Statues in the Park

Across the street from Westminster and across from Parliament, a small square park is surrounded by whizzing cars, taxis and buses. And in the otherwise empty park are several statues. We saw the striking image of Winston Churchill, a man of iron commemorated in iron as it seems, in an earlier post. We went by for another look before leaving London.

Nearby is a more traditional statue of King George V, the father of the reigning Queen Elizabeth II. A close look will tell you that a bird had not treated for late King kindly. That stripe coming down the side of his head is the proof of that.

After that final turn through the park, we went back to the hotel, finished packing, and were prepared for a pleasant ride to the cruise ship dock at Dover. "Will we see the White Cliffs?" I asked our driver. "Oh, yes, they are right there," he answered.

Oh, yes, they were. They are. And you will see in the next post.

Westminster Abbey

Five days had passed by in the proverbial flash, four in and around London and one in Paris. On Friday morning we needed to pack and be ready for our car to pick us up at 10:00 AM. Time to do anything interesting? Of course.

We walked by Westminster Abbey twice and we drove by it about six times earlier in the week. By Tuesday we knew we did not have time to stand in line for the tours of the famed edifice. Tours begin at 9:30, far too late to help us on Friday. But as I talked to our Stratford tour guide, I discovered that a regular Church service is held at 8:00 AM daily. So there we were, at the door, waiting to attend the service.

A very positive experience, one that I would repeat on another trip, the actual service took about 35 minutes and it was held in a side chapel. That meant that we would have to walk through the great sanctuary, passing by the grave of Rudyard Kipling and the monument to Shakespeare. On the way out we saw additional memorials and even took the time to light a candle, which let us look some more.

The awe-inspiring Abbey will be on our tour list next time. But so will the Church service!

Rusty Tub Ring

No one bathes in these historic baths, but the water still flows. And in an adjoining restaurant, anyone can stop by and take a free glass of the water. It is filled, of course, with minerals and is supposedly healthy. It tasted a bit iron-like, nearly rusty, to me. But I had seen the walls you see here and that taste was likely in my mind.

After the Romans left and the baths fell into disrepair, the old Roman aqueducts and pipes still carried the water into, through, and out of the old abandoned building. But over several centuries, the water would become plugged up and eventually backed up as high as you see it on the wall. It was discussed whether the walls should be cleaned, but the decision was that this is part of history as well. I certainly agree with the decision.

Next post will visit Westminster Abbey, just five minutes' walk from the Jolly Hotel St. Eames, a wonderful home in London, for our last stop in Britain. Meanwhile, a song to share. Roger Miller, the King of the Road, who also wrote classics like Dang Me and Chug-A-Lug, had a minor hit in 1965 that ran through my mind much of the week in the UK. Catchy, isn't it, even without the tune and the beat?

ENGLAND SWINGS

England swings like a pendulum do,

Bobbies on bicycles two by two,

Westminster Abbey, the Tower of Big Ben,

The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

Now if you huff and puff

And you finally save enough

Money if you take your family

On a trip across the sea

Take a tip

Before you take a trip

Let me tell you where to go,

Go to England, Oh,

England swings like a pendulum do,

Bobbies on bicycles two by two,

Westminster Abbey, the Tower of Big Ben,

The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

Roman Baths

The British town of Bath is so named because of the hot springs, the baths, that are located there. These are the only natural hot springs on the island, and the spa pumps out thousands of litres of water a bit over 100 degrees, every hour, every day. This area was known for the water several millennia ago, and the conquering Roman army developed the baths two thousand years ago. After the Roman occupation ended, the baths fell into disrepair, but much of the original Roman Baths is now rediscovered and is open to tourists. And what a sight it is!

Part of our tour was a chance to meet a leftover Roman soldier, here at the Baths to recuperate from the wars. He certainly has been here for centuries, as he looks a whole lot more Irish than he does Roman. Still, the visual effect was good. And so was our look at the actual spa area, the old Roman baths that would have been filled with soldiers and other important people just that short twenty centuries ago.

In the next post we will discuss the rusty ring around that bathtub.

Bath

Upon arrival in Bath, the first thing seen is the Bath Abbey, a beautiful ancient cathedral on the site of the coronation of King Edgar, the first King of England, well over ten centuries ago. With its intricate ceiling and its stained glass windows, it is another in a long list of fine visits to historic Churches.

The next post will show one of the stained glass images, and then will move on to the Roman Baths, a feature of Bath.

A Henge & A Mortise

Here we see two details, photos I had no idea I would be taking. In one, we see the carved protrusion that once was fitted for a depression in a horizontal stone. Mentioned in the prior post, this photo also show the mossy growth that adds depth and character to the look of the giant rocks.

Even more surprising to me was the clearly visible depression, almost like a shallow moat, that is the henge of Stonehenge. Diagrams at the site suggest ways of using the depression to help in the arduous task of standing these giants in place with the rudimentary tools of the time. And of course with manpower.

The awe of the age of Stonehenge, following hard upon the wonder of Windsor, would have been enough for a day's trip. But we were still on the road. We look at Bath in the next post.

Stonehenge

Older than Windsor? Must be headed to Stonehenge. How can something look and feel exactly as you expect it to, and at the same moment be surprising? For one thing, I never noticed or read about the mortise-and-tenon construction that made sense to me and yet astounded me. If you do not understand these words, look at the bump atop one of the vertical stones that has no cross stone on it. That bump was formed, made to fit snugly into a hole in the cross piece that was once up there.

To consider the age of this sundial/monument/whatever else it might have been truly reformulates the word "awesome" to my vocabulary. On the next post, we will look at what a "henge" is.

OLD IS RELATIVE

After the revelation of age seen at the Tower of London, just three days past,
Seeing Windsor Castle, just as old and also owned by William the Conqueror,
Underlines the newness of everything American, especially me.
Driving west and south from Windsor, though, changes it all again
As the two-lane road forks, we bear right, we park, we walk under the
Road, we come up the path face-to-face with the stone enigma
Called Stonehenge, surrounded by people and all alone, thirty to fifty
Centuries old in the windy cold summer sun.