Sunday Snaps #13 - Our Summer

Time flies and I can’t quite believe that it’s been almost 5 months since I last posted on this site. Time has been short and for this, and a bunch of other reasons that I won’t bore you with, this blog has been just a little neglected over the summer. So, in order to get back into the swing of this blogging lark, I figured that it would be a good idea to resurrect my Sunday Snaps thread and share a few pictures that either Dori or I took during the summer. I hope you enjoy them :)

These first two photos were taken in St James’s Park, just across the way from Buckingham Palace in London. They were taken on the beautifully sunny day that followed the Royal Wedding way back in April. It was a lot calmer strolling through the park that day than it had been 24 hours earlier amongst the joyous chaos of the wedding celebrations!

These nest three snaps were, fairly obviously, taken during our trip up to this year’s Wimbledon championships. The day we were there was one of the hottest days of the year, though as the rest of the summer was fairly non-existent, that isn’t saying too much! Anyway, we had a great time and saw some really great matches, as I talked about over on my sports blog at the time.

The last couple of pictures are from our day-trip down to the south coast town of Bournemouth. We had a really great day out, and thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to the coast for 3 or 4 years.

Well, that was the summer that was. Halloween is just round the corner, and Christmas is only three months away. I swear that time is speeding up! Anyhoo, I will be trying to blog a little more regularly again from now on, so please drop by when you can and pay a visit. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!! Til next time.

Back to London, the Thames and the O2

In my last post I shared some pictures of London taken from the Thames river, and as it happens we travelled a similar journey yesterday. We journeyed up to London in order to see the Michael Jackson Exhibition at the O2. As I have mentioned before, we were due to go to one of his “This Is It” concerts at the same venue last summer, but MJ’s tragic and untimely death prevented us from achieving what had been a long-held ambition for the both of us. As a small compensation for missing out on seeing Michael in concert we decided that we would travel up to the O2 on the last day of the MJ Exhibition.

And so yesterday we rose early, well early for a Sunday anyway, and prepared for our day out. I managed to see a little of the start of the Australian Open men’s final as we got ready, but it was obviously not going to be Andy Murray’s day. Still 74 years and counting since the last British male winner of a Grand Slam tennis tournament! Maybe this year at Wimbledon or the US Open? Time will tell. Anyhoo, I was talking about our trip.... We left home about 9:45 which should have left us plenty of time to catch the train up to Paddington, but unfortunately we had forgotten to bring enough coins to pay for the parking while we were gone and so had to turn back towards the Yellow House after 5 minutes and go all the way back to get some more. This meant that our time window for catching the train was getting very narrow indeed! So, it was a race into town to go and get parked, and then a mad dash to the train station as the time ticked away. We arrived breathless at the station just as the tannoy announced that our train was waiting at the platform. So we ran again up the steps to the platform and jumped on the train, relieved that we had made it in time.

The journey into London was much more relaxed! We always enjoy travelling this way, as you don’t have to worry about the driving, or the other idiots who drive like crazy, or about getting parked at the other end. As the old adverts used to say here, we “let the train take the strain”. :-) Once we had arrived we headed towards the tube station. Normally we would take the tube all the way to the O2, but unfortunately the line that goes there was shut for engineering works yesterday, as were a lot of other routes. So we had to be very inventive with how we got to Greenwich. We took the tube to London Bridge (via Elephant & Castle) and then walked over to London Bridge pier in order to catch a Thames Clipper – a catamaran river-taxi – that took us all the way to the O2.

This trip on the river, although once again on a very cold day, was much more comfortable than the one I spoke of previously as we were inside this time and not sat freezing our wotsits off on the top deck! Here are a couple of videos that Dori took on our trip from London Bridge to Greenwich. The first shows the approach to Tower Bridge...

And this second one gives an idea of what it is like to travel the Thames. You get to see a mixture of old and new buildings, as well as some old industrial buildings that have been converted to new luxury apartments. The skyscrapers you can see in the background towards the end of the video are at Canary Wharf which is the modern centre of London’s financial district.

It was a very enjoyable half-hour trip along the river, and we agreed that we will have to do this again sometime in the summer.

We arrived quite quickly at Queen Elizabeth II pier just alongside the O2, disembarked and made our way over to the arena. After the rush earlier in the day, we now found ourselves with a little time to kill before our allotted time to enter the exhibition came round. Sadly not quite long enough to grab something to eat though! There are some great restaurants at the O2, many of which we have yet to sample. Before we knew it though, our time had arrived and we made our way into the exhibition.

The MJ Memorabilia Exhibition was just great. There were so many personal items there, as well as films, photographs and paintings of the great man. It was so sad to see some of the footage of Michael, and to see the little sandwich boxes that his children used to pack for him when he was in rehearsal for “This Is It”. But there were plenty of uplifting exhibits too, such as his handwritten lyrics to “Beat It”, plenty of his stage clothes and some items taken from Neverland. We were in there for a little over an hour but the time flew by – a sure sign that you are having a good time!

The exhibition was fantastic,and I felt that it was fitting that we got to see it at the venue of what would have been his comeback concerts, and indeed what was the site of his final public appearance in the UK. We would both so dearly loved to have seen MJ in concert here, and judging from everything I have seen both in the exhibition and in the “This Is It” movie, those shows were going to be something out of this world. Nothing could make up for missing out on that experience, but visiting this exhibition has gone a long way to healing some wounds and helping me to reconcile that some things are just not meant to be. The world lost a kind and gentle soul last June – a true Legend.

For Dori's view of our day out and of the exhibition, click here.

Sunday Snaps 9 - London...from the Thames

It's been a while since my last Sunday Snaps post, so here is the latest in the series.

These photos were all taken 5 years ago during a trip up to London on a VERY cold Sunday in January. We took one of the river boats that travel along the Thames, getting on at Westminster and off at Greenwich.

This first snap is of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge.

Just opposite Parliament is the London Eye. You can take what they term "flights" in the pods of this massive ferris wheel and get some great views of London. The flights take about half an hour to do a full circle and are well worth trying if you get the chance.

Perhaps the most famous bridge in the country is Tower Bridge, which is named after the nearby Tower of London. It was a little surreal to be sailing underneath this famous landmark.

The last picture for today is of the rebuilt Globe Theatre, the original of which saw many of Shakespeare's original play performances. It is a wonderful project that has constructed a faithful reproduction of the original theatre.

Viewing London from the river is a very interesting way of seeing the city and some of its most notable landmarks, but I would highly recommend not doing so on the coldest day of the year!! :-)  We do have some more pics from this trip so I may share those in another Sunday Snaps someday soon. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

Doesn’t time fly! Christmas Eve is here already and it only feels like 5 minutes ago we were over in Georgia celebrating Thanksgiving. We have spent the last few days completing our final preparations for the festive season. We have even braved the local supermarkets on a couple of occasions, where you would think that people were buying in readiness for a month’s hibernation rather than just a couple of days worth of celebration!

Yesterday we went up to London to see a play in the West End. It really made it feel like Christmas. We spent the train journey up to the city looking out at the snow-covered countryside as we sped by. The snow and frost that we have had over the last week has made this the nearest thing to a White Christmas that I can remember for a long time. Unfortunately it looks as though it will all be gone around where we live by tomorrow. Anyway, the blanket of snow over all the fields, barns and houses made for a very Christmassy scene as we travelled towards Paddington Station.

Our day in London was wonderful. We took the Tube to Covent Garden and had a bite to eat before going to the Novello Theatre to see “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” starring James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Adrian Lester and Sanaa Lathan as directed by Debbie Allen. The play was tremendous with exceptional performances all round. We had great tickets slap-bang in the middle of the 8th row – just perfect. The show lasts for 2 hours and 45 minutes, but that time simply flew by – a sure sign that you are having a good time! After the show we went to have a meal at a nearby restaurant, which was buzzing with people enjoying a pre-Christmas night out. The food was great and served very promptly, which was a relief as we had a train to catch back to Wiltshire. We decided as were sat in that restaurant that we will have to make trips like this our new Christmas tradition, every year on December 23rd. Anything else we go to see though will have to go some in order to match that production of “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” though!

Today we have had to stay in and wait for the washing machine engineer who is supposed to be bringing us a new machine as the last one died just after we returned from our trip to the States. We are, however, still waiting as I write these notes! Hopefully he will be here very soon as we have some Christmas movies to watch and some cards still left to finish off. I hate having to wait for deliveries and the like.

Anyway, yuletide is upon us and I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you all have a great holiday season.

PS The new washing machine has just arrived – who said that Santa doesn’t bring exactly what you want at Christmas?!

Sunday Snaps 7 - Royal Kensington

This is another in my occasional Sunday Snaps series. Today I am staying closer to home and sharing some of the pictures we have taken during our many trips up to London.

The first is of Kensington Palace, which lies within the boundary of Kensington Gardens, which itself borders onto Hyde Park. The palace is a working palace to this day, currently the official residence of several minor royals. It is perhaps most famous today for being the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales following her separation from Prince Charles.



Lying just outside of Kensington Gardens is the Royal Albert Hall. It was built in 1871 and named, at the behest of Queen Victoria, after her beloved husband Prince Albert, who had died 10 years previously. It is a wonderful building and hosts many concerts, including the BBC Proms, as well as some sporting events. Dori and I are hoping to get the chance to attend a concert there sometime in the future.



Just across the road from the Albert Hall, back within Kensington Gardens, is the Albert Memorial. Completed a year after the Royal Albert Hall was opened, it is the official memorial for Prince Albert. The statue of Prince Albert at the centre of the memorial faces south towards the Royal Albert Hall, and is surrounded by a number of other sculptures that represent Agriculture, Commerce, Engineering, Manufactures, Asia, Africa, America and Europe. It is a wonderful memorial, and is certainly much more fitting than the abomination that is the Diana memorial which lies just a few hundred yards away!

Sunday Snaps 5 - Natural History Museum

Earlier this week, Dori and I went up to London for a day-trip. We decided that we would go to the Natural History Museum in Kensington. The museum is housed inside one of the most beautiful buildings in the whole of London. We took a few photos while we were up there, and so I thought that I would share them with you today. The first two pics show the outside of the museum. When we arrived there were long queues to go into both entrances - we had forgotten that the schools were still out for the summer! Anyhoo, we joined the shorter of the two lines and were inside soon enough.

There are some great exhibits in the NHM, a lot of which are interactive. We were a little reluctant to try too many of the interactive elements though, due to the current Swine Flu outbreak. You never know what germs the person before you may have!! The main entrance to the museum opens up into the Central Hall, which is overlooked by a statue of Charles Darwin. This year marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.

We didn't have time to see everything in the museum, especially as the queue for the dinosaur exhibit was over 45 minutes long, so we have already decided to go back another day - when all the kids are back at school. But we enjoyed our day out. Have a look at this little quirky video that Dori filmed during our day. It shows a bit of our train journey there and back, as well as some views of the museum itself. It is the latest in Dori's new Mini Cam Moments Series. I hope you like it.

Three Years and Counting

Three years from today will see the start of the London Olympics. The opening ceremony will take place on the evening of Friday July 27th 2012. I, for one, just hope that it will be a little bit better staged than the fiasco that was the handover section of the closing ceremony at last year’s Beijing Olympics. After the spectacular displays put on by the Chinese, it was an embarrassment to see the complete debacle of the London section of the ceremony!

But now is not the time to look back at past ignominy but forward to future successes. The British team had their most successful Olympics for 100 years in Beijing and with the next Olympiad being held in this country, hopes are high that the British team can do even better next time. There hasn’t been an Olympics or a World Cup held in this country during my lifetime, so I am very excited at the prospect of seeing the world’s sporting stars performing on these shores. Dori and I are hoping to get some tickets to see at least one of the events that will take place between July 27th and 12th August 2012.

Only three more years to wait!

Pomp and Pageantry Plus!

Well, what a day we had on Saturday. As I mentioned a while back, we were going up to London to see the Queen’s Birthday Parade, or Trooping the Colour. We raised ourselves at (almost) the crack of dawn in order to catch an early train into London. The one good thing about travelling at that time of day is that there is much less traffic on the roads! Anyway, the train journey into London went by quite quickly, and before we knew it we were at Paddington Station.

Thankfully the tube strike earlier this week did not last until the weekend, so we hopped onto a tube train to take us to Westminster. It is a great tube station to exit from, because as you do so immediately in front of you is the Houses of Parliament – it is a magnificent scene. Turning right as we came out of Westminster Underground Station, we headed towards St James’s Park. The site of the parade ground is at one end of the park, alongside Horse Guards Road. We timed our arrival perfectly as we had to wait in line for only a few minutes before the barriers were pushed aside and we all went through the security checks and then headed towards the stands.

Our seat was right at the back of one of the stands that back onto the garden of 10 Downing Street. In fact, we were right beneath the TV cameras and just along from the BBC commentary box for the event. Here’s a pic of the cameras as seen from our seats.

We were in place by about 9:20, and the parade was not due to start until 10:30, with the Queen not due on Horse Guards Parade until 11 o’clock. So, we had some time to waste, but we didn’t have the opportunity to get bored. One of the fun games I played was watching the “upper classes” struggling like you wouldn’t believe to find their correct seats!! There were a good dozen or more people who had to move because they had incorrectly identified their seats – I mean, how hard can it be? ;-) They have clearly not been to many football (soccer) matches!

We watched the parade ground being watered, and various guards taking their place at points around the parade ground. Before we knew it we could hear the first musical notes from the Massed Bands of the Guards Division as they marched onto the parade ground. And the ground very quickly filled up with the seven Foot Guards companies that were taking part, as well as the King’s Troop, the Household Cavalry and the Mounted Bands who all lined up in front of the Guards Memorial.

We heard screams coming from the route between Buckingham Palace and Horse Guards Parade, and guessed it was either Princes William and Harry or the Jonas Brothers! The two princes arrived on the ground in a horse-drawn carriage, together with their step-mother Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. After they had taken their positions within the Horse Guards building to watch the ceremony, it was time for the arrival of The Queen and Prince Philip in another carriage, followed by Prince Charles, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent who were all on horseback in fairly spectacular uniforms.

The Trooping the Colour ceremony takes about 75 minutes from the time of the sovereign’s arrival to her departure, and that time just flew by. The Colour is the name given to the standard of the regiment, used in times past as a rallying point during battle. The Colour is trooped in front of the Guards so that they could recognize it during any such battle. It is an even more amazing spectacle in real-life than it is on TV, and we were both marvelling at how well organized and directed it all was.

After the ceremony was completed, involving much marching back and forth, playing of regimental music and horses drawing artillery guns around the parade ground, the Royal party left to make their way back to Buckingham Palace. Before we knew it the parade ground was filled with people mingling as they discussed the wonderful display we had all just witnessed. Dori and I wandered on to the parade ground and took a few pictures and then decided to head over towards the Palace. The Mall is closed for the day of the Parade, and so we took the rare opportunity to stroll down the middle of the road heading to Buck House. It was a lovely, happy atmosphere and we were enjoying ourselves immensely.

As we neared the Palace, we expected the crowds to be too dense for us to progress but somehow they magically parted and we were able to make our way almost right up to the Palace gates. Just as we got there so the Royal Family emerged onto the balcony to watch the flypast by the Royal Air Force. Several aircraft flew directly down The Mall and over the Palace in salute to the Queen, including a Lancaster Bomber, a Spitfire and a Hurricane as well as more modern fighter jets such as Tornado GR4s and Eurofighter Typhoons. The flypast of 29 aircraft reached its crescendo with the Red Arrows, who trailed red, white and blue smoke as they roared over the crowds below. It was a superb finale to a wonderful day. We waved as the Royal Family moved back inside the Palace and then headed away to get something to eat before we returned home.

I mentioned to Dori while we were watching the ceremony that it all felt a little surreal – seeing something that I had grown up watching on TV and never once thought I’d ever get to see in the flesh. That surrealism was then surpassed by seeing the Royal Family waving from the Palace balcony, a scene that we have all seen many, many times before. I may have lived in England for over 40 years, but this was the first time that I have seen my monarch or many of the other members of the Royal Family (we had seen William and Harry before, at the Concert for Diana in 2007).

We got home in the evening, tired and weary from our day in London, but very happy that we had been witness to a centuries-old ceremony full of pomp and pageantry. It was a great day.

For even more pics, check out Dori's blog!

(Almost) This Day in History

It was 15 years ago yesterday that Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa, and so ended three centuries of white rule in the country. It was an historic day, not just for South Africa, but also for the whole world. The injustices of the hateful apartheid regime were torn away and finally all the people of South Africa were allowed the opportunity to give voice to their hopes and dreams for the future. It was a symbolic day to show the world that we are all one and that nobody should be judged on how they look, or what colour their skin may be.


Dori and I were very privileged last year to be able to see Mr Mandela in the flesh. We had managed to get tickets to the concert in Hyde Park last June to celebrate his 90th birthday. Naturally, we were both extremely excited to get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When Mr Mandela came out onto the stage to give his speech, there was a wave of love and awe that flowed from all over the concert ground towards the stage. It was a remarkable moment, and it is one that I know neither Dori nor I will ever forget. Nelson Mandela is truly a man of our time, and his name will live long in the history books as a man of great courage, humanity and rare compassion.