UK, Chapter 4: Even more traditional tourist-y stuff

The old...

When people, especially those who don't live in the UK, think 'London', an image of the Big Ben usually comes to mind. That huge clock, adjoining the Palace of Westminster, standing tall & chiming loud... What most people don't know is that Big Ben does not refer to the clock. Big Ben is the bell housed within the clock tower. Nowadays, though, people usually refer to the clock tower using the same name. 

There isn't actually anything much to do at the Big Ben. Stand nearby and listen to the chimes, maybe. UK residents can explore the tower after obtaining permission, but tourists aren't allowed to. Still, you don't feel like you've seen London until you've at least walked past this great old clock.

...and the new

From Big Ben, walk down Westminster Bridge Road (that's the bridge near the clock tower) to the London Eye. One of the more modern tourist attractions, this is something like a giant Ferris Wheel which offers you a view of pretty much the whole of London. 

The London Eye is pretty expensive though, and also kind of boring, considering you don't do anything other than stare down from a slow-moving glass cabin. If Ferris Wheels are your thing, or if you want to see everything in London but don't have the time to actually go exploring, then you might enjoy this. Otherwise, you might want to give this particular attraction a miss. 

And now, I gotta run, 'cos the London Tourist Board or whoever's in charge is gonna come after me.

UK, Chapter 3: Traditional tourist-y stuff

Well, this is the next part of my online 'travelogue', and  this and the following post will be about  standard tourist attractions that I visited. The Tower of London, Big Ben and such places. All the places tourists never fail to visit when they come to London. 

The Tower of London was built nearly 1000 years ago, as a part of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Used first as a royal residence and then as a prison, it is now used to house the Crown Jewels.

The Crown Jewels are the crowns, robes, etc. worn by the King & Queen during the coronation ceremony & other functions. They are heavily guarded at all times, and to view them you must stand on a conveyor belt-like thing and be moved around a glass viewing case. You're not allowed to take photos, or to stop & stare at the jewels. 

I had assumed that there would be just a single crown each for the King & Queen. After all, how many crowns does one person need? To my surprise the glass case contained a variety of crowns and sceptres, of all shapes and sizes, each of which are used at different occasions. Apparently, the Queen has as many crowns as normal people have shoes!

They were all incredibly beautiful, set with precious stones, and sparkling wonderfully in the light. But I feel sorry for the Queen for having to wear them. Some, adorned with more than 400 gems, weigh several kilos. I don't believe anyone can lift their head while wearing such a heavy adornment!

The red-uniformed Guards who act as sentries at the Palace can be found here too. There are also Yeomen Warders, called Beefeaters, who are supposed to be responsible for the guarding of the Crown Jewels, but who act more as tourist guides nowadays. Their name apparently originated from the time when the Warders were paid partly for their service with chunks of beef (wonder what they'd have done if they had been vegetarian...)

 

A Beefeater

The Tower of London also has dungeons, where wrongdoers (and quite probably innocent people too) were once imprisoned. These are now used as a tourist attraction, with the kind intention of scaring visitors out of their wits. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Near the Tower of London is the Tower Bridge. This is a combination of a movable bridge and a suspension bridge, which was built in the late 19th century. The bridge, which usually carries normal road traffic, opens up to allow ships to pass through. This only occurs on certain days, when ships are scheduled to travel down that way, and sadly, I was not able to see it.

Cross the Tower Bridge from the Tower of London, and walk down Tooley Street. You will find yourself at the London Dungeons. I'm assuming they're a scarier version of the dungeons within the Tower of London. I had no intention of going there anyway, so I have no information about them (Scared? Who are you calling scared? I wasn't scared! Hmph!).

UK, Chapter 2: Changing of the Guard

Due to popular demand (read: two whole requests!), I have decided to write about the remainder of my trip to England. Since there was so much to see, it would be silly to stuff all of them into one blog post. Therefore, I have separated my trip into small parts, and will post each individually. 

This post will be about Buckingham Palace, and the Changing of the Guard.

Buckingham Palace is the 'official residence of the British monarch', according to Wikipedia. It was built more than 3 centuries ago, and structural additions have been made over the years, resulting in the imposing building we can see today.

I would love to tell you what's inside the Palace, as tourists are actually allowed inside. However, that is only when the Queen is not in. And unfortunately, she happened to be in residence when I visited, so I wasn't able to see what the inside of a palace looks like. Pity, eh? 

August is the month to go, to explore the place. But don't be too hopeful. You will only be allowed to see certain areas of the building. Probably the dullest parts. Like the dining room or kitchen...

And for all who'd like to know how to tell whether the Queen is in the Palace or not, just look for the flag above the Palace. If the flag is flying, it means she's in, and you can go have a chit-chat with her, provided you get past the Guards, of course..

The Palace is always guarded by the Queen's Guard. These are Foot Guards decked in full uniform, who have the dull job of standing in front of the Palace for hours on end. The Changing of the Guard is a ritual in which a new set of Guards arrives to relieve the old Guards who are on duty. This is a long process, done to the accompaniment of a band, and is now more of a tourist attraction than anything else.

The Changing of the Guard takes place at around 11.00am, but not daily. The seasons and weather conditions influence whether the Guard will change or not. Fortunately, my trip was in June, when the weather was fair, and I was able to observe nearly the whole ritual. I say 'nearly' because the place becomes far too crowded to see the entire thing. 

From what I saw, the Old Guard awaits the arrival of the New Guard in front of the Palace. The New Guard arrives, along with a Military Band, and the Palace keys are handed over from the Old Guard to the New (I did not see this, as the Band was blocking my view). The Band plays most of the time during this process, and then marches off with the Old Guard.

This may sound like a short process, but it isn't. There were two Bands facing each other, and each takes it in turn to play some music. There is a lot of marching about & issuing of orders in the background. All in all, spectators can expect a full 45 minutes of entertainment.

Once all this is done, two new Foot Guards are left as sentries, and they have the pleasure (or otherwise) of being stared at by hundreds of tourists.

UK, Chapter 1: Stonehenge and Kew Gardens

I have no idea what to blog about. Therefore, I am going to take a leaf out of my friend K Jay's book (find her blog at http://kayjayspeaks.blogspot.com) and write about my most memorable trip abroad. And no, just because I say 'most memorable' does not mean I have travelled a lot. It just sounds good, that's all.

It was a holiday to England. A very short holiday. 10 days short, in fact. And yes, I know you can't even explore Sri Lanka fully in 10 days, let alone England, but I was determined to try. I made a list of about 25 places that I absolutely had to visit. Fortunately, I have sensible friends who told me not to be daft, and to pick 10 places at most & go at a leisurely pace.

I still managed loads though. National Art Gallery, British Museum, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (and the Changing of the Guard), the Tower of London, Madame Tussauds, the Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew Gardens), and a place I've always wanted to see... Stonehenge.

Most of these are standard tourist-y stuff, except for Stonehenge. I don't think most people who visit England on short holidays would ever dream of having it on their must-see list. I don't think most people would be interested in a pile of stones anyway.

But Stonehenge is 'probably the most important prehistoric monument in the whole of Britain' (according to its website). Made out of various types of stones, some up to 4 tonnes in weight, obtained from places that were as far away as 240 miles, it's purpose was most likely as a place of worship. How such heavy stones were carried over such long distances, and how they were placed in the manner seen below, is a mystery, and an engineering miracle. Similar in some ways to the building of the pyramids in Egypt.

Following Stonehenge, the next place I visited was Kew Gardens (there seems to be some grammatical error here, eh?). Kew Gardens are 121 hectares of gardens & glasshouses, housing the world's largest collection of living plants (wonder where the collection of dead plants is kept... ). An enormous variety of plants can be found here, not limited to just cold weather plants, but also those which are commonly found in the tropics.

The person who took me to the gardens is something of a gardening enthusiast, who is especially keen on growing tropical plants in UK. This of course meant that most of our time was spent in the hothouses. Unfortunately, when you come from a tropical island, banana trees hold no fascination for you. So there I was, staring at a weird, pink coloured banana, trying to ignore the heat of the glasshouse and the spray of water which was periodically emitted over the plants and the unsuspecting visitors.

   

Yes, these are, in fact, bananas :P

Discomfort aside, Kew Gardens are amazing. Obviously, you can't see the whole place in one day, or even a week. But rest assured, what you do see will impress you. Below are some more photos of Kew:

  

  

There was a lot more to my trip, but this is enough for one post, wouldn't you say?

Ciao then.

Testing 1,2,3...

This is my first blog, and it's more of an experiment than anything else... because everyone I know seems to have their own blog, and I want to see what all the fuss is about.

I don't have any specific topic to talk about (and I get the feeling not too many people will be reading what I write anyway), so it'll all be general. Probably about art, books & music. And about life in Sri Lanka, 'cause that's where I live. Random stuff...

This first post is going to be short, for the simple reason that I haven't any idea what to write. I'll be back when I have something worth writing about :)