http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php Copyright 2012, Zooter Zooter en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.7.1 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-230349

Thought we would start the day with a shot of our hotel, the Commodore. Located at Lancaster Gate, righ on Hyde park and just a few blocks from the Tube station with great access to everywhere in the city. Quite a nice place in a great- possibly a bit posh - neighborhood. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-230349 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 06:03:49 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-230349 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-230036

Heres a view of a very cool building, just outside the entrance of our hotel. It's called the spire house, and is the ruins of a church, wrapped by a modern building, for a great set of condos. how cool would it be to live inside the ruins of a 300 year old church in a great neighborhood? Unless, of course, you are homeless and not supposed to live there - then it wouldn't be that cool. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-230036 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 06:00:36 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-230036 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-225817

Here's a beautiful settin we just stumbled upon, while having tea in the park. Seems like we hit England at the time that Tulips were blooming everywhere - so Carmen snapped this photo. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-225817 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:58:17 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-225817 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-225640

Here's a closer look. Isn't this cool? Like a screen saver. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-225640 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:56:40 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-225640 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224839

Here's an outside view of perhaps one of the most spectacular buildings in the world. To think that Christopher Wren cranked this out without computers or modern construction equipment is crazy, but he sure did a great job. Here are a few photos, but they really don't reflect how emotionally striking this building is. Upon entry, it really takes your breath away - just think how people felt upon entering this 200 years ago, before high definition and the Discovery Channel. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224839 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:48:39 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-224839 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224534 You really have to see this for yourself. This view really takes your breath away and is truely awe inspiring - kind of hard to get across in a 500 pixle digital photo. Looking up the choir row to the altar. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224534 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:45:34 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-224534 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224207

Ok, this doesn't even kind of do this justice. this dome is amazing and beautiful - we even hiked up 500 some odd stairs to get a closer look. Painted in a black and white motif in keeping with the lower half of the church and as not to take away from the altar. the blue dot actually goes up even higher to the top part of the dome. We weren't supposed to take pictures - so I basically broke the law in the most magnificent church. That can't be good.]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224207 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:42:07 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-224207 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224036

Here's a view of London Town from outside of the big dome at St. Pauls. the two near towers are on one end of the church. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-224036 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:40:36 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-224036 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-223653

So underneith this amazing church is a crypt, with lots of dead people and loads of statues and monuments to various war heros and other nobles. Here's the quite large toomb of Lord Nelson. I think he was the guy on I dream of Genie. Every square inch of this place was layered with enscription dating back hundreds of years - every inch of the floor was the same. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-223653 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:36:53 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-223653 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-223445

Ok, I'll admit, I didn't take this, but wanted a good photo to show the other side. We weren't even there at night. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-223445 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:34:45 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-223445 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-223255
]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-223255 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:32:55 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-223255 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-222836

I kind of like this photo, it looks kind of haunted. This is of Kensington Palace, and I think the statue is of Queen Victoria - who built a smashing monument to her dead husband Albert below.

Kensington Palace didn't allow us to take any photos inside, so I'll have to describe it. The tour consisted of three parts. A tribute to Princess Diana - dresses, photos and such. A look at supprisingly modest and average 40's suburban rooms, and a few castle quality rooms. Very strange combination. i guess a few royals still live there. It was cool, don't get me wrong, but considering the magnificent buildings we've already seen, it's kind of surprisingly average. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-222836 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:28:36 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-222836 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-222641
]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-222641 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:26:41 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-222641 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-222445

A view of Kensington Palace - stuck between the suburbs and a royal residence. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-222445 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:24:45 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-222445 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-221654

In just a day of touring around London, it was quite obvious that Londoners like to pay homage to their dead heros and leaders by constructing great monuments - see Prince Albert's below - Every great church is layerd with magnificent sculptures to war heros and other leaders that played a roll in carving out the future of England. The drainage ditch that Carmen is sitting next to is actually another of these magnificent structures - except that it looks like a culvert. Apparently, to those in the know, this is the Princess Diana tribute fountain. A bazillion tons of the best stone forming two halves of her life, flowing separately from the beginning over rapids and down gentle cascades and throuh a french highway tunnel to join up in a calm pool at the bottom. Apparently the ducks liked it and within a few days of opening it was slick as duck poop and kids were slipping and injuring themselves. Strange way to pay tribute to one of the most memorable and influential royals of our lifetime. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-221654 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:16:54 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-221654 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-221404

You know, there is no question that this guy was loved. This is a monument to Prince Albert in the back side of Hyde Park. It's huge and has amazing detail. It pretty much trumps any other monument in the city, as far as monuments go. It's amazingly ornate but has fantastic detail. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-221404 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:14:04 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-221404 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-221139

Here's a closer view of the monument. The detail is amazing. And this thing is huge. You can see it pretty well on Google Earth. ]]> Day 1 - Tower & Eye http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060429-221139 Zooter Sun, 30 Apr 2006 05:11:39 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060429-221139 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060428-140332
We're having a great time. Spending much of it just wandering around london. have stumbled into some interesting neighborhoods.Right now we're in a small internet cafe in leicester square - kind of the hip party place on this friday night. And were playing on computers - what geeks are we.

yesterday we took a detailed tour of the tower of london and it was amazing. it was like a dozen castles of different years all crammed into one. loads of stories of executions, betrayals, murder and torture. we got to see a real "rack" - cool. The arsonal of medieval weapons was cool and the church insided the castle was amazing. Carmen particularly liked the crown jewels - some serious bling. We also took a ride on the london eye - a very big ferris wheel that takes 30 minutes to do one loop. Great views of Big Ben and the parliament building.

Today we checked out St. Pauls cathedral - it was the most amazing building i've ever seen - just incredible and we went from the very top - some 580 steps to the top - down to the crypt below where we jumped on the graves of dead war heros. Verry cool. They really love their dead war heros here in britain.

We also went to kensington palace - thats the little country house that lady di got when she ditched charles. kind of a strange place, really. when you enter this palace, you think - wow 1940's suburbs. very wealthy suburbs, but still just white plaster walls. the whole ground floor that we saw was just a bunch of medium size, very ordinary rooms. Then you go up the kings stairway to where kings and queens lived and partied in the 1700's and it's a totally different world. Fancy paintings, tapestries, thrones and all sorts of stuff you might expect to find. Very cool. But the bottom half leaves little to be desired.

After a wandering stroll through hyde park, and a glimps at the monolithic Albert memorial we went to the highly dissapointing Lady Diana memorial drainage ditch. And they said that she was really loved - not by whoever decided that a culvert would be the best way to pay homage to this popular royal.

we're off again, hope all is going well at home.

]]> England http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060428-140332 Zooter Fri, 28 Apr 2006 21:03:32 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060428-140332 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060427-162647
]]> England http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060427-162647 Zooter Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:26:47 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060427-162647 http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060427-162247
]]> England http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry060427-162247 Zooter Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:22:47 GMT http://www.zooterville.com/pblog/comments.php?y=06&m=04&entry=entry060427-162247