Visit with Kat in London

The last day of my trip to England with mom, we spend with a good friend of mine, Kat. She had actually been in the US on vacation when we first arrived in London, but returned in time to see us before we headed home.

We started our day together at the Orangery at Kensington Palace - where Princess Diana lived when she was alive. This was a beautiful English tea parlour where we enjoyed tea and desserts. We tried to be very "proper". Here are a few pictures.

In front of Kensington Palace

Inside the Orangery

tea, anyone?

Emily and Kat with our tea

"OH, how Proper!"

mom is the best at looking proper

After tea, we explored some of London that mom and I hadn't seen yet. I don't have many pictures from this, but here is one from Portobello Road (or, "mushroom road" as mom called it). I was really excited because in the 1971 movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" there is a song "Portobello_Road" - and here I am at that exact place!

"Portobello road, Portobello road

Street where the riches of ages are stowed.

Anything and everything a chap can unload

Is sold off the barrow in Portobello road.

You’ll find what you want in the Portobello road."

And this, my friends, concludes my trip to England, my trans-continental journey and my 2.5 year abroad.

Homeward bound!

Canterbury, England

The other day trip that mom and I took was to Canterbury, England. Probably most famously known for the Canterbury Cathedral (which is home to the Canterbury choir). As was most of our trip, the day was chilly and wet. But, we persevered and still really enjoyed the quaint town, old castle ruins and the cathedral.

on our way to Canterbury

we arrived and that's the "way out"

(we thought those signs were funny!)

We first went to the old Norman castle still standing (barely) on the edge of town

mom waves from a second story window

looks like it could lead to the secret garden!

an old burial mound - seen from atop the old city wall

looking out from on top of the mound

The Canterbury Cathedral

Emily in front of the Canterbury Cathedral

the pulpit inside the cathedral

a candle to mark the shrine of St.Thomas of Canterbury

prayer candles

modern stained glass window

going outside at the cathedral

the outdoor corridor

while we were outside this little (well, not so little) feline climbed aboard my backpack

it stayed there for a really long time as we walked around outside

SO funny!

Ha! Ha! Really funny. A bar in town.

Yellow Rose in Canterbury!

How to build a Global Community

I found this posted on my mom's bulletin board in her kitchen. I thought it was worth sharing. It's from a greeting card made by Syracuse Cultural Workers. Enjoy!

How to build a Global Community

Think of no one as "them"

Don't confuse your comfort with your safety

Talk to strangers

Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels

Listen to music you don't understand ** Dance to it

Act locally

Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture

Question consumption

Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up and smell the exploitation

Look for fair trade and union labels

Help build economies from the bottom up

Acquire few needs

Learn a second (or third) language

Visit people, places, and cultures - not tourist attractions

Learn people's history

RE-define progress

Know physical and political geography

Play games from other cultures

Watch films with subtitles

Know your heritage

Honor everyone's holidays

Look at the moon and imagine someone else, somewhere else, looking at it too

Read the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Understand the global economy in terms of people, land and water

Know where your bank banks

Never believe you have a right to anyone else's resources

Refuse to wear corporate logos: defy corporate domination

Question military/corporate connections

Don't confuse money with wealth, or time with money

Have a pen/email pal

Honor indigenous cultures

Judge governance by how well it meets all people's needs

Be skeptical about what you read

Eat adventurously

Enjoy vegetables, beans and grains in your diet

Choose curiosity over certainty

Know where your water comes from and where your wastes go

Pledge allegiance to the earth: question nationalism

Think South, Central and North - there are many Americans

Assume that many others share your dreams

Know that no one is silent though many are not heard - Work to change this!

Oxford, England

Oxford, named as such due to the shallow part of the river where people and oxen forded (crossed) the river, Oxford is now known not as a prime local for raising oxen, but rather as a prestigious place to get an education.

Mom and I took a day trip to Oxford, England during our week in the UK. We were trying to decide between Oxford and Cambridge and decided on Oxford for no particular reason. Well, we were sure glad that we did - because what a beautiful town it was!

arrival at the Oxford Station

the city Ox statue

the quaint streets of town

part of the University

the cathedral and grounds

looking into the Cathedral's courtyard

"Alice in Wonderland" was written in Oxford

and based on a dean's daughter, "Alice"!

I bought the book with original illustrations.

a dramatic face in front of the University's theatre

this is where all the graduation ceremonies are held

And interesting fact: you can have your graduation ceremony whenever you wish - be it the day after you pass your exams for your degree...or 30 years later. Every student signs up for a day that his most convenient for her/him. Interesting, huh?

from the top of the theatre

a beautiful green in front of an academic building

a yellow rose of Oxford!

London with my mom

At last, I am posting about London. It's been a long time, but my time at home has been so busy! My sister's high school graduation, sorting through about 10,000 pictures, a welcome home party and two days on a criminal court jury, I am finally ready to sit down and write about the last portion of my trip home. Better late than never.

After visiting my friend Luis in the Netherlands, I caught an Easy Jet flight from Amsterdam to London. I had convinced my mom to take a holiday and come meet me in London for a week before I headed back to the states. Seeing as London has four or five airports, it was not surprising that I flew into a different airport than the one at which my mother was arriving. So, I quickly hopped on the "inter-airport shuttle" and headed across town to meet my mom.

Upon arriving at the airport, both my hiking boots decided they were tired of silence and promptly adjusted themselves to have mouths. In other words, the soles of both came detached nearly simultaneously. I had to walk by picking my knees up nearly to my chin in order to avoid tripping over them. It was hilarious - at least to everyone else! :) But despite my clown shoes and the drizzly wet weather, I managed to place myself in the receiving line before mom came out of the terminal. What a happy reunion.

A friend of mine who lives in London (but who was unfortunately away on vacation the entire time we were there) was kind enough to "lend" us her flat for the duration of our stay in England. This was an financial life saver. London is SO expensive!!! We headed out of the airport, to the Tube (London subway) and to my friend's flat.

To ensure that we had the full and true London experience, we were met with dreary, wet and quite chilly weather. This was to continue every day until the very last one of our trip. So, we arrived at the apartment VERY happy to be there and slightly worse for the wear (or at least wetter for the wear!)

Despite the weather, we forged ahead and managed to see quite a lot of London. Our first day, we spent on a 2 story bus tour of the city (Big Bus Company). We battled the weather on the upper deck (open) with our raincoats as long as we could before retiring to the lower, enclosed part of the bus. Here are a few pictures from day one in London.

Red city bus circling Trafalgar square

lion molded with the iron from french cannons

Big Ben

(which is actually the bell, not the clock!)

the tower bridge

Enter the Tower of London

Emily in front of the Tower of London

Royal armor in the Tower of London

mom strikes a pose to show our state at the end of this rainy day!

For the rest of the trip, we alternated a day in London with day trips to Oxford and Canterbury. I will write about the day trips later. For now, enjoy some of London as we saw it.

First of all, the best purchase we made was our "Oyster cards" - or subway passes. We bought the week-long unlimited ride cards and probably spent about 5 times their value with all our rides on the Tube. Mom was continually amazed by how quickly I navigated through the mazes of subway. My reply was simple. "It's easy! It's all in ENGLISH!"

the tube station near the flat where we were staying

consulting my handy dandy London map book

mom next to a train whizzing off

SAINT PAUL's CATHEDRAL

The magnificent dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in London is second in size only after St.Peter's Basilica in the Vatican ( Italy). The present cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the fire of London destroyed the old one (from the Norman times). The cathedral is not only a work of art, but it is also a symbol of London. Many significant weddings (Charles and Diana) and funerals have been held here. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but here are a couple from the outside. I also climbed the 300 something steps to the balcony ledge around the top of the dome for a great view of London. (Thank goodness it stopped raining for a while!)

the front of the Cathedral with a statue of Queen Mary

on the top of the cathedral with London behind me

Looking down at the square below

COVENT GARDEN

This is not actually a garden, but a part of London known for it's cafes, shops and street performers. Mom and I enjoyed coffee, dessert and some interesting performances here one afternoon.

performance one

carrot cake break

performance two

Buckingham Palace

And of course, no trip to London is complete without a visit to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, our timing was off, so we didn't get to see changing of the guard. But, we did get to watch this one (funny hat and all) march around bringing his knees to his belly buttons as he did so. (Maybe all the people who saw me at the airport just though I was practicing to guard the palace!)

Em and mom in front of Buckingham Palace

one of the guards

Westminster Abbey

Down the road from Buckingham Palace is Westminster Abby. This church is used formally by the royal family for coronations and royal celebrations. It, like St.Paul's, is truly magnificent. Mom and I 1.enjoy church and 2. didn't want to pay another entrance fee, so we headed to the abbey for their daily prayer service at 8am. It was short and sweet, but beautiful. And having the service in a side room of this magnificent church was very special. Again, I didn't get any pictures of the inside (which we did get to walk through on the way to the small chapel) but here are a couple from the front...including one of the "modern day saints" portrayed at the entrance.

Westminster Abbey

It took a minute to figure out that this truly is

Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.

Shakespeare's GLOBE THEATRE

The third Globe theatre to be build, the current one stands about 200 meters from where Shakespeare and his contemporaries built the first one. Millions of dollars and many years were dedicated to the study of what could be excavated from the original Globe as well as other theatres of the same time period so that this one could be built as accurately as possible. We didn't have time to see a show, but we did take the tour of the theatre (and see rehearsal in progress) and visit the Shakespeare museum housed under the theatre. What a neat place.

Emily in front of the Globe Theatre

some of these I never knew were Shakespeare!

mom in front of the Globe

(and the ice cream truck)

ice cream break by the Globe

(and look, it cleared up!)

Random sites of London

It was truly a wonderful trip, despite the rain.

More to come later on our day trips to Oxford and Canterbury as well as our visit with my friend Kat in London!