Pictures for 665

left - seeing London from upper deck. Right - British Museum. Second left - Westminster Abby. Second right - Fortnum and Mason. Bottom left and right - Starbuck's # 300

Nobody 665

Sunday, September 24, 2006
Nobody # 665

Nobody Asked Me But:

The Lamplighter by Robert Louis Stevenson (From A Child’s Garden of Verses)

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky.
It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.

Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,
O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And oh! before you hurry by with ladder and with light;
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!

The lamplighter above is real, a man that Stevenson watched make his rounds when the writer was a child living on Queen Street in his Edinburgh birthplace. We saw the home and Queen Street where the man carried out the ritual that so delighted young Robert. This is merely one of the wonders that we experienced during our trip to the UK that was topped off last Tuesday by incredible sights of Greenland, icebergs and Northeastern Canadian mountains on our flight home.

The trip was everything I dreamed of, hoped for and more. There is so much to tell, that I will do it in episodes today, next week and maybe a bit more.

But before I do, I must relate a bit of English common law, which applies (most certainly as far as I know) only to women.

“Grow them big and show them off.” Actually, only the second part is absolute but most follow both commands.

I will begin with this public word of thanks to my wife who did 99% of the planning, (OK, maybe 100%, but she did ask me a couple of questions) and, as always was the best traveling companion for whom a man could ever dream. Also I want to acknowledge the special treat of meeting Tom, Barb’s brother for you who might not know, twice – for a great day in London and an equally fun day and second evening in York.

Our first eight nights were in London so what better place to start. And, because I love lists, I will present my highlights in a top ten formula – with a few extras, because one can never limit London to 10.

Before I begin though, a general comment. London is the most cosmopolitan city I have ever visited. Everywhere one looks or listens, he sees different colors, cultures and languages. Los Angeles may be a match, but, unlike London, it has no center where all of these differences are on view. Historically some of this comes from England’s days of empire (which LA has never pulled off – unless you count the current schools take-over by the mayor) but there thousands of faces from areas where the Union Jack never flew.

It was at Westminster Abbey that I saw number ONE on my closely bunched list - the throne on which every English King or Queen since 1307 has been crowned. It overwhelmed me to imagine the march of monarchs starting with Edward the II and continuing through great rulers such as the Henrys, V, VII and VIII and the even greater Queens, Elizabeth I and Victoria. Mix in a little villainy with Richard III, a couple of Stuarts and others. Throw in the inept and the average and this simple wooden chair is a centerpiece in the spread of Western Civilization.

Second place goes to the Rosetta Stone. The British Museum is perhaps the world’s greatest and many things there stirred me, but none so much as this 3-language stone, this key to ancient history that I have read about all my life.

A long mile’s walk from the BM (Barb stayed behind and read) is the new British Library. There I saw the beginning of the end of “Divine Right,” the Magna Carta. As noted above the monarchy has remained at the center of British history, its role and power ebbing and flowing according to the abilities of those who occupied the throne, but this document signed by John in 1215,under pressure from his nobles changed it and the world forever. Even the attempt of America’s George II, 2001-2009, at a second Glorious Revolution can be but doomed to failure under its shadow.

FYI: The document had more than a few flaws. For example, widows didn’t have to pay owed debts to Jews. Actually, it was soon after this (1290) when Edward I expelled all Jews from England. (I never cease to be amazed by the idiocy of anti-Semitism nor by how deeply and long-term its roots entangle “human” hearts.)

For my number four we must return to Westminster Abby. Although I am about as far from a monarchist as can be found, I am in awe of the reign of Elizabeth I. Seeing her burial place was as moving as I had expected. The great surprise is that her coffin shares a tomb with her great rival and predecessor, half-sister Mary.

The irony of this is caught in the inscription at the foot of this joint burial place. Mary, you will remember tried to bring back the Catholicism that her father Henry VIII had banned. Elizabeth, Protestant like their father, undid the changes brought about during Mary’s brief rule. So the plaque at their feet marks an attempt, too late I am afraid, to restore harmony.

From history to science for number five. Barbara, Tom and I took the short boat ride on the Thames to Greenwich and there I actually stood at zero longitude, straddling the Prime Meridian, one foot literally in each half of the world.

The marking for the Prime Meridian sits on top of a small but very steep hill that Tom and I climbed, not without some difficulty. In fact, at about the half-way mark I was silently begging Tom to suggest a rest stop, since some bit of foolish pride robbed me of enough common sense to be the first to admit a need for a break. Thank goodness, he had more brains and suggested a breath-catching pause.

A side-note here: As Tom and I walked back down the hill an OLD lady was literally pulling herself up the hill hand over hand one step at a time by the railing at the pathway’s side.

Technology makes the sixth spot on my list. I found the London Tube to be a transportation wonder. For a few pounds, a daily pass can take you to or close to any point in the city in a clean, fast, frequent fashion. Oh, that Los Angeles would have had the foresight to create such a system when it was feasible.

For number seven, I return to the British Museum and again stepped into history as I viewed the largest part of the Parthenon outside of Greece. The Greeks want and I think deserve it back, but I am glad that it remained in London long enough for me to see. Other marvels in a building that outsized my time were ruins from the Assyrian culture dating back 2,800 hundred years and an entire room covering one of my favorite historical subjects – the Age of Enlightenment.

Number eight is the Tate Modern. The building itself is a marvel - a restored power plant (the former Bankside Power Station) constructed with the greatest number of bricks ever used in a building - close to 18,000,000. Its artistic treasures, especially the Kandinsky exhibit, were equally marvelous.

At first I questioned whether I could place a department store on my list but realized that I had no choice. Harrods, my number nine, is more that a store. It is a natural wonder. Six stories and covering a large city block if offers everything from fashion to food court, from monuments to Princess Diana and “Dodi” Fayed, the latter, of course, the son of Harrod’s owner, Egyptian Mohamed Al-Fayedal Fayed, to a life-sized Madame Tussaud’s like figure of Fayed himself greeting his customers.

At Harrod’s they skip the piano and have a woman singing operatic songs on a balcony as one descends the escalator in the Egyptian hallway. They even offer Wrapology, boasting that they can wrap any gift including a foosball table that we saw priced at $60,000.

Speaking of prices, our Harrod’s food court hot fudge sundae went for $18 and a kid’s spaghetti meal for about $14.

One of our days in London marked the ninth anniversary of Di and Dodi’s death. Fayed, who still thinks they were murdered, had a window display with their pictures and every day Londoners would bring flowers to lay on the sidewalk outside. The entire thing was both bizarre and impressive.

Number ten on my list is the Churchill War Museum. This incredible audio-visual museum opened last year next to Churchill’s War Room, the underground headquarters from which he directed Great Britain’s magnificent defense. The museum is similar in exhibition style to the Holocaust museums, and. like the latter, is an incredible teaching tool.

Number ten on my list is our two nights on the town. One night we went to the Theater Royal Drury Lane (yes, that Drury Lane) near Covent Gardens to see “The Producers.” We had a great time at this fun and funny show, although, had we known about it in advance we would have gone to see our ex-Hale student Julette Lewis in “Fool For Love.”

For our second night we went to the Prom. The Prom is a series of musical events sponsored by BBC and offered through out the summer. Going was another of my wife’s great ideas. We heard Beethoven at the Royal Albert Hall. The music was very good and being in this tribute from Victoria to her husband took me back to that memorable scene from Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” where Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day prevent an assassination. For all I know, the assassin may have been aiming his rifle from the very box in which we sat.

Number ten on my list was our visit to Hatchard’s Book Store, which was not only very cool in its own right, but displayed three Royal Warrants above its door. Each Warrant signifies that a member of the Royal family shops there – in this case, the Queen, Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh and Charles, Prince of Wales.

Number ten on my list was Barb and I eating breakfast in St. James Park. St. James, created by Henry VIII as a hunting ground, is beautiful for its flowers and greenery and for the bridge at its center where we had a great view of Buckingham Palace. In London parks people can rent folding chairs, pre-set in pairs, by the hour, which is what we did to eat our pastry and enjoy both being and being there.

Number ten on my list was Barb, Tom and I riding the London Eye. The price was high but our wait was short and the views wondrous. Looking down on Big Ben is a sight I will never forget.

For number ten on my list, we must return to The British Library where I saw the Beatles exhibit. Just imagine wearing the provided earphones and listening to the group singing “Something,” A Hard Day’s Night” and “In My Life” while viewing the original scribblings of these songs.

Number ten on my list goes to shopping on Bond and new Bond Streets. The Fifth Avenue/Rodeo Drive of London was great fun and I have a new black Polo with white writing to prove it.

Number ten on my list was visiting my 300th Starbucks located across the street from the British Museum. In all, I added 13 new ones to my list and the number now stands at 312.

Other highlights of London:

The place we stayed, the Capital Apartments, was 1/2 block from Harrod’s and the same distance from a tube line. It was more of a flat than a hotel room having a bedroom, living room and kitchen. It was nice having room to spread out after our days and nights on the town.

Food – London was pretty much of a “grab a bite because we’re tired” town. Surprisingly, our best meal was a super pizza in Harrod’s food court. It was probably as good as any pizza east or west of Casa Bianca. I also had a good steak and fries at Café Rogue. Actually make that two good steaks as we ate at the one close to our flat and again, with Tom, in Greenwich.

Other fun things: If you remember, for our anniversary, we ate cheeseburgers at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. They had several cheddars, and Barb chose a sharp variety from England called Neil’s Yard. She loved it, so we tracked down Neil’s Yard in what was almost an alley just off Charing Cross Road in Covent Gardens and had second helpings.

Seeing the building where, during the reign of Victoria, 135 civil servants managed an empire that controlled 1/5 of the world’s people was amazing, especially when one considers that it takes almost that many administrators to oversee each LAUSD school.

Grazing and gazing at Fortnum and Mason (1707), a fabulous food store with its share of Royal Warrants and which, among other things, invoiced the provisions for the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition. There is a large clock on the store’s front where, on the hour, replicas of Mister’s F&M come out and bow to one another.

Browsing at two other great bookstores native to London - Foyles and Waterstones. It had to be browsing because we had no room in our bags to bring any home.

Please join me next week, as we leave London for other incredible sights (and sites). In the meantime, I will try to post a few of our London pictures on this site later today.

In the meantime - politics – but just a little.

Did you see where many in the Evangelical Christian leadership are very angry at John McCain and other Republicans who will not support the Bush administration’s right to torture? I will respect your intelligence by avoiding the obvious comment.<<<

Department of: “If you falsely label we Muslims violent you’re a dead man.”

While I was gone Pope Benedict stirred up a bit of trouble with his remarks about Islamic violence. I rarely agree with the Pope and his brush did paint a bit too broadly, but it was vastly narrow when compared to Islamic criticisms of Israel and the West.

It is past time to end this double standard. Islamic leaders should clean up their own house if they want to be “holier than thou.”