England swings (London)

England swings by Petula Clark, 1967 for today's title.  You don't reacall?  Let me help: 

   "England swings like a pendulum do 

    Bobbies on bicycles, two by two 

    Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben 

    The rosy red cheeks of the little children" 

And so another day dawns grey and cold - as my daughter once said, 'like a fat, dead pigeon'.  Today we also have rain.  It's only light, but it's rain nonetheless.  A brisk walk to the tube and a change of trains and out we pop at the Houses of Parliament.  Between us and our destination were a flock of people afflicted with that disease, puffy-jacketitis.  It is common in Australia during winter too, although it does get cold here, unlike Australia.  The complication now is that they are also tourists with camera in hand - this combination reduces IQ by two standard deviations.  They block the pavement, they stop without warning, they turn and walk into you, they veer sideways for no apparent reason.  If I make it through the day dear reader without killing anyone, or pushing someone under a bus, it will be a miracle.

Westminster Abbey

We navigated our way through the hordes of people and could see the queue for Westminster Abbey before we got there.  Not a good sign.  We've walked past before but were deterred by the length of the lines.  It looked like it would be the same today.  We joined the line to see how quickly it moved and it wasn't too bad. There were the usual queue jumpers trying to get to the front, "I've got a London pass." No. "What about disabled access?". Really? Disabled access for being lazy and obese? "Do you have a disability notice?" No.  Bad luck buddy.

Unlike the States, we have not been subjected to electronic or x-ray screening, frisking or anything. It certainly helps the lines move quickly.  It is £20 each to get into the Abbey.  No photography. And then next was the offer of a personalised tour for £5 each - we took it and hoped we wouldn't be in a group of 50 like yesterday.  We weren't, we were in a group of 2 - awesome, our own personal guide that took us into places other people couldn't go.  Worth the extra money.

The tour provided a potted history of the Abbey and the famous people that are buried within it, from kings and queens to scientists, politicians and poets.  It was all quite fascinating and in parts, quite crowded.  We were able to walk up onto the altar area near where the coronation chair is placed and into King Henry VII's private Chapel.

There is no crypt inside the Abbey itself, so anyone buried there is actually in the ground with the burial stone above them.  There have been so many burials through the years that many of the older stones are illegible.  I assume that they have a record of who is buried where.  Cromwell and his cronies did some damage when they were in power - graffiti was the least of it, but it is sadly still evident.

Outside the Abbey the rain had eased so we went for a walk across the bridge toward the London Eye to get a better view. That is when the rain commenced again.  Enough, time to find the shelter of another attraction, so we found a protected corner and consuted the map.

Churchill's War Room

The war rooms were just around the corner from the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament and the rain was just easing as we joined that line.  They allowed 10 people at a time inside where they checked bags and sent you down the stairs to pay (£18 per person) before you were set free in the War Rooms and Churchill Museum - with audio guide.  Please take photos - I would have taken more but the light didn't really encourage it.  The crowd inside was significantly higher in number than 10.

It was like a number of museums we have seen in the last month; the space doesn't necessarily permit a logical approach to viewing the exhibits. It covers Churchill's life in periods with plenty of interactive exhibits, audio-visual displays, the usual collection of photographs and paraphernalia. There were uniforms, pistols, letters, even his school reports.

The war rooms were fascinating and the audio-guide commentary and displays in the rooms really brought them to life.  Many rooms are literally as they were left in 1945 and provide a real insight into the machinations of war at a very different level to what we would usually see.  No battlefield photos here, only giant maps, telephones and space for people to plan, re-plan and re-act.

We emerged once again to rain at 5:30 and zig-zagged our way back to the tube station and home to the news that the All Blacks beat the Springboks by 2 points.  Tomorrow, the Wallabies and Argentina.

Random question: Can anyone tell me, why, in a country where it rains a lot, they do not have awnings out the front of shops?  You can walk a long way down any street and not find one.  What gives?  Why wouldn't you provide shelter that encourages people to come out in the rain, rather than having them get soaked as the negotiatey the umbrellas and foot traffic.

And I think that's where I came in.

Goodnight.