London, Part One

I arrived at Heathrow in dense fog. As we descended into the white I imagined we would emerge on the other side, that we would see that strip of space between the earth and the underside of the clouds. So I was not ready for the touchdown, lurched a little in my pod-seat, marveled at how the pilots were able to land in such conditions. We taxied and ground control emerged like spirits in their neon vests directing us with their plastic torches.

Customs, luggage, car service. My driver and I discussed the election, the recent debate, the swings and turns of the election from the primaries with Hillary to the conventions with Palin. The fog burned off as we drove through Hyde Park, past the Frank Gehry pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery and I could feel his expectation, the world’s expectation, for the citizens of the United States to make a responsible decision and head in a new direction by electing Obama.

We emerged on Marylebone Road and I sighted my hotel, The Landmark:

My driver dropped me off round the back entrance, across from the Marylebone Station (where I became a fan of Marks & Spencer for all my food and snack needs!) and I was quickly whisked into reception and up to my room (I blame the jetlag for the whirlwind feeling).

This was my sitting area:

And this my comfy bed:

And the never-ending bathroom that was pretty much the length of the room:

It had three rooms, this main one with the sinks and a huge closet, a second one with a long and deep tub:

(you bet I took a bath in it!) on one side and a glass shower on the other:

and then a room at the end with the toilet. It was all more than I needed, but as this was a work trip (re: I’m not paying for it!), I couldn’t really complain.

After a quick shower and nap I received a phone call from the lovely Ann Gookin, who had just transferred over to our London office the week before. She stopped by the hotel to pick me up and we embarked on the first of my many wanderings around London town, meandering through Marylebone, past our new office and down through Mayfair and St. James’s.

Some funky architecture:

Me posing at St. James’s Palace:

The weather was amazing my first three days, getting up into the mid to upper 60s and sunny sunny with just a hint of fall in the air. It’s evidently a trend that can happen in the UK in the week following the Fall Equinox with warm air trapped at the earth’s surface. Here’s a sunny afternoon view in St. James’s Park:

You can rent those lawn chairs.

We wandered through the park over to Westminster:

Big Ben.

And crossed the Thames on Westminster Bridge, working our way up the south bank, past The Eye:

There was a bit of carnival atmosphere with the warm weather, the south bank swarmed with toursits and families and street performers. We navigated our way through and stopped at Wagamama for a late lunch (delicious and cheap!).

Refueled, we made it to Tate Modern:

Where we were a little too late to see the Rothko exhibit and learned the Francis Bacon exhibit was down at the Tate Britain. So we headed north across the Millennium Bridge:

Here’s a side pic of the bridge with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background:

View of the south bank from the bridge:

View of St. Paul’s from the bridge:

View of Tate Modern from the other side of the bridge:

Warning: here begins a series of obsessive shots of St. Paul’s. I’m not sure why I love the architecture so much, but I couldn’t resist:

Firefighter memorial:

Facade:

Feed the birds…tuppence a bag…

Close-ups of the statuary:

The view from Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange. I liked the pattern of three here:

Though two (the Dome and the Paternoster Square Column) has a nice echo too:

We also walked through Temple Bar and City before heading up through Holburn and Bloomsbury on our way to Regent’s Park.

All Soul’s Church at Langham Place next to the BBC Broadcasting House:

Late afternoon sun on the facade of the curved buildings on Park Crescent:

A restaurant in Regent’s Park on the Grand Union Canal, just past the London Zoo:

Ann and I made it to Primrose Hill right at sunset where some sort of artist/hipster party was going on, twenty-somethings decked out in costumes and drinking on blankets. We crested the hill:

and found a little musical trio entertaining everyone:

Ann aglow from the setting sun as we scoped out the local boys:

With the sun gone and the evening getting chilly we set off back through Regent’s Park where we encountered fields of ravens. I watched them do their food hop dance and heard their complex vocalizations that they use to communicate (one of the smartest species out there, up there with dolphins).

The crescents from a mosque’s towers at twilight:

Exhausted I bid Ann adieu and retired with some goodies from Marks & Spencer while I checked out some UK TV. I watch some programs on BBC America (Dr. Who!) but didn’t realize what a cultural phenomena Dr. Who is in the UK. It felt like every other commercial or program had some reference, directly or indirectly, to the show and its characters. I also watched some odd game show programming late that night, a nationwide Bingo program that knew who you were if you were playing and would call out your name and location if you were within reach of winning, and this Quiz Show program that seemed to go on long after I fell asleep asking viewers to call in with answers to whatever category was in play that night (movies beginning with the word R for instance, 10 answers, a countdown clock, the winnings doubled, etc.) As the hours stretched on and no one won they’d up the pot and reset the timer over and over again. And the hostess was this odd blonde woman who seemed earnest and flirty about her job to get you to call in and win.

Coming up…day two of wandering (the blister on my pinkie toe has finally healed! woot!)