Day 266 of 365: I (don't) wanna go to Chelsea...

Stuart and I went for lunch at the pub here (The Albert) and saw this guy having a drink inside. He explained a little about why he was in red to me, but I didn't go up to the guy. After Stuart went back to work, I went back to the pub to take some photos (it's got some gorgeous Victorian era windows) and the Chelsea Pensioner as they're known was standing in the doorway (having a smoke!) Chelsea Pensioners are former soldiers in the British Army who are retired and live at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea full time. They wear the distinctive red coats (which have a name that I've forgotten!) everywhere. I politely asked if I could take his picture. He seemed more than pleased and was happy to stand and chat with me a few minutes, telling me some stories of when he was in the military and stationed in Palestine! He told me how he was injured by a bomb explosion and lost some hearing and took two years to recover and learn to walk again. Pretty impressive!

Day 265 of 365: Bloomsbury

This is a shot near where Charles Dickens lived with his wife and family for a few years in London. It's an absolutely beautiful area of town! I've decided that [when I get that 6 figure paying job] I will live here some day! It's still rather near the British Museum and busier sections of town, but it retains a calm, away-from-it-all feel. It's at the very least a nice place to spend an afternoon strolling about.

Day 261 of 365: Four Weddings and a Funeral!

I went over to the Farringdon area today to visit the St. John Order museum and this church, St. Bartholomew the Great. It dates to Norman times (talking 1050 here!) and this is the view from a side street. It turns out, this church was used in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral! I can't believe I never thought to look up some of those sites (seeing as that is one of my favorite movies that I've seen a bajillion times!!) This was where (as the man inside put it) where Duckface slapped Hugh Grant. I think that's the 3rd wedding? I will definitely have to go back and watch the film again when I get home! I will look up where some of the other sites from the movie are and go find them, too, I guess!

And, uh, not sure why the picture is crooked. The church must be on a hill or something. ;)

Day 260 of 365: More strike fun!

This is the packed bus I had to take today due to the strike. It would have been a 15 or 20 minute ride on the tube, but there was a 15 minute wait for the bus, then an hour ride from Victoria to Bank. Oy. I'm just thankful I was one of the first people on and had a seat the whole time. There were long lines at every bus stop and a lot more street traffic in general. It will be nice when things return to normal!

Day 259 of 365: Strike!

The tube workers are on strike for 48 hours. They started Tuesday evening at 7:00 and are going until 6:58 pm on Thursday. Most lines are completely closed with a few operating between a couple of random stations. I was lucky because the Northern line (where I connect) was running pretty much normally. I was able to take it 2 stops to then catch a regular train into town. I walked the rest of the day (not even attempting to get a bus with the crowds waiting for each one). Traffic in general was busier than normal. Luckily, London's not quite as bad as it would have been if this were Paris. It's certainly been a fun experience!

Day 258 of 365: My buddy Henry VIII

I spent the afternoon at Hampton Court Palace and there was a reenactment of Henry VIII's and Kateryn Parr's wedding day going on. It was very exciting and well done on their part! The actors wandered around doing various events as if they really were living there. We all just happened to be there, too. It was a lot of fun and really made the visit even more memorable. The actor who played Henry VIII was very friendly and seemed genuinely interested in talking to all the tourists asking for photos with him.

*FYI, if you want to see more about my visit to the Palace, check out my London travel blog here. I will have a post up shortly with more photos.

Day 257 of 365: Oxford Street

I decided to walk down to Hyde Park and possibly go to Kensington Palace today after lunch. Being in Soho, it's seemingly, not that far of a walk. However, Oxford Street is a constant log jam of people going every which way. It is quite frustrating!

Day 254 of 365: Scones and tea

This tea cafe, Sacred, was recommended to me by someone I met on the street in London. What a great place!! I had a wonderful pot of Japanese green tea and my very first scone with cream and jam. Holy cow. I don't think I'll ever be the same!

Day 253 of 365: Croquet anyone?

How very posh! Nothing like a bit of afternoon croquet and a spot of tea.... I came across this scene while I was over in Greenwich this afternoon. I saw the Prime Meridian there (pretty cool) and there is a large park at the base of the observatory, oddly enough called Greenwich Park. I'm definitely going to return there some sunny weekend afternoon for a picnic and sun time! Also, I got to ride the DLR train which was nice. It's above ground and takes you right by the docks and stuff. I enjoyed the change of pace this afternoon.

Day 252 of 365: Number 3 Savile Row

Hidden behind the main drag of Regent Street is Savile Row. If you are Beatles fan, then you know what this place is significant for! If you look up, waaaaay up, to the roof, you might recognize the view. This is where they played their last ever live performance together on January 30, 1969! The building was their Apple offices for a while (until they moved to Abbey Road) which is why they chose to play here. It was cool to be able to stand on the stairs there (yes, I'm one of those fans...) I can't believe I was so close to here all these visits and didn't even think to come see it. The street is very quiet now, but I can only imagine how amazing it was for the shop and office workers to suddenly hear live Beatles music coming from outside! I also passed by the police station from where officers were sent down to stop the noise back in 1969.

Day 251 of 365: Here comes the Sun!

We had more gorgeous weather today and pretty much everyone was out in the sun to take advantage! I was on my way to the National Gallery and the lure of these chairs was strong. I decided it was more fun to just go ahead and have a little relaxing nap in St. James's Park instead of rushing on to the museum. It was lovely! Of course, at one point, this man comes up to me in my chair asking for money. I told him I was sleeping and to go away. Um, it turned out he's the chair fee collecting man! Oops! I'm sure he's heard it all the time anyway. He didn't seem phased.

Day 250 of 365: Westminster

So, it's my first day in London with absolutely no plans. I passed by Westminster and figured I may as well go ahead in and visit it finally. It's quite expensive (£15!!) which is why I've never done it before. However, I'd already decided I'd go at some point on this trip. It was very well organized- we got free listening guides at the door which were narrated by Jeremy Irons. That was funny! The map was clearly marked with each location's number which corresponded to the commentary on the audio guide. It was very interesting. I have to say, my favorite part was Poet's Corner where all the writers are buried or memorialized. I'm glad I went in finally. I wish it had been a tad less expensive, but I suppose it was worth it in the end.

Day 180 of 365: Dedication

This is one of my favorite books and gifts I've ever received. My Beatles friend MaryRuth gave this to me way back in 1995. I had no idea when I would finally be able to get to go to London, but I knew I had to bring this when I did. I've now been able to use it 4 times. I was talking about it to someone (hi Patty!) tonight and I started getting excited about using it again this summer! Though, I'm tempted to buy the updated version. I might see if I can find it at the bookstore and compare it to my version. I'm definitely going to methodically work on seeing as many Beatles' sites as possible this year, though. Hee!

Day 153 of 365: Don't hate me..

..because I'm organized. Okay.. maybe a bit too much, but I like having the pages flagged like this. Then I can make notes and once I've gone to the place, I can remove the flag! It's a system- really!

So maybe I'm just a little anxious to start my trip.

Day 141 of 365: Gift

Not a great photo (uh, sorry about that...) but this is a calendar a friend who knows my plans gave me for Christmas. I put it up in my bedroom next to my chest of drawers. It's on the wall directly facing the bed and next to the doorway out, so it's one of the first things I see every morning! Yet another reminder as to why I'm doing it all everyday....

Day 60 of 365: Proper curry in the US?

Went to Whole Foods today after work to get some steel cut oatmeal. Then I see this fabulous new curry sauce that appears to be pretty authentic and ready to use (in fresh veg area, not canned foods). Of course I decide at that point that I just MUST try it. It was a bit expensive (on sale for $6.49!!) but when I thought about how much it is to buy restaurant indian food that's not nearly as good, I figured why not? So I got some nice organic mushrooms and jalapenos and a can of garbanzos to add to it, along with some basmati brown rice and naan bread! I also added some onion and quorn chicken I already had at home. I'm so excited about the naan! I heated it up on the stove with a tiny bit of olive oil and it was soooooo good. Went great with the curry (which was also fantastic!). Easy to use and tasted very authentic.

A couple of sidenotes:
-I'm definitely learning more about the features of my camera! I learned how to adjust the flash intensity with this picture. I can't stand when the flash is too bright and bounces off the subject. That's a useful feature of the camera! :)
-Also, I brought my WF London bag with me today into WF. A worker brought me over to his manager to meet him and show him my bag! The manager had not been to the London store, but knew about it and had visited it "virtually" (I assume they have some online feature to do so). We chatted for a bit about the store in London and also about the changes to the local store here. It may be a long shot, but can't hurt to have a contact there in my back pocket. Who knows, right??

Day 44 of 365: Always something there to remind me...

My most favorite shopping bag, waiting to go back downstairs into my car after being used today. It gets quite a bit of attention every time I use it at the supermarket. I got it this summer while in London. Everyone is surprised when I tell them there's actually a Whole Foods in London (which is the most super coolest WF I've ever been to in my life!!) I love that bag because I can sort of pretend for a moment that I am in London shopping (as silly as that sounds). It makes me smile every time I pick it up and use it!