Day 270 of 365: Meet Dickie Lewis

This is a statue on the side of John Lewis department store in Liverpool. For obvious reasons, he is known as Dickie Lewis. No idea why he is there!!

Day 269 of 365: Beatlemania

After spending a day and a half in Blackpool, we drove onto nearby Liverpool to visit MaccaMecca as I like to call it! [Macca is Paul McCartney's nickname here in England.] We visited the rebuilt Cavern Club and this is a portion of the wall outside. It is covered with the names of all the groups and musicians who have played here over the years. Many, many, many famous (and sometimes unexpected) names cover the wall. Of course, in the central place of honor are the four lads who really made this locale famous. Notice that Stu and Pete are also listed under Ringo and George. They are both former members of the early incarnations of the Beatles. Sadly Stu (Sutcliffe) died very young before they made it really big and Pete (Best) was replaced as drummer by Ringo in 1962.

Day 268 of 365: Fortune teller

I have wanted to go to a palm reader for a long time. It just seems like it'd be so much fun. Well, it was! I paid my money and sat in a tiny closed off room inside the miniature house. She didn't ask me any information like birthday or anything.. she just started looking at my palm and reading my face (apparently!) She said the next 3 years will be an upturn of luck and things will go well, including a change in jobs and a move.. hmmmmmm.... we'll see!

Day 267 of 365: I want to go to the seaside...

We arrived in Blackpool around dinner time and went for a walk along the promenade. It was windy and cold really (booooo), but we did get to see this fantastic sunset on the water!

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 264 of 365: Bath time!

I took a day trip out to Bath today (about 1 1/2 hours outside of London) and had a wander around. I went to the Roman baths first in the morning, then after having a picnic lunch in front of the Abbey, I headed inside. I was just in time for their 1:10 Summer event series. On Mondays, it's a reading from the Bible which lasts about 30 minutes. He read from the book of Acts (chap. 8-10) which was interesting. There wasn't any preaching or praying or anything like that. Just a simple Bible reading, which with the backdrop of the beautiful Abbey was a relaxing few moments of the day.

Day 263 of 365: Sainsbury's!

Another beautiful day (thank goodness!!) so we walked down to the giganto Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer. Love them! Got some shorts for my beach trip to Spain next week at M&S. Sadly, the big shops all close at 5:00 on Sundays (I know! Crazy! lol), so by the time we got here after doing some shopping at the other shops across the street, it was already 4:30. I definitely think a trip back here is in order. If anything, I want to go inside the gigantic Sainsbury's!

Day 262 of 365: Market day

We went for a little walk around Tooting since the weather was so nice today. Came across the market in town. I love outdoor markets! I think this is one major thing we are missing in Atlanta. There may be some obscure ones downtown on Saturdays during the summer or something, but a full-time fresh market where you can get local foods would be so welcome.

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. ;)