddy the metal executioner.
Gillian trying out for the Tower Guard. Well, I'm definitely frightened.
One of the guards outside the Jewel House. This was another of the really awesome places where photography was not allowed, so there is a lot of things which we do not have pictures of. Examples: The Hall of Thrones (where there is a seat for each English monarch since William the Conqueror) and the crown jewels themselves, set with gems ridiculously large enough that they don't even look real. The sceptre, the crowns, the orbs, the rings, the whole nine yards - we saw it all.
Me in front of the plaque of the White Tower, the original tower founded by William in 1078 or so. I *wanted* to see the plaque in the picture, but Gillian screwed it up. Oh well. And no, I don't know why I always look retarded either.
The plaque marking the spot where the bodies of the Princes in the Tower (Edward V and Richard Duke of York, sons of Edward IV and the uncles of Henry VIII) were found, after likely being killed by their uncle Richard III.
Part of the armory in the White Tower. There are, shall we say, a lot of weapons in there. Hope the gunpowder is a fake? Heh.
The Norman chapel in the White Tower. I took like 4 photos of this and all of them were blurry. Argh.
The walls in the second floor of the White Tower.
The actual block and axe used in the last beheading on Tower Green, that of a certain...
... Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat.
After this, we decided to head over to the Bloody Tower and Traitors' Gate. Stopping on the way to photograph one of the famed Tower ravens.
Voila.
The top of the portcullis in the Bloody Tower.
Gillian going up more winding stairs in the Bloody Tower.
Gillian in front of Traitors' Gate.
Me.
Me writing something for my book (the historical one). So whenever it gets published, scavenger hunt time -- which two paragraphs did I write at the Tower of London?
Me writing again. This was at lunch, with the Thames just behind.
The memorial just beyond the Tower, commemorating the British navy who died in WWI.
After this, we took the Underground to Westminster. This is what you see when you step out of the Westminster station:
Yep, that's Big Ben. RIGHT overhead. Gillian was a little awestruck here, and informed me, "You walk, I'll gawk."
A picture through the fence into the courtyard of the Houses of Parliament.
Westminster exterior. The only kind of shots of Westminster I was able to get. Argh.
Another Westminster exterior. I tell you, this is probably the most amazing place I have ever been. It is just indescribable. I walked around the entire time with my mouth hanging open and mumbling, "Oh... my... god..." under my breath.
Here I have to steal some pictures from Google images to see if I can attempt to give an impression of what it is like.
So basically imagine walking around in the tombs of the most famous kings, queens, poets, soldiers, explorers, scientists, etc. ever. It is fairly staggering. We had to stop and pay a little homage at the grave of T.S. Eliot, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is fairly heartrending. The entire place is so beautiful it's just surreal.
A shot across the Westminster cloisters.
Big Ben and Westminster tower.
Westminster through the branches.
Looking back at Westminster at dusk.
From here we decided to go find Buckingham Palace...
The statue across from Buckingham Palace as lit at dusk.
Us in front of the Buckingham Palace gates.
The Christmas tree in front of Buckingham Palace.
The gates of Buckingham Palace.
Yeah. I think that's my favorite picture.
The courtyards of the Houses of Parliament at night. We decided to go find Harrods, or rather Gillian did, since I was kind of dragging ass by this point.
Voila. Harrods is completely insane. It's a paradise for the richie-rich, has everything imaginable, and is completely kitschy yet oddly fascinating. I was extremely tired so did not really care that much about looking around (besides, department stores freak me out) but it was definitely quite something. Which would be more fun if I was about 1,000 times richer.
The memorial plaque to Princess Diana on the 2nd floor of Harrods. At least I think it was the 2nd floor.
The pages of the book.
On the walk back to Sloane Square to catch the Underground.
The display in Sloane Square.
Gillian in Paddington as we were getting on the train back to Oxford. Which, for various reasons, took forever. And so did this post! Wheesh. Next big entry will probably be on Saturday after we go to Stonehenge.
Damn, it's almost Christmas. Where does time go....?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
LONDON! (Lots and LOTS of Photos)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Winter Solstice At Oxford Castle (Photos)
We have been very busy over the past few days, so I haven't had time to sort through all the photos we've also been very busy collecting. (Except the Hall of Jewels at the Tower of London and the interior of Westminster Abbey. Fun-killing yahoo camera Nazis. Grr). Anyway, here are the pictures from Oxford Castle, where we went to celebrate the winter solstice. And a lovely time was had by all, as usual.
This is what we call the faerie hill, also known as the mound where the original Norman motte-and-bailey castle was built in 1071 by Robert D'Oily, one of William the Conqueror's vassals. Since I have been big into this period of English history lately (my new project has a lot to do with it) this was especially cool for me.
Definitely a very atmospheric shot of a tree. Look out for the Little People...
The passage underneath the hill, found at the very top. Very sadly, it had a gate in the way, because we were extremely curious.
The gate. Complete with CCTV. Dammit.
The castle as seen from the hill.
The tower of Nuffield College also as seen from the hill.
The castle again as seen from the hill, and the tree as it looks like from the top. The tower in the background is St. George's Tower (remember this name, as it's where we actually went up BEFORE these pictures on the hill were taken, but I rearranged the order to make a more logical progression). St. George's Tower dates from pre-Conquest England and was likely already standing when Robert D'Oily set out to build the rest of the castle.
Gillian in front of the tree. As you can see from her hair, the wind was howling.
A closer shot of St. George's Tower through the branches of the trees. Where we head off to....
...climb a lot of very twisty, much-darker-than-this-but-my-camera-has-flash-control-problems stairs!
Very very twisty stairs. 101 in fact, all the way up to the top of St. George's Tower.
The roof of one of the rooms on the way up to the top.
A vaguely spooky view of a lantern on the stairwell. I think...
The arrow slits at the top of St. George's Tower.
Gillian in one such arrow slit.
Me in the arrow slit. I am pissed that this picture turned out blurry. Blame the wind.
The faerie hill and the Nuffield College spire as seen from the top of St. George's.
Another shot of Nuffield and the hill.
Gillian demonstrating how much the wind was roaring at the top.
The doorway back down the stairs...
... the very very twisty stairs...
... all the way to the haunted Norman crypt. This was me attempting to show how dark it was down there, but my camera retaliated for me turning off its precious flash by making it blurry as heck.
So I capitulated. Besides, it wasn't quite THAT dark. But apparently quite haunted. The electric candles break all the time and other weird things have been reported.
The passageway leading out of the crypt.
Gillian in the crypts. If she looks slightly leery, it was because the tour guide had just told us that one of the chief two ghosts is supposed to haunt the corner directly behind her -- a priest with piercing eyes, who is notably unhappy about anyone coming to the crypt who is not a fellow priest or the corpse of a convict to be dressed for burial. So Gillian gave the corner one or three suspicious looks over her shoulder before she turned her back on it. (The other ghost is apparently a monk named Bernard, and since he doesn't do anything but stand and stare, nobody is sure how they found out that his name is Bernard. That and sap people's energy and break candles. Sounds interesting).
The vaulting in the crypts.
Gillian in the old prisoners' quarters, giving her best unhappy face.
That does it for the December 21 pictures. Next post: London! (We took like 70 photos, and it would have been twice as many if they'd let us take pictures inside Westminster. I can't even describe that place, it's simply jaw-dropping, and may have to raid Google to see if I can give a sense of what it's like).