Walking Westminster Tour

Yesterday, my second Meetup in a row, back with Rewind Tours of London, for a Walking Westminster Tour. I nipped out the door to catch the bus.. of course, had to walk a bit to do that. And wouldn't you know it, a huge crowd again. But what I'd noticed on the way - was that Tower Bridge Road was blocked off. Which was where the buses were diverted by. So.. no buses. I made for the Tube instead.. second day in a row, there were severe delays on the Jubilee Line - this time, there'd apparently been a fire. Well, that was out, and I'd never make it in time on the bus now - but of course, there are alternatives on the Tube..

So I took the Northern Line - and what Google Maps recommended me was to change at Euston, for the Victoria Line. The Northern Line wasn't that well airconditioned - but neither was it that crowded. But O.M.G. what I faced on the Victoria Line.. 

It's a long and convoluted trek from the Northern to the Victoria Line in Euston - and when I got there, I could see there'd be trouble, there were such crowds on the platform. I managed to slither into a space in the second row of people waiting.. and when the train arrived, and we went to get on, there was, predictably a massive crush. I managed to squeeze in, just.

What happened next was, I think, nobody's fault. A family were getting off there - but the dad had apparently been delayed getting off, for whatever reason, and was now having trouble squeezing through the boarding passengers. I honestly didn't even see him - and he was making so little progress, it was hard to tell he was actually trying to get off until someone else said it, urging the others to make a path. Unfortunately, at some point he decided enough was enough and just started pushing forward.. I wasn't expecting it, and very nearly got shoved off the train. He had a rucksack too, you see.. twice, I nearly fell out onto the platform, and ended up having to grab the doorway.. as it was actually closing. All ended well.. but he was visibly angry on the platform.. and I was shaking, I'd had such a fright..

Alighted a few stops later - which was much easier - and joined the walk. Directions had been well given, and I found the guide without trouble - one of the group from Saturday was there as well, and I regaled them with my tale of woe before we started.. I was actually still shaking. It was the guide who spotted that my arm was filthy - of course, anything that's not normally touched by passengers (like the Tube door) is always filthy on the Tube, and I had a long streak of dirt along my arm. My hand was filthy too.. and it's that really thick soot that's so hard to remove. Happily, we were standing beside the Diana fountain, which actually had a jet of drinking water, which I used to wash up, and dried myself with a hanky.

Sadly, most of the people who signed up on Meetup never made it - I hate that, it's only good manners to cancel if you can't come. Anyway, in due course we were off! An initial stop allowed our guide to give us a brief history of Westminster.. including something I hadn't heard of, the origin of the name Constitution Hill.. apparently comes from Charles II taking strolls in the park for his constitution! Walking downhill, we came to the WW2 Canada memorial, which I'd never before seen, nor heard of:

It's hard to see in the picture, but the panels in the background have etchings of maple leaves - the emblem of Canada, of course - and they're sloped, to allow water to run down them, giving the impression that the leaves are floating downstream. Yesterday, there wasn't much water, so we didn't get the effect - but the etchings are still attractive. Meantime, our guide gives wonderfully detailed information - his description here really brought the war to life for us; I do think war, and perhaps that war especially, is a particular interest of his.

Of course, being so close, we could hardly skip a stop at Buckingham Palace:

I'd heard of the intruder, Michael Fagan, who managed to break in, some years ago.. didn't know he had done it before, and wandered around, eating and drinking! Alarms were triggered, but they thought they were faulty. Unbelievable.. As we walked on, our guide pointed out that the Union Jack was flying above the palace, rather than the royal standard, which would indicate that the monarch is in residence. This particular monarch prefers Clarence House, however, where he spent most of his life before taking the throne, and which is cosier - so I doubt we'll be seeing the royal standard over the palace much for the foreseeable future!

I'd never before noticed the nearby pillars:

Walking down the Mall was interesting, as we walked along the road, unable to move to the pavement for a while because the cycle lane was so busy.. anyway, our next stop was the pleasant surrounds of St. James' Park:

Most of the tourists were interested in feeding the ducks and swans - our guide had the more interesting pelicans in mind!

The first were apparently brought here as a gift from the Russian ambassador in 1664! The adjacent lodge belongs to the keeper, who feeds them - the public is forbidden from doing so:

Leaving the parks, we came across Clive of India:

There's a lovely memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack in Bali:

..not to mention the tourist entrance to Churchill's War Rooms:

On to Parliament Square, bedecked with what our guide informed us are English county flags:

We made for the statue of Churchill, naturally - arguably the most distinctive of the statues here:

I tell you what was fascinating though was the story of Big Ben (the bell in the clock tower), how difficult it was to install it, taking men 32 hours to winch up.. so it's no wonder, when they got it up there, and when they hit it with a hammer, it cracked, they weren't going to start over! No, they did a patch job on the bell.. which actually gave it a distinctive sound!

Also fascinating to hear about the construction of the Palace of Westminster:

And we had a look at Westminster Abbey - it seems, from a banner I saw, that there's to be a new Charles III sacristy, opening next year!

Moving along the pavement, we came across one of the more discreet protests, stencilled on a paving stone:

Our tour finished at the Pankhurst memorial:

Another fact-packed and entertaining tour from this guide! Looking forward to the new ones he has planned.

Frankly though, I was glad when it was over - my sandals were chafing, and I ended up with blisters. Lordy, what a day I was having.. I had a bit of a sit-down, then wended my way slowly towards Trafalgar Square and The Admiralty, there being a bit of a dearth of decent eateries around where we'd been walking. I needed the loo, so headed straight downstairs - and seeing how empty it was in the basement (which they call the Lower Deck), I decided to stay there, and took one of their atmospheric booths. They had a special Sunday menu, and I would have ordered something from that - but those options weren't on the app! Neither was the carafe of wine that is advertised on the menu. Honestly though, I was too tired to trudge upstairs and order from the bar - so instead, I had a Trafalgar pie and individual glasses of wine. No ice cream under the desserts on the app either - although it is on the menu - so I skipped dessert. And stayed there quite a while, with nobody to bother me save a mouse, that ran out a few times, and when I yelled at it each time, finally gave up and ran the other way..

I was way too tired last night to write what has turned out to be quite a long post. Tonight is another film, and what's coming up is Vie Privée (A Private Life), in which Jodie Foster, in a bilingual performance, plays an American psychiatrist living in France and investigating the death of one of her patients, whom she believes was murdered. Showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury - I used the last of my extra bundle of free tickets on it, my membership is expiring soon.

Tomorrow, I'm back with CT for Ludwig: Unfinished Business, a comedy about Beethoven, showing in the Playground Theatre and performed by an actual pianist. Another Fringe preview.

Next, I was thinking of two more days of film.. but now it's kind of two days of London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ)! On Wednesday, I'm doing something rather related to their ongoing Dracula events - they're showing the original Nosferatu in Wilton's Music Hall, with live music, and a couple of others from the group are also going. I'm eating in Cote St. Katharine Docks beforehand.

And on Thursday, I was thinking of Life Support, a documentary about the medics operating in Gaza. Evening showing is in the Rio Dalston. But then I saw there's a comedy showing in Riverside Studios, called The Big Dog, about a married stockbroker whose savings are cleared out by a dominatrix. Thought I might have a look at that instead.

But gee, it's turned out to be one of those really changeable days.. because now it's an unofficial LoMAZ day! One of the organisers decided to do something for International Friendship Day, and we're meeting at Between the Bridges! a free event with street food and such. They've created a WhatsApp group for it - and so far, 28 people have joined. Oh, it's gonna be so good to see them again..

Finally, I end the month on Friday with CT, heading to a concert called Sirens, with an all-female group singing classic numbers in the Emerald Theatre. Eating in L' Ulivo beforehand.