Last Dance, Last Entry

Finally, we come to my very last full day in London, 4 June 2012. I can’t say anything truly eventful happened throughout the course of the day (though the evening was a different story—more on that momentarily). It was still part of the four-day Diamond Jubilee Weekend, though not much was happening—the big flotilla had been the day before, and the true celebration, including the huge concert, would happen on the 5th. Mostly, people were quiet and involved in setting-up or staking their seats for the next day’s events.

As for me, I just wandered around all my favorite haunts, snapping photos of places that I had spent the last six months loving and building memories in.

I began my meandering walk at the Piccadilly Circus stop, and moved my way through China Town, which, neighboring the local gayborhood, I had spent a fair amount of time in. One of the places I knew I’d have to get a photo of was Little Wu’s, where I had shared more than one meal with friends.

Little Wu's

Passing through China Town, I made my way into Soho, where I captured images of places I had mentioned but not visually archived yet, including Lupo’s, the salon where Youssef, the hot Palestinian guy used to cut my hair, and the Moroccan restaurant I enjoyed with TS and BH. I also ordered one last cup of coffee from LJ’s, and took my time pursuing thorough the typical coffee shop stack of magazines (<-- foreshadowing).

Alas, I was too chicken to take a photo of Youssef.

Following that, I made one more stop at the awesome comic shop Forbidden Planet, where I finally worked up the nerve to take photos of their awe-inspiring toy display before making my way to Covent Garden and the museum area near Trafalgar Square. And, as I learned upon arriving at Trafalgar Square, I wasn’t the only American in the neighborhood concerned with the festivities…

The entryway...

Robin Roberts and the blonde woman from Good Morning, America!

Finally, I began the long walk the Mall toward Buckingham Palace. As noted earlier, people were already staking out their seating claims for the next day. They were ready with food, drink, chairs, and tents. Final touches were being put on the concert stage, which now encircled the memorial to Queen Victoria, and cameras were being set up along the top of the palace. In all, there was a great feeling of excitement in the air.

Concert Stage

Since it was so close, I also hopped over to St James’ Palace, so I could snag one last photo with the Queen Alexandra state I love so much, before doubling back for more photos along the Mall.

And, of course, I took some photos of birds and the surrounding area from my favorite bridge in St James’ park, a fitting end to my last full touristy day in London…but I’m not done yet! As I mentioned, there was still the night ahead!
 

 

While at LJ’s earlier in the day, I had stumbled upon an advertisement for a special Diamond Jubilee-themed party kicking off later that night at Heaven. Now, as I’ve made abundantly clear throughout this blog, I love(d) Heaven!!!! In fact, it was my favorite club in London! But, I knew there was no way I was going to that—after all, my flight to come back to the U.S. was early the next morning, and the last thing I wanted to do was fly with a hangover…

But then I saw the name of the performer playing there:


Lonnie Gordon.

See the red wax bubble in the middle-right.

I am a huge fan of Lonnie Gordon, and have been for years! I first got hooked on her music owing to the song “Bad Mood,” and I haven’t been able to get her out of my head since. Unfortunately, she’s never really been as big in the U.S. as she was/is in the U.K. and elsewhere abroad. She also had a pretty scary cancer scare a few years ago. So, the long and short of it is this: I had long-ago reconciled myself to the fact that I would never be able to see her perform live.

And now this.

I spent the afternoon vacillating, unsure if I should say “to hell with it” and go to Heaven that night, or if I should do the responsible thing and stay in. Ultimately, with the encouragement of Nic, KG and MM, I decided to go. And I’m so incredibly grateful that I did!


I got there super-early, in the hope that she’d perform early and I could leave. Alas, that part of my plan did not come to fruition. It seemed to be no different from any other night at Heaven, with the sole exception of a drag queen coming out dressed as Queen Elizabeth and singing “God Save the Queen,” and other than the posters there was no indication of when or if Lonnie Gordon would actually go on tonight.

But I kept waiting… And drinking. And drinking. And drinking. And then, around 1:30 AM, just as I was about to call it quits, she appeared:

She was wearing a tight fitting, long-sleeved, short, sequined black dress, and she worked the stage, stomping around in fierce black stilettos.

It was magical, even though she didn’t perform for long, and I was enraptured.


She started with a powerful rendition of “Last Dance” in honor of the recently passed Donna Summer—a fitting choice (for me), because it was indeed my last bout of dancing in London, and also because it’s my favorite Donna Summer song. Next, she launched into a Gordonesque rendition of Earth Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland,” followed by a third song that I didn’t know. And that was all, but it was more than enough.


You can see most of it in the video below (though it sadly cuts off in the middle of the third song). You can also catch a glimpse of me in the video below if you look closely enough—I'm standing right next to the person at the right-hand foot of the stage shooting video on their mobile at around the 1:29 mark.

But the best parts about her performance were the following:

First, during one of the moments when she leaned over the railing (around 8:30 in the video), looking at the audience, I seized the opportunity to yell for her attention, to which she responded by looking directly at me with her sparkling hazel eyes and mile-long lashes, and said “Hey, baby.” Sure, you can't hear it in the video—but I'm telling you, that's exactly what happened.

Shortly after that, I blew her a kiss—I was all queer-drunken-fan-boy by this point. I was sure she saw it, though she didn’t respond (for obvious reasons, i.e., she was in the middle of a song and also she doesn’t know me!)—but I knew I had done it and she had seen it, and that was enough for me. But then, after walking off stage at the end of her set, she came running back for her encore cheer, ran up to the edge of the stage, leaned over to where I was standing at the front of the pack, and blew a kiss back at me! Sadly, this is not in the video either (it cuts off before the end of her third song), but, again, I know that it happened!

Oh.

My.

God.

(That.

Can.
Dance.)


I could not have asked for a more perfect end to not only the night, but my experience in London as a whole.

And so it is on this note that I bring this travel-blog to a close. Though intended primarily as a tool to help me remember this experience, I hope that, if anyone else has read it, they’ve enjoyed what they’ve found, and perhaps been inspired to do some traveling themselves. I also wish to take a second—without blathering on or saying too much else—to just say “Thank You” to all of the people who made this trip possible, and made it so special. You all know who you are!

Cheers.

Some Beautiful and Not-So Beautiful Things...

On 29 May 2012, with my time abroad quickly drawing to a close, I decided to spend some time just wandering around central London—plus, I needed to find some sort of crown to wear to a Diamond Jubilee-themed tea party I had been invited to. Because I saw so much, but nothing really new (for the most part), what follows is basically just random snippets of interest.

Let’s start, as I did that day, with an early morning visit to Buckingham Palace. I had been alerted by EN to the fact that construction had begun on the decorations for the Diamond Jubilee concert. Even so, I was not quite prepared for the radical transformation that had taken place. 

Around the large Victoria Memorial, work had begun on a staging area, from whence performers such as Sir Tom Jones would eventually perform. Similarly, all around the circle, tiered stands had also been erected for those lucky few who had been able to secure tickets to the event. (I tried, but being a non-British citizen I was not able.)

Stage and Bleachers

From the palace, I made my way down the Mall and across St James’s Park—as I have done so often during my stay—and then over to Westminster Abbey by way of Horse Guards Road. I had hoped to find some sort of suitable crown in the gift shop there but, alas, no luck. 

Leaving Westminster, I walked by the Horse Guards Parade and on over to Trafalgar Square (with a brief stop-over at Heaven which, although not open, I wanted a photo of nonetheless). 

Continuing my walk, I swung by the National Portrait Gallery—I had wanted to check out their new exhibit on The Queen, which includes a holographic version of the picture seen below, but didn’t have time—and Leicester Square (where I got a picture taken with the blue M&M), before moving over to Piccadilly Circus and then Soho.

One of my favorite images of HM The Queen!

Do you suppose he's related to Aki T. Fish?

Aside from the usual interest in the Soho area, I specifically wanted to swing by Soho Square so I could finally take a photo of the bench dedicated to singer Kristy McColl. After being killed in a freak boating accident, McColl was memorialized in Soho Square owing to a song she wrote about the area. However, I’m familiar with her through the songs ‘Fairytale of New York’ and the awesomesauceyness that is ‘In These Shoes?’

From Soho Square I trekked onward to the ritzy Mayfair area, where I finally used the  Easter money Mom sent me to buy chocolate form Charbonnel et Walker, official chocolatiers to The Queen. It was delicious!!!

We Approve of Charbonnel et Walker Chocolate!

While there, it hit me: I would get my crown from the gift shop at Buckingham Palace! So, I circled back around—passing St James’s Palace en route—and visited the shop within The Queen’s Gallery. Sure enough, there was the perfect (toy) crown! Mission accomplished!

By now, it was getting lateish, and I had plans for that evening, so I headed home to drop off my stuff and shower, before turning around and heading back out. You see, my friend LD had agreed to cut my hair and add some red low-lights. The only problem: he lives all the way on the east end of London.

But, since I had to go out that way anyway, I decided to finally take a side-excursion to a place even further to the east that I hadn’t made it yet: Thamesmead, the filming location for ‘Beautiful Thing’! 

It took a bit of time, but I finally found the exact building and area where it was set. Unfortunately, I wasn’t comfortable staying too long—it was a highly sketchy and run-down area, and I was actually a bit afraid (something I hadn’t experienced at any other time or place whilst in London). This meant I wasn’t able to re-enact my favorite moment from the film, when Jaime and Ste slow-dance in the courtyard. Ah, well, at least I was there. 

The real thing...

The best still I could grab--with the amazing Linda Henry!

And I even took the 180 bus to get there, which was kind of a big deal only because of its connection to the film (i.e., Jaime and Ste take the 180 when they go to their first gay pub, the Gloucester).

After snagging those images, I set off for LD’s, where he proceeded to give my hair one final trim before the return home.

The Queen and I Open Parliament

In November 1951—nearly 61 years ago—King George VI and his Queen officially opened the new session of Parliament. Having just had his left lung removed less than two months earlier, the sick King was forced to listen as the Lord Chancellor delivered his speech for him. Less than three months later, the King was dead.

That was the last time the official State Opening of Parliament was carried out by both a King and a Queen. In the years since, this important ceremony has been presided over by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and her lesser-ranked husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. 

That all changed today, when this King joined The Queen as she opened Parliament…well, sort of. 

I was in the crowd, rather than riding with her in the Australian State Coach. And I wasn’t actually allowed into either Buckingham or the Palace of Westminster. But I was there in spirit!

I arrived at the St James’s Park tube station at around 9:50 AM. I knew the procession was set to leave the palace circa 11 AM, and I wanted to make sure I had a good spot staked out. As luck would have it, I got stopped briefly on the wrong side of Birdcage Walk while a group of guards marched toward their assigned places further along the procession route.

No matter, as a few minutes later I was allowed to proceed. I crossed St James’s Park quickly, and made my way to the northeastern side of The Mall. From there I moved closer to Buckingham Palace, grabbing a spot near where Constitution Hill meets The Mall.

Photo courtesy of my Oregonian friend.

While waiting for the festivities to begin, I made conversation with the woman next to me—a lovely Oregonian visiting London for the first time, and who didn’t realize the significance of the day until she arrived. 

At approximately 11:30, the first part of the procession began. 

There emerged from the palace gates a black-and-gold coach, escorted by Members of the Royal Household. Within this coach were three of the most important Crown Jewels: the Imperial State Crown, which weighs more than two pounds and is set with 2,969 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, and 11 emeralds; the Sword of State, a large broadsword bearing various symbols of the Royal Line; and the Cap of Maintenance, a further symbol of the Monarchy which—like the Sword—precedes The Queen into Westminster during the ceremony.

The Crown Jewels in their own Coach.

About 25 minutes later, the procession carrying The Queen finally set off! 

Accompanied by Prince Phillip, Queen Elizabeth was taken from Buckingham Palace in the Australian State Coach. Since she was not wearing the Imperial State Crown, she wore her famous George IV State Diadem—which has been used by Kings and Queens alike since 1820—for the short ride to Westminster Palace. 

Also part of this procession was The Queen’s only daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal—though, as with her brother Prince Charles, I didn’t recognize the Princess until I was reviewing pictures later.

Princess Anne (red plume)

With The Queen et alia off to the Palace of Westminster, I set off myself. 

My intention was simply to snap a photo of the Royal Standard being flown over Parliament—a relatively rare occurrence, to be sure—but then, after a bit of inquiry, I realized that I could possibly get another view of The Queen on her return journey.

The Royal Standard Flying Over Parliament

So I found a relatively comfy spot, pulled out my new Game of Thrones book, and whiled away the next 30 minutes or so. Sure enough, I soon thereafter found myself bearing witness to the Australian State Coach riding by for a second time.

The Queen and Prince Philip Returning to Buckingham Palace

All together, it was such a delightful morning! 

When I first came to London, I didn’t realistically expect to see The Queen. Then, when I learned that seeing her was a much easier ordeal than, say, seeing the U.S. President, I counted myself lucky to catch a glimpse of her even once. I never dreamed that I would see The Queen twice in one day—my second and third time seeing her all together—let alone glimpsing her riding in an official procession and wearing the State Diadem. 

Until next time…

Strolling Through Southwark...

As I mentioned yesterday, I really plan to make the most out of my remaining time here—apparently, I was determined to prove that point by going all out today! And what an amazing time I had!

I kicked off today by meeting my friend BC for coffee at LJ’s. She and I first met during my trip to Morocco and, like me, she’s an American studying abroad (in Ireland). We spent about 2 hours, just catching up and chatting about the similarities of our experience over caffeinated beverages and ginger bread.

Eventually it was time to part ways and so, after bidding one another adieu, I set off on the rest of my adventure. I’ve been meaning to spend some time in the Southwark area since arriving, but time and energy have simply not been on my side. Determined to rectify this situation, I started walking in that direction from Soho. En route, I made a brief stop at Forbidden Planet, a comic shop I had spotted earlier but hadn’t had time to check out.

Oh. My. Stan. Lee!

In the first few minutes of being there, I had multiple nerdgasms! They had absolutely everything this geek could want: there was a diorama of Yoda’s hut (inside and out, and perfectly sized for the Star Wars toys); statues of various action heroes and villains; a wall of everything Doctor Who related; plush comic book characters and action figures; loads of Star Trek stuff; and, of course, actual comics, books, and related films. 

Being on a tight budget, I restricted myself to two items. One of these was the first book from the Game of Thrones series—I’ve caught up on the television adaptation, and cannot wait to find out what happens, so I’m going to read ahead. The second item I bought was a two-disk She-Ra, Princess of Power DVD set. It’s basically the same ‘Secret of the Sword / Best of…’ set that we got in the states, but what caught my attention was the cover artwork: the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull was on there. Based on that alone (well, that and the £4 pricetag), I knew I had to have it! Imagine my further delighted surprise then, when I opened the pack and found that the disk images were the Sorceress and Shadow Weaver—my two favorite POP characters! #YAY!

Eventually I pulled myself away from Forbidden Planet, and resumed my journey to Southwark. 

Ultimately, I decided to go by the Tate Modern finally. Now, I should preface all of this by saying that I’m not the world’s biggest modern art fan. In fact, I’m not even the world’s biggest tepid modern art fan. Bottom line: I’m not a fan. But, I knew that I had to give it a shot, as the Tate Modern is one of the most famous art museums in existence. 

Gettin' my modern on...

I confess to enjoying it more than I expected to. The Powers that Be do a really good job of curetting the exhibits—for the most part, it’s really accessible, and ‘they’ provide the necessary historical and artistic insights that make these works of arts understandable to a wider audience. In doing so, they challenge the typical, alienating sense of religiosity and awe contained in most museum settings. I'm a huge fan of this demystification process!

The only downside is that this encourages people to bring their children. Not only is this inconvenient due to their sticky fingers and high-pitched squeals but, also, there’s nothing quite as awkward as realizing that a three year old is staring at you as you admire Paul Delvaux’s ‘Sleeping Venus’ in all her naked glory—‘cause you just know that little brat thinks you’re looking at Venus’ prominently displayed no-no parts when, in fact, you’re attention is drawn to the chick with the fierce red hair who looks like she just stepped out of a Tim Burton film about drag queens. 

But I digress…

There were a couple of pieces I enjoyed, the aforementioned being one of them. Another was Do Ho Suh’s Staircase-III. I was amazed at how detailed it was—including ‘simple’ details like light switches made out of fabric—and how this piece made me feel like I was in some weird dreamlike state. In hindsight, I really regret not getting a photo of it. (A second trip might be required at some point solely for that reason.)

Another work I want to mention, which I enjoyed seeing mostly for the spectacle, was the notorious Damian Hirst’s ‘For the Love of God’ (a.k.a. the crystal skull piece). For those who aren’t familiar, 

For the Love of God is a life-size platinum cast of an eighteenth century human skull, covered by 8,601 flawless diamonds, inset with the original skull’s teeth. At the front of the cranium is a 52.4 carat pink diamond. Since it was first exhibited in 2007, For the Love of God has become one of the most widely recognised works of contemporary art. It represents the artist’s continued interest in mortality and notions of value. Alluding to the iconography of the skull in art as a memento mori—a reminder of the fragility of life—the work can be viewed alternatively as a glorious, devotional, defiant or provocative gesture in the face of death itself. (Tate Modern website)

'For the Love of God' [NB: This image is not mine!]

 

 Now, I’m not here to get into a whole debate about Hirst and his art—I don’t know enough about the man or the topic to do so. That being said, I confess to liking this piece. And it’s for the same reason I like some of his other work that I’ve seen photos of, and even the earlier-mentioned ‘Sleeping Venus’: 

I like my modern art grim. 

You see, I realized today that I’m much more willing to give modern art a chance if it’s filled with dark colors and abject(ified), Gothic imagery. If it’s all simple geometric shapes with no purpose, pained in neon oranges and pinks and yellows, then I want nothing to do with it. Give me depictions that tell a story—about death, or about how shit this life can be sometimes—with dark blacks, and blues, and purples. That, I can appreciate.

But I’ve gone on enough about art. I did a lot more today than just that!

After leaving the Tate, I continued eastward along the Thames, passing the (rebuilt) Globe Theatre along the way. Eventually, I reached the Clink Prison Museum. Nic and I caught a glimpse of this place when we were here back in 2008, but we weren’t able to go in for one reason or another (I think we had tickets to do something that night). I knew that I just had to go there this time.

The Clink is a subterranean prison that was in operation from c.12th Century until 1780. The origins of its name have been lost to time, but it has been speculated that the sound comes from sounds of chains being affixed to prisoners—furthermore, it is from this notorious gaol (jail) that the slang term ‘the clink’ came to symbolize modern jails.

Undoubtedly arrested for public drunkenness...

It’s reputed to be haunted, though I didn’t see any ghosts. Honestly, I was kind of underwhelmed. However, it was pretty interactive—I was able to handle actual (reproductions) of torture devices that were used—and I did learn some new things, too. 

For instance, another common prison-related term used today—‘the hole’—can be linked back to the Clink. Except, rather than being solitary confinement (as we might understand it today), this was literally a hole that prisoners were shoved into and forgotten about. 

At high tide, the polluted water from the Thames would fill the hole almost completely, but not enough to drown (most of) the prisoners—instead, they succumbed to either hunger or various diseases they contracted from the water (e.g., Dysentery). It was also not uncommon for prisoners in the hole to become so waterlogged that their skin would literally begin to rot while they were still living. Terrifying!

The Hole! (You can't see it here, but the pit is filled with water.)

After touring the Clink, I climbed back up to the street level and started toward my next destination. I wrapped around the Golden Hinde, crossed London Bridge (which thankfully did not fall), passed the Monument to the Great London Fire of 1666, and finally arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral.

I arrived in time for the Evensong Service, which meant that I didn’t have to pay to get in (the main reason I hadn’t visited prior). I was able to go in and look around a bit, but there wasn’t really anything interesting that caught my attention. 

Don’t get me wrong: it’s absolutely gorgeous inside, and reminded me of so many pictures of the Vatican that I’ve seen over the years. Everything was a crisp white, glistening gold, or polished onyx—a far cry from the stony interior of Westminster Abbey, for instance. Nonetheless, I just didn’t have a desire to stay, and so I sneaked out before the service started.

St Paul's Interior

 From there I made my way through Trafalgar Square—passing the Royal Courts of Justice en route—and down to the Horse Guards Parade and Whitehall / 10 Downing Street. 

Regarding the former, today this is where the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony—which officially marks the Sovereign’s birthday—takes place, but in the past it was used for other events as well (e.g., jousts held for King Henry VIII). 

The latter site is the home of Britain’s Prime Minister. Sadly, you cannot see his exact residence from the road—the gate at the edge of the street is as close as you can get.

And, finally, I concluded my day by taking a brief stroll through St James’s Park, where I once again snapped lots of bird photos. But I also did this for another reason: for myriad reasons, I’ve found myself in St James’s Park about once a month throughout my stay. The photos I’ve taken there somewhat show the changing of the seasons, and will serve as a nice, overarching reminder of my time here.

St James's Park with Buckingham Palace

Okay, it’s late and I’m exhausted—and no wonder: GoogleMaps tells me I walked over 8 miles today—time to wrap this up! 

Today's Trip

Until next time…

You Won't Care About Most of This but, Gurl Look At That Hair! (I'm Sexy and I Know It!)

Time for another quick break from the Paris narrative!

This morning, courtesy of Groupon and my wonderful mother, I went on another walking tour—and this one was a lot less gruesome than the Jack the Ripper tour from a few weeks back! 

The topic of this morning’s walkabout was Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, and (as I’m sure you all know by now) I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff. There weren’t many details about what we would be looking at or where we were going, but participants were promised that it would highlight

the best, the worst, the most fascinating and the most worrying moments of the life of Queen Elizabeth II in honour of her Diamond Jubilee. We see where she was born, some memorable locations and some of her favourite places as well as discuss her successes and achievements during her long reign.  She has had her ups and her annus horribilis; she has seen changes more far-reaching than any monarch and has handled this with dignity and poise. (Coutours Website)

That was enough to rope me in, so off I went…

NB: Most of you will probably find this boring as all-get-out. Nic was actually laughing he was so bored. But it’s my blog and, damn it, I’ll write what I want to!

So, we met near the Bond Street tube station, which is a bit north of Buckingham Palace (near Soho, actually), and then proceeded to walk about ½ mile down Davies street. En route, we paused near Claridge’s, which Emma—our guide—informed us was home to various deposed and exiled (and just visiting) monarchs from other countries in the earlier part of the 20^th Century, particularly after World War I. 

NB: This photo is not mine!

Emma further explained that Claridge’s was/is the setting for most of the ‘thank you’ banquets hosted by visiting heads of state (following the banquets hosted by Her Majesty), because most embassies do not have adequate security for such functions.

Now, I don’t know how much I trust this little tidbit—if she had said it was because the embassies weren’t large enough to accommodate the large parties I might have been less skeptical. But security concerns? at the embassy? at a time where the head of the corresponding nation is visiting? Sounds sketchy to me…

 

At any rate, it was also while standing in front of Claridge’s that Emma began telling us about the current queen’s grandparents’ (King George V and Queen Mary) efforts to distance themselves from their Germanic links during the WWI era. Such efforts included dropping the family surname of ‘Saxe-Cobourg Gotha’ in favor of the more English-sounding ‘Windsor.’ Similarly, King George and Queen Mary largely did away with the old (German) matrimonial restrictions, which eventually allowed for their son—and England’s future king—Bertie to marry (then-)Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, (then-)Princess Elizabeth to marry PrincePhilip, and Prince William to marry Catherine 'Kate' Middleton. Finally, Emma told us a bit about King George and Queen Mary’s roles in setting the standard for present-day monarchical expectations.

(For the record, it was also around this time that she stopped over-explaining things to this li’l ol’ American, because I pointed out that I was in the midst of Pope-Hennessy’s ginormous biography of Queen Mary, and that I had already finished comparable ones for Queens Victoria and Alexandra and the Queen Mum.)

From Claridge’s, we continued down Davies until we hit Berkeley Square, and then we hung a left on to Bruton Street for our first ‘official’ stop: 17 Bruton Street.

Though the original home no longer stands (it was bombed during WWII), this Mayfair address is where Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April 1926. At the time of (then-)Princess Elizabeth’s birth via c-section, 17 Bruton Street belonged to her maternal grandparents. 

The street as seen in 1904. (NB: This is not my picture!)

Today it’s a nightclub and is next door to a Bentley dealership. But there is a plaque that marks the spot on the wall of said-club…it’s above the sectioned-off smokers section. *SMDH*

Now, a quick note about the pictures in this entry. Most of them are not mine, simply because there wasn’t too much worth snappin’ pix of. So, for illustrative purposes I’ve included a couple of corresponding images I found on the web. There you have it…

Moving on, quite literally across the street: the former shop of Norman Hartnell. Within the walls of this shop, Hartnell designed dresses for famous figures such as Merle Oberon, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, and—most importantly for my purposes (excepting, maybe, Oberon)—the eventual Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and Queen Elizabeth II. 

Perhaps the best-known of Hartnell’s designs was the wedding dress he created for Her Majesty:

NB: This photo is not mine!

 After discussing Her Majesty’s wedding for a bit, we continued on down Bruton Street and made our way over to the Royal Arcade on Old Bond Street, which houses the queen’s official chocolatier—complete with Royal Warrant above the register, Royal Seal affixed to the window, and the queen’s portrait above the preparation area. This was all by way of getting us to Bond Street proper. Now, I have to say: this is definitely another of those areas of town where I do not fit. I mean, fer realz. (Though the Louis Vuitton store—see here—sure was beautiful to look at!) Then it was a quick right onto Grafton and a left onto Albemarle.

It was on the corner of Grafton and Albemarle that we found Garrard & Co.’s jewelry shop. The significance of Garrard’s is that, for many years, they were responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Crown Jewels—including the iconic ‘little’ crown worn by Queen Victoria in so many images. 

(NB: This is not my photo!)

Unfortunately for them, they also seemed to have a knack for ticking off Queen Elizabeth II. (Or so-said our guide.) The first hiccup in their relationship was immediately following the wedding of Prince Charles and (then-)Lady Diana Spencer, when Garrard’s decided to sell exact replicas of Diana’s wedding ring—which they had the plans for because they had designed it. The next hiccup came when they hired Jade Jagger (Mick’s daughter) as their creative director, and she started steering the company in a different direction. And a third hiccup occurred when they hired Christina Aguilera as the ‘face’ of Garrad & Co. As a result, in 2007 a statement was released by Buckingham Palace that Garrad’s services were ‘no longer required’ and a new Crown Jeweler was announced. (Jagger was also fired shortly thereafter.) Ouch.

Leaving Garrad’s behind, we trekked over to St James’s Palace, followed by quick stops to Lancaster House, Clarence House, St James’s Park, and finally Westminster Abbey. Since I’ve talked about all of those places before—and didn’t really learn anything new here—I won’t go into any further details with those.

Other random things I saw today, however, included James Lock & Co., where the first Bowler Hat was created (but which you should order using the name ‘Coke Hat’ [pronounced ‘Cook’]); White’s, which is one of—if not the—oldest Gentlemen’s clubs in London, and which counts the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles amongst its members (NB: there have only ever been two occasions whereupon a woman was allowed entrance to White’s—both times it was Queen Elizabeth, and she had to be granted permission by special vote.); Hunter Boots, the official boot makers of the Duke (and possibly the Queen too); the former site of Texas’ Embassy (from its brief time of independence—according to our guide, the king was still smarting over the American Revolution, and so he gladly threw his support behind Texas’ attempts at remaining independent…I sure as hell wish he’d fought harder!); and, in that same courtyard, supposedly the site of the very last duel fought in London.

Okay, I’m sure you’re all bored to tears by now. In fact, even I was a bit bored there toward the end of writing this out. But it really was fun, you’ll just have to take my word for it!

One final note: after leaving behind the tour, I made my way over to nearby Soho where I finally got mah hair and eyebrows did! YAY! Thank you, Youssef from Groovy Hair Salon, for being both within my price range and giving me a look that Nic has referred to as ‘brash and Euro!’

8 Miles (Part I): The Morning

Having blogged about my grief the other day, and recovered from yesterday’s (totally unrelated) hangover—that story will come later—it’s time to play some catch-up.

I decided that I wanted to devote Saturday to getting some more touristy photos around central London while there was still some snow on the ground. Unfortunately, the snow was pretty much gone by then, but I got some fun photos nonetheless. I also was able to spend the day hanging out with EN, the other (non-Cultural Studies) student Columbia sent to UEL this semester, which was—as always—quite fun.

EN and I had agreed the night before to meet at Buckingham Palace so that we could witness the legendary Changing of the Guard (a.k.a. Guard Mounting) ceremony. But more on that in a moment…

Making my way toward the palace, and the spot where I was supposed to meet with EN, I crossed through St. James’s Park, which sits along the eastern(?) side of Buckingham Palace. It is the oldest Royal Park in London, dating back to King Henry VIII’s time. Over the years, it’s undergone numerous changes: under King James I (England) / VI (Scotland), it was used to house everything from camels to elephants to crocodiles—surely they couldn’t have been comfortable in the London climate!; King Charles II had it redesigned and opened to the public, and—eventually—the exotic animals of years past were phased out in favor of cows, which provided milk for Londoners in the early 18^th Century; finally, under King George IV (who was Prince Regent at the time), it was transformed into what we know today.

Unfortunately, in mid-Winter, it isn’t as beautiful as I found it to be in the early Spring of 2008, when I was here with Nic. But that is only because the trees were mostly bare, the ground was frozen, and the flowers not in bloom. Nonetheless, the ice-covered (man-made) lake afforded me some beautiful photos of the Ministry of Defence building, and fun shots of the palace.

Buckingham Palace, as seen from St James's Park

The Ministry of Defense, as seen from St James's Park

The other thing I liked about St. James’s Park was the animal life. The squirrels were more than happy to come up and eat out of people’s hands (probably less than safe), and there were all sorts of birds around that were equally happy to come right up to the people. 

Nut Nibbler

Honk!

Now, as EN pointed out to me later, apparently I have a ‘thing’ for photographing birds—but, more to the point, I like birds that look like they have character, or appear somewhat curmudgeonly. (How does a bird look curmudgeonly? Ya got me, but it happens, I swear!) 

 

At any rate, the trip through St. James’s Park enabled me to snap the following bird-related photos, which I just thought were plain ol’ fun:

'Don't mess with me--I'm in a "fowl" mood!'

I thought Big Bird was yellow!

Is this a sleepy pelican, or a hat for Aki? Could be either...

Moving on…

At approximately 11:30 AM, the official Guard Mounting ceremony started. I was pinned against the gate by a crush of people, so I couldn’t see too much. But, as I had seen it once before with Nic, I didn’t mind too much. Basically, what happens is that a troupe of ‘new’ Guards replaces the ‘old,’ accompanied as they do so by a Guards band. All-in-all, it takes about 30-45 minutes.

Here's a brief snippet of the ceremony I caught on film:

 

Now, you may also notice that there aren’t as many Guards on display as one might think would be guarding the palace—well, such is the case when the Queen is not in-residence (as denoted by the flag atop the palace: if it’s the Royal Standard (the Royal Flag) then she’s at home, but if it’s just the ‘Union Jack’ she’s not.

Okay, readers: for the sake of easy-reading, I'm going to break here. Part II (the afternoon) will be posted in just a moment...

TO BE CONTINUED...