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Looking at London

28 Monday Oct 2013

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28 October, 2013

Just a photo dump this morning. It’s odd to me that as much as is going on in London, it’s not particularly the most photogenic of cities. Photography is not allowed either in Westminster Abbey or St. Paul’s Cathedral, so I suppose you’ll just have to visit to see for yourself. I will checking out of my hotel in the Paddington Station area of the city to catch the Tube to Victoria Station, where a train will take me to Portsmouth this afternoon. I will have a few hours there before an overnight ferry to Caen in Normandy. I expect that I will take time tonight to reflect a bit more on my experience in London.

For now, the photos. Click to embiggen.

Starting with snaps from the phone camera.

The Tardis

The Tardis

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No sign of the Doctor. Maybe I should give it a go?

No sign of the Doctor. Maybe I should give it a go?

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Totally breaking the rules here. Issac Newton's monument on the left of the Screen

Totally breaking the rules here. Issac Newton’s monument on the left of the Screen

Painting of the Queen at Westminster Abbey from the Jubilee Celebration

Painting of the Queen at Westminster Abbey from the Jubilee Celebration

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Inside St. Pauls. Rules?

Inside St. Pauls. Rules?

Monument to the Fallen American's in WW II behind the high altar, St. Paul's

Monument to the Fallen American’s in WW II behind the high altar, St. Paul’s

Climbing the Dome, St. Paul's

Climbing the Dome, St. Paul’s

View from the top of the Dome, St. Pauls

View from the top of the Dome, St. Pauls

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In a quire seat for Evensong service

In a quire seat for Evensong service

View across the quire

View across the quire

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Always be Batman

Always be Batman

My shadow on St. Paul's

My shadow on St. Paul’s

Tower of London

Tower of London

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Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

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Medieval gate, ruins of London City wall

Medieval gate, ruins of London City wall

St Martin's in the Fields

St Martin’s in the Fields

Interior, St Martin's in the Fields

Interior, St Martin’s in the Fields

Leaving the evening service at Westminster Abbey

Leaving the evening service at Westminster Abbey

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And from the camera.

North Door, Westminster Abbey

North Door, Westminster Abbey

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West Towers from the Cloister

West Towers from the Cloister

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St Pauls

St Pauls

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Lantern atop St Paul's dome. The bit with the railing just above the dome is the walkway

Lantern atop St Paul’s dome. The bit with the railing just above the dome is the walkway

Tower and City of London from Tower Bridge

Tower and City of London from Tower Bridge

Tower of London defenses

Tower of London defenses

White Tower

White Tower

13th C gate

13th C gate

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River Thames from Tower Bridge

River Thames from Tower Bridge

The Shard. Tallest building in Europe. View from Tower Bridge

The Shard. Tallest building in Europe. View from Tower Bridge

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Glass at Westminster Abbey

Glass at Westminster Abbey

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Cheers!

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I Am Not a Number, I Am A Free Man!

27 Sunday Oct 2013

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27 October, 2013

Some of you might know the reference I make in the title of this entry. If not, I suggest you find the original British television series “the Prisoner,” and give it a look. It is a somewhat sci-fi program starring Patrick McGoohan, that features a Lotus 7 in the opening.

My family have had one of the orginal Caterham 7’s since I was barely six years old. It’s my dads, but I have grown into being the chief mechanic and let him drive it now and again. For the fascinating history of this car designed by Colin Chapman and in production for over 55 years, see the Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_7 . In the early 1970s, Lotus sold the entire rights and production of the car to the main dealer in Caterham, Surry (who was compiling all the components for the kits already), and the Lotus 7 came the Super Seven. The story continues on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_Cars . Our chassis was manufactured in 1975, and assembled in the US in winter and spring of 1976. It has a Lotus Twin-Cam engine, and is built to the specification of the original Lotus 7 SS Twin-Cam (only 13 were ever made by Lotus).

Series 3 Super Seven Twin-Cam, my family's car

Series 3 Super Seven Twin-Cam, my family’s car

Caterham have improved the chassis over the years – twice fully re-engineering the whole kit – and while the current Seven looks like the same car, under the skin it is a much superior machine having perhaps a couple of suspension bushings still in common with ours.

I visited the factory in Dartford on Friday to see where these fantastic machines are hand-crafted. This was somewhat akin to a pilgrimage to Mecca for me, having grown up with and driven the old Twin-Cam since I was young.

Click any photo to embiggen.

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Be Seeing You!

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Bound for Bath

21 Monday Oct 2013

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Rainbow over Anniesland, Glasgow

Rainbow over Anniesland, Glasgow

21 October, 2013

I had planned to take the time on the train to Brighton to write about my experience in Glasgow, however my mind is a bit preoccupied with a booking error I made when purchasing the tickets for today’s journey. The Euro calendar starts on Monday rather than Sunday as the calendars in the States tend to. As such, I ticked the second day of the week, thinking that was Monday as I am used to. Turns out that was Tuesday. The Train Manager pointed this out to me on inspecting my ticked as we left Glasgow this morning. He said typically I should have to purchase fare to the journey today. Being an American tourist in First Class who doesn’t travel regularly, he allowed me to stay on without purchasing an additional ticket. He suggested I talk to the Ticket office in Birmingham and see if they might be able to sort out my problem. It remains a very possibility, and even likelihood that I will have to purchase a new ticket for the remainder of my trip to Bristol and Bath. We shall see. More, as they say, will be revealed.

My train from Glasgow to Birmingham

My train from Glasgow to Birmingham

Virgin, First Class

Virgin, First Class

Welsh countryside from the train

Welsh countryside from the train

My reflections on Glasgow are all good. A nice city with very friendly people. I didn’t get around as much as I will in other cities in the forthcoming weeks, but the purpose of my stay was not predominantly tourism. It was wonderful to reconnect an old friend. After reconnecting online nearly twelve years after we were in college together, we have been through quite a lot together via emails, online chat and phone calls here and there when she was in Hawai’i. Five years ago we saw each other for an hour while she was on a layover in Denver as she was on her way to Scotland. So the last week has been filled with stories and catching up, and for me some measure of rest before heading out on my months journey through England and France.

There’s not much ground to cover, or any particular thesis to this post, just to wrap up my time in Glasgow as I am on a four hours journey to Birmingham.

130+ steps in this pic

130+ steps in this pic

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Edinburgh Castle at night.

Edinburgh at night

Edinburgh at night

Cheers!

On the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow

On the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow