A rainy, freezing London day

It may have been one of the coldest days I can ever remember in London, but with several layers involved, including the wooly scarf that just made the suitcase at the last minute, I checked out Covent Garden and then a Tube ride to Sloane Square , to try and capture some street scenes with reflections of the rain on the paths, and umbrellas as the streetscape. There were crowds making their way to the Chelsea Flower Show, and tourists cramming in sightseeing with their couple of precious days of another Bank holiday weekend starting. This city takes all weather in its stride, some shops in Sloane Square offer long purpose designed plastic sleeves to put your wet umbrella in, saving drips on expensive floors- very civilised.
This is our last weekend, and thoughts start to turn to packing, final goodbyes and the long journey southeast. We have seen so much, met up with dear friends, travelled on many trains, above and below ground, I feel I have revised my skills as a mole on the underground, not that useful at home, but may be useful sometime.
The city has had much sadness this week, and it amazes me how strong Londoners are, they grip onto each other , establish stronger bonds and keep going. They will grieve together, and move on together, strong and determined to own their city

Three days, then time to turn for home.

A journey on the rails. Were we crazy!

We set forth at dawn, and joined the early risers at St Pancras for the first Eurostar for the day, to Brussells. This was achieved by early in the day - it is only about two hours from London. Then a check of departure boards had us on a fast Intercity train to Cologne - the country was lush, green,as the towns and smaller cities flew by. The third train was a stopping all stations run, along the Rhine Gorge from Cologne to Mainz. The scenery along the gorge is wonderful, with smal and larger castles on the peaks above the gorge, dominating the waters from days past, past the point where the Lorelei tempted sailors, past pretty towns, with picture book scenes - noses pressed to the train windows as we sauntered from stop to stop. The chattering schoolkids that clambered on at various points seemed oblivious to the incredible scenery that is part of their everyday world. Very tired, we negotiated Mainz station and eventally clambered on the final train for the day, to Frankfurt. A major German city, it offers a modern skyline, and all the usual accoutrements of a bustling, major centre of this major European economy. We felt  a  little wobbly as we made our way to a beautiful hotel opposite the station, and a welcome hot shower and soft bed.
This morning, again, we were up before the birds, for the fast Intercity express to Paris. Again, the fast train sped us through the countryside. The German forests looked quite Wagneran, with hints of grand opera nad germanic tales - heavy lush dark green , with a little forboding. At the French/German border, passports were checked, and announcements started in french instead of german, and english always last - puts us in our place. The countryside into Paris displayed the agricultural France, with fields of golden canola, and green pastures appearing as a seamless cloth, unlike the british countryside, with fields edged with hedgerows, and plainstone walls, often ages old. From that we flew along, over 300 kms per hour, according to the travel screen in the carriages, and arrived in Paris. (it is actually interesting to be speeding through the towns and country at such speeds, without seatbelts. We are so accustomed to be anchored in, I guess there is a reason. A certain balancing style is required though, when moving through the train (not always a pretty sight!)
Paris, and we traced the streets to Gard de Nord for the Eurostar to London. We felt quite pleased, though to be fair to the french, they have labelled the route well, with many changing trains and stations on an hourly basis. And so back to London. Were we crazy? Six trains, two days, four countries - England, France, Belguim, Germany! We are tired, a little bouncy still, but have seen some amazing scenery, negotiated stations where english is not heard, and life is a very fast pace .  And someone has had a good fill of the loved fast trains.
More soon, maybe

At Cologne Station, the Rhine Journey to Mainz begins. One of the most scenic rail journeys in the world.

 Our first sight of the Rhine.

The camera doesnt do the view justice. Hard to aim the camera, watch the beauty of the views and deal wiht the speed of the train all in a fraction of a second.

 An old castle still stands guards the river below.

 No, not hollywood or disneyland, the Rhine Gorge has remarkable history and view even today.

Frequent little towns beside the Rhine - and the river was well up and fast flowing too.

 Our German DB Inter-City (ICE3) stands at Franfurt Station before its 0600 departure for Paris Est, just on four hours journey time.

We waled from Paris Est to Paris Nord to board the Eurostar back to London where our journey had commenced the day before.

For the love of a wizard

I have to confess I fell in love with a little wizard, Harry Potter years ago, when I bought the Philosphers stone to pass time on a plane trip. Many years, books and films later, I still love the series and whole concept. So I journeyed to Warner Bros exhibition at the Watford studios to see the production items, and concept builds behind the wonderful films. It was worth every cent, and all the time - to see the sets, walk Diagon Alley, see the wand shop, the flying blue Anglia, the bus that picks up the students, the huge scale model thatw was used in aerial scenes and many other scenes of the films of the Hogwarts School. I walked the crooked bridge, visited Harry's first home, and his bedroom under the stairs, the Weasley's amazing kitchen, Hagrid's hut, the Potions classroom and so much more.I wandered between the displays for hours, and felt the same excitement as a wide eyed child - just superb. The photos are principally on the ipad, but there are a few here as well. They really do not do the exhibition justice, and I will revisit all the films as soon as I can, driving everyone mad with comments from what I saw.
More soon

 The magic bus for  muggles

 The great hall, waiting for the students

 I loved all the animals the students had, and some of the others as well. The comments under the picture are lovely.

 One of the owls who played postie!

 Hagrid's hut - interior - actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be inside,the prop details were incredible, the tiniest details thought of.

The Weasley's wonderful kitchen - a lot of the props were working - stirring pots, and cutting knives

There is something special about wandering a city first thing in the morning - it has a different personality when it is not cluttered, the new light is soft. We explored St James' Park, watched the elegant swans glide their way, squirrels fossic for nuts; we sauntered across Horseguards Parade, empty except for the lone guards standing to attention. And you could pretend it was just waiting for us to experience on our own.
We have spent the weekend doing very city things, the galleries, making visits to the most favourite paintings, plus a few new ones, walked the West End, and Covent Garden, the gardens where the deck cairs are waiting for those seeking the sun. It is almost mild today, jumpers and coats are finally being shed for a few hours at least.
The city also offers a few'to do' items as well. I have 'done' the London Eye, the Shard, I went to the latest display at the British Library (as librarians do!), and am doing the Harry Potter studio tomorrow.So that will just about completethis version of the London time.I am pleased my mastery of the intricacies of the Tube have been polished. Quite a satisfying sense to navigate the warren of escalators and tunnels - there is so much life under the streets of London, and the system is growing all the time - amazing.
 Off to Frankfurt for a train adventure.
More soon

 He is popular here too!

 Saturday afternoon and a very civilised demonstrations in The Strand en route to Downing Street.

 Sunday morning view of Whitehall.

 Horse Guards Parade - Sunday morning - all to ourselves.

Buckingham Palace as viewed from St James's Park. A swan has the best view in town - and some notable neighbours.

On board the Highland Chieftain

We have had a wonderful couple of days exploring the area of Aberdeen to Inverness and am sending this from The Highland Chieftain, the fast train service from Inverness to London. Aberdeen is all built in grey granite, and felt and looked cold and rather uninviting. The hotel room had  a distinct slope on it, but no one fell out of bed so all ok. Being bitterly cold did not help to appreciate this old  Scottish city, so apologies to those calling this place home. Inverness, though with a significant amount of granite buildings, offered a lighter,brighter presentation. Set on the pretty, fast. flowing Ness river ,it is a lovely city, which we really enjoyed wandering around.The surrounding countryside is green and lush, gentle hills stretching to higher mountains which define this part of the landscape. There is evidence of quite a low snowline, so it must be pretty chilly come wintertime. Interestingly, there are few verandas on shops in the main streets, there must be a reason, but thy do have quite large shopping malls, with plenty of shops, eateries and cinemas, a one stop place to go in the chilly winter months, when the daylight is very short.
The train trip offers amazing, ever changing views from mountains with snow, to lush green pastures, and neat farms., little gorges formed with the slurry coming after the snow melt.
More soon

 Main street of Aberdeen - very grey!

 New and old in Aberdeen - both very grey.

 Peak hour in Aberdeen - our afternoon walk.

 Inverness - main street - our walking time after arrival by train from Aberdeen.

 The River Ness at Inverness - fast flowing and very cold looking.

 View of Ness River over to Inverness Castle.

 Sign post in Inverness - in Gaelic and English - test your skills.

Cairngorms Railway Station enroute from Inverness to Edinburgh (and thence down to London). Recent snow on th esurrounding hills - so much for Spring let alone Summer.

The Shard from the top

It has featured on a few photos, and is amazing from the outside, but as we passed through London Bridge station, we decided to journey up to the visitor deck, 66th floor- to see London from a very different angle.
The lifts are an experience, with the ceilings changing colour and feature pictures from sky scenes to mosaics. The second lift has different ceiling views, creating a distraction from the fact you are flying up the tower , about 4 floors a second. It is a very gentle ascent, though, no stomach leaps, or ears popping. And then out you go -to the viewing deck It is enormous in height, and a 360 floor which meets full length windows.I hope a couple of photos do it justice, though it is hard to capture the full expanse. You get a great idea of the meandering Thames - visually you can follow it for miles. The planes approaching Heathrow look only metres above you, the trains below coming into the stations look like every young (and old) boy's absolute treat. Going close to the edge of the building is not for everyone, quite a few were happy to observe from a distance, others peered as far on the edge as they could. There is only a real sensation of great height when you focus on the ground immediately below. But I found it amazing to  see so far from a grounded point, and also wonder at the concepts and skill that created the building.
Scotland awaits us , with some very cold weather
More soon

 The Thames wanders passed Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf down to the sea.

 A modern view of London

 Down the Thames to Westminster

St Paul's Cathedral, once the tallest, now looked down upon.

A modern London is bornover the history of the oold.

 View down towards Westminster with the Tate Modern seen on the Left of the Thames.

The new and the old eye each other off over the Thames.

Further wandering in London and Kent

We have been out and about, appreciating London on a Sunday morning, when there is far less traffic, you can walk without the crowds, and smile at the scampering squirrels, who have caught onto the fact that many people mean little snacks. No need to forage when it is all handed to you.
It was the quintessential scene of London, as we checked out the pretty flower beds opposite Buckingham Palace, when there walked by a group of the Household Cavalry, resplendent in their red and gold. A bit of ceremonial is always appreciated and the British do it like no others.They strolled elegantly down the Mall, which is closed to traffic on a Sunday. Also worth checking out were some new additions and some familair friends in the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery.As the weather starts to turn colder again, and the rain comes back, there is something very special about exploring some of the most iconic paintings ever produced. I revisit the Turners and Monets and other impressionists on a regular basis.
A train trip into Kent showed how luxurious the growth is in the country now, After the wet winter and spring, the growth is lush, there are little woodlands that we sped by, resplendent in a carpet of bluebells, under trees with their new dappled growth of new green. The country is showing herself to be really the 'green and pleasant land'
We are going to the north of Scotland for a couple of days so, but absolutely no hagis!)
More soon

Thanks for the snack

 Love a bit of ceremonial

 Waiting for a train in the heart of pretty Kent

The Mall looking towards Buckingham Palace, 9.00AM Sunday morning. Felt like we had the city to ourselves for a moment