"Female Artist Erects Enormous Blue Cock in Trafalgar Square"

On Sunday, we went on a bike excursion/tour to see more of London than we could by foot. Plus, we knew it would be a blast! We were blessed with weather that held off for us (ignore the stormy skies below; those were from the day before), and a tour guide who was absolutely charming. He gave us all kinds of tidbits of history, political science, and more. An aspiring (and actual) actor, he supplements his income with these tours, and his delivery and comedic sense were brilliant.

I'll try to incorporate some of his spiel as we go along.

I couldn't resist! Wedding photos for a Japanese couple next to the Thames!

Not yet out of breath, we had ridden along the Thames walkway for about 10 minutes at that point.

 Here is David, our tour guide, with Jeremy.

Famed Big Ben is NOT the tower, but the bell. The tower is called Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben cracked the very first time it was struck, so it has a "clang" rather than a sonorous tone...rather like a cymbal. Named Big Ben after its maker Ben somebody-or-other, you might be amused to find out that the same maker also cast the Liberty Bell! 

Here is what it sounds like:

If you can see the bridge leading towards the Elizabeth Tower, it's green. The pavilion (not in the photo) leading to the House of Commons is similarly green. The adjacent pavilion leading to the House of Lords is red, while the bridge crossing the Thames going towards the House of Lords is...surprise, surprise...red.

Here it is: the giant blue cockerel. The joke is (apart from its inherent silliness, which is in my view sublime) that Trafalgar Square has many pedestals on which are statues of dead white males. This pedestal had been empty for ages, awaiting the perfect candidate for statuage. Which is a word I just made up. Anyway, the powers that be decided to open the podium for artists, with a competition every 18 months. The German artist who won most recently provided a proposal that said something along these lines: "I propose to install a cockerel, which is a strongly male symbol and therefore in keeping with the very masculine theme of Trafalgar Square. Further, underlining its inherent masculinity, I intend to paint said cockerel blue, since blue is a traditionally male color." The powers that be bought it, with the result that the tabloids had a field day (as noted in my version of one of the headlines). For a while there was a bit of a fuss and the desire to remove the statue. However, a sense of humor prevailed, and the big blue cock gets to stand over the square for another 6 months.

This is the meat market, an often overlooked jewel. Looks very Victorian, yes? Actually, no. This structure survived the Fire of London in the 1600s!

 Complete with cute Ashley, iconic phone booths, and a wandering Jeremy

The outside of the meat market. They also performed treason executions here. Oh...side note on drawing and quartering: the various bits and bobs left (arms and legs) were sent to the four corners of the kingdom as a warning to other potential treasoners...

A pub that I thought was sweet: the Fat Friar

Love,

Alexandra

Widecombe in the Moor

Back to Dartmoor for a brief stretch, if only to remember how lovely it is!

We all found the name Widecombe in the Moor absolutely irresistible. And the town itself is really charming. Perhaps it would best be called a hamlet, although it does have its own church.

One afternoon, we all had tea and a wander in Widecombe. I thought I'd share some images with you:

Love,

Alexandra

What a two week vacation can do to you

The day we got back, we had a late lunch (at 3:30). An hour and a half later, I was down at the archery range. When I got there, there was nobody there but a few people showed up a few minutes later, so I started shooting. It was a complete and utter failure for accuracy; on the other hand, I really learned how not to get frustrated when I am shooting terribly. After about two hours of shooting, everyone was about ready to go home. I got a ride home with one of the guys there.
The next day, I went down again. I got there at about 5:00, and this time there was already someone there: Matteo's uncle (I don't know his name, unfortunately, but I should). He was teaching a girl and her father. I decided to shoot a little way off to give them some space. I was shooting horribly!  It didn't help that the sun was in my eyes.
I shot for hours! It was good fun, even if I wasn't hitting the targets. Toward the end, Matteo and his dad came down. Alessio also came down, though a bit later. When Matteo was there, we practiced some of the more fun shots: shooting from a kneeling position and from sitting on a stool (for me) and standing on one foot, with your back to the target and other shots like that (for Matteo). Just before we left, I started shooting much more accurately: I was actually hitting the target! It was really exciting to see my work pay off. But then it got too dark to shoot, so we had to leave.
Ciao,
Florence

London Tower and Tower Bridge

We were so lucky to arrive at the Tower of London during this stunning exhibition of ceramic poppies designed to commemorate WWI. They come streaming out of the tower in cascades of blood. Quite remarkable.

I'd forgotten exactly how LARGE the tower is. Rather than a "tower", it's really a complex of buildings. We had a lovely time wandering around reading the information, etc. 

Jeremy trying to avoid photographic capture

Three more cooperative sorts

An ornate hinge

Our first view of the bridge!

View from the Tower's walls: modern London!

They had a pile of these with different poses and weapons
...such a neat idea!

An elephant? Really?

James liked his spoon at lunch

Tower Bridge!

We were lucky enough to see it open and close!

I loved the shape of the window...
seen from inside the bridge

The inside was delightfully Victorian industrial

View from the passbridge above

"Workers" inside the bridge

Tea break?

The boiler that was used to run the drawbridge

Coal delivery!

Gorgeous paint job, huh?

Who would have thought a pump would be so lovely?

Love,

Alexandra

Illuminating the Abbey

I made this a separate post, because I found this part of the Abbey to be worthy of additional note: we ran across and exhibition of diptychs telling the life of Jesus. The left half of the diptych contained the most exquisite illuminations, and the right half had hand-quilted and embroidered panels.

There was no way I could take a picture of everything, but I had to share at least a little with you.