72

England, UK, Sunday 15 September 2024

Those who know me a little better than others know that yesterday was my 72nd birthday. By the Chinese horoscope that makes me a Dragon - a Water Dragon to be precise. I rather like being a Dragon, although the quick Google grab below does create, shall we say, a "balanced" view ...

Chinese Dragon is ... the only fictitious creature in the 12 zodiac animals ... The Dragon enjoys a very high reputation in Chinese culture and it represents auspiciousness and imperial power since ancient times.

The Water Dragon born in the year of 1952 are very positive and optimistic. Their attitude towards life can also influence people around them and leave a good impression on others. And they also like to make friends, so their popularity is generally good. In addition, they have great endurance and perseverance and can always accomplish things well. The Water Dragon also have strong physique and are full of energy.

However, people with Chinese zodiac Dragon born in 1952 are somewhat selfish in their life and always haggle over every ounce about their own interests. They are somewhat arrogant and unwilling to admit their mistakes actively. Moreover, they lack flexibility in doing things, and sometimes their words are offensive, which makes people feel really hurt.

Hmmm, wouldn't have necessarily thought of myself that way in total, but as we all know you can't argue with the internet :-) ...

Anyway, last night this old Dragon, accompanied by Water Rabbit wife Janet and Fire Horse friend Helen, finished the London leg of this little venture. We are now on the train to Portsmouth from where we will hop an overnight ferry across the channel to St Malo, and so I have a couple of hours to do some rambling about the last three days.

Apart from the occasional stop-over at Heathrow over the last 15 years or so, it is four-and-a-half decades since I was last truly in London, and so the last three days have been ones of exploration of the centre of London, finding a few new things and re-acquainting myself with some old. Australia is perhaps the furthest-flung outpost of the old British empire, with much of our modern history and traditions being firmly based on those of the "old country". Not that I have any particular affiliation with the British traditions per se (I am after all a 3rd generation Aussie of Scottish lineage - or 4th generation depending on which way you choose to count it) but rather I simply make the observation that even today so many of Australia's socio-political systems draw themselves from those of England.

So it was with this background that we went exploring: Buckingham Palace (of course); the Changing of the Guard; the Houses of Parliament; Big Ben; Westminster Abbey; Harrods; the Thames, day and night; Longplayer(!!!); to name a few.

Some photos follow, but first some observations/general commentary:

• I was genuinely surprised by the multitude of languages and accents. London is of course a great cosmopolitan city, but I think as we wandered around I heard English spoken in the minority. I didn’t recognise all the various languages – Italian, Spanish and French, obviously, but also a range of others I didn’t recognise but took to be Eastern European, and Russian. Not that each of these was more prevalent than English, but that in total these languages seemed to outweigh English

• There were many, many EVs of all shapes and sizes. Even electric (and hybrid) buses. We caught a number of Ubers, and in all cases chose electric cars, which were priced the same as, or cheaper than, their ICE cousins. One driver told me that by 2026 all taxis/Ubers will be electric (not fact checked)

• The place is busy. Heathrow to our hotel in the centre of town was about 25 klms. That journey took some 90 minutes. Even a short cross-town journey to dinner of around 3klms took 15 mins

• Dining out was expensive, but my word the food and service were excellent. On night two we ended up in Michelin-starred Amaya (https://www.amaya.biz/), and last night at Scully (https://www.scullyrestaurant.com/). Check ‘em out. Scully was one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. I must acknowledge and thank regular blog reader Peter Forbes for both these recommendations

• Like any big city, the place is noisy. Almost no angry tooting of cars, but incessant police and emergency services sirens. On a couple of occasions we saw police cars in some sort of “pursuit” screaming down otherwise busy central London streets at speeds well over 100 kph (60+ mph) by my estimates. And plenty of ambulances and fire trucks. I guess thtas to be expected in a city of some 9m people

• Despite the busy-ness and noise, pretty well everyone I encountered was friendly and helpful. The only real exception was the young woman on the information desk when we arrived at Heathrow. For a “help desk” person she was either badly off her game that day, or more likely in the wrong job altogether. Hers wasn’t a good start to the trip, but from there onwards everyone else was on the up

• Parliament was fascinating for the brief snapshot into history, long past and more recent. There are some 650 members of the Commons, but only physical seating for around 430 of them, which makes for some interesting traditions and arrangements. I also found out the basis of the expression "toeing the party line" comes from.

So now, a few snaps:

Off to see the King:

From the Wellington Arch

Bomber Command Memorial. This evoked an unexpectedly strong emotional reaction.

Around town ...

Parliament (the Palace of Westminster) [photography mostly not allowed in Parliament]:

Westminster Abbey:

And a few famous names (and bones)

And to end, some wandering selfies and dinner/birthday photos ...

Until next time ...