London @ Night

Well, it is my last night in London, so I thought I would post some evening pictures we have taken throughout the week here. I have enjoyed blogging for all of you this week and I hope you have enjoyed reading about London. Do you think we should use blogging more in all of your classes? Keep your comments coming. Remember, they are worth extra credit.

Mr. Wood

Tower of London

Tower Bridge

Trafalgar Square

London Eye

Sherlock Holmes Restaurant

Big Ben

Kew Palace & Kew Gardens

Today we visited one of the most beautiful places and ironically we would have never known about it had I not turned on the television last night. In England there is a television channel called UKTV History. This month UKTV History is having a "Britain's Best" competition. Last night on UKTV they aired a special on Kew Palace. It was recently reopened after a 10 year remodel, so we thought we would go and check it out.

To get to Kew Palace you have to take the Underground to the small village of Kew almost as far west as the Underground possibly goes. Kew is one of the nicest places I have ever been. I would love to live there. Just take a look at how cute the downtown area is.

After walking a short distance you arrive at the entrance to the Kew Royal Garden. I had no idea how large this place is. Apparently, it is nearly 300 acres and the place is crammed full with plants from all over the world. Kew Gardens started in the 1700's as a collection of exotic plants. Since that time the gardens have been continually added to and today it is a giant park on the outskirts of London where many families take their children for the day. On the grounds there are 5-6 huge green houses. We went inside of the Temperate House which dates back to the late 1800's. The place was huge and contains the largest living indoor plant, the Chilean Wine Palm. The grounds of Kew Garden are full of all sorts of exotic and beautiful plants. I definitely want to go back the next time I am here!

Now remember, the whole reason we went to Kew was to see Kew Palace. During the late 1700's - early 1800's King George III and his wife Queen Charlotte lived with their 15 children on the grounds of Kew Gardens in Kew Palace. Kew Palace is also the place George III spent most of his time once he had lost his mind. Kew Palace was closed 10 years ago for a major renovation and was only reopened last year. Walking through the palace was like stepping back in time. The historians working on the renovation focused on making the place feel like it would have felt during the early 1800's when George III and his family lived there. It was fascinating. Mrs. Botan and Mrs. Kelley would probably want to spend all day there.

Tomorrow we are headed back to Modesto. Who knows, I may even see the DC students during my stop at the New York Airport. They are supposed to be there at the same time!

Mr. Wood

Kensington Palace & Covent Garden

Today began with breakfast in Green Park. Green Park is just one of many royal parks in the London. Green Park is across the street from our hotel and next to Buckingham Palace. After stopping at Starbucks and a neighboring Pret a Manger (kind-of like a bakery) we headed over to Green Park to people watch and plan the day. The best part about Green Park is that throughout the park there are huge fields of daffodils. When we first arrived they were in bloom, but now some of the flowers are starting to fade.

After eating breakfast we took the Tube to the Kensington neighborhood of London. One of the royal residences, Kensington Palace, is in Kensington along with many different embassies. On the way to Kensington Palace from the Tube station we walked past the Iranian embassy as one of their spokes people was being interviewed by Al Jazzera. It was interesting and not something I expected to see in London.

Kensington Palace was a beautiful and facinating place. Currently, it is not the home of the Queen, but many members of the royal family live there. Kensington Palace was originally built as Nottingham house in 1605. In 1689 King William III and his wife Queen Mary II bought Nottingham house and enlarged it into Kensington Palace. They did this because William III suffered from asthma and Whitehall, the current royal residence at the time, was situated in central London where factories produced tons of pollution. Kensington was out in the country and was known for its clean air. By the 1760's Kensington Palace was no longer being used as the primary royal residence, but other members of the royal family started converting some of its buildings into apartments. Most recently some of Kensington Palace's residents have been Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon (sister and brother-in-law of the current Queen) and Princess Diana. Today it is the official residence of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke and Duchess of Kent; and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

While at Kensington Palace, we took the tour and were able to see a collection of Princess Diana's dresses, the apartment of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, and the rooms which were originally used by members of the royal family in the 17th and 18th centuries. In spite of all the things we saw, we actually only visiting a small portion of the palace. It was a very interesting place.

After visiting the palace we headed over to Covent Garden to visit the Covent Garden Market. The marketplace is an open-air shopping area in the location of a market area which dates back to the 1600's. The place was hopping with tourists and local residents. Near the market is our new favorite chain of restaurants in London, Pizza Express, so we stopped for lunch. Pizza Express has great Italian-style pizzas and is pretty inexpensive by London standards.

After lunch we took the Tube down to Clapham to visit a motorcycle shop. I wanted to see what my bike, a Kawasaki Ninja 650R looked like in England. I knew from looking online they looked a bit different. Norman, when I see you in person I will tell you all about it.

Thank you for all of the comments you have been posting. I have enjoyed reading your thoughts.

Mr. Wood

Shopping & Walking

Today was a very busy day, but a dream come true for Mrs. Botan and Mrs. Kelley at Ustach. Both of them insisted that I make sure I did not miss Harrod's department store while I was in London. After a quick breakfast at Starbucks we hit the tube and got off a few stops west of our hotel in Knightsbridge.

Just as you come out of the Knightsbridge station, you are greeted by the entrance to the Harrod's department store. Harrod's was originally opened in 1834 and has been in its current location since 1905. The store is six stories high and takes up an entire city block. If you can think of it, they have it somewhere in this store. Harrod's has the typical clothes, jewelery, toys, electronics, furniture and even designer golf carts.

However, the most impressive part of the the Harrod's complex are the Food Halls located on the ground floor. The food halls consist of 4 or 5 different rooms (I can't remember anymore) of food. Each room is kind-of like a grocery store specializing in its own type of food. For instance, there is a meat room, a vegetables and fruit room, a bakery, a prepared foods area, and even a candy and chocolate area. Naturally, being a carb-addict, I gravitated towards the bakery and found a great almond croissant.


After visiting Harrod's we walked off our purchases by taking the City Walk mentioned in Rick Steves' London tour guide. We started in Trafalgar Square in front of the National Gallery. We walked down the Strand towards St. Paul's Cathedral and saw a bunch of different sites. Some of the places we visited included the original Twinings Tea Shop which has been in the same location since 1706, the BBC New Building, two churches, and we even walked past the Australian Embassy. The Australian Embassy was the location of Gringotts Bank in the Harry Potter movies. Finally, at the end of our walk we visited St. Paul's Cathedral. Needless to say, my feet hurt!

I hope all is well and you are enjoying your vacation.

Mr. Wood

London Subway

Click to Play

If you've never been on the London Tube (subway), this is a quick glimpse of what it looks and sounds like. We took this video clip using a Canon Powershot SD550 digital camera on our way back from the Tower of London. I had no idea my camera could actually create videos like these. I guess it pays to play around with a your camera. Let me know what you think of the video.

The Tower of London

Today's tour of London involved visiting the Tower of London. The Tower of London is an 18 acre complex consisting of multiple buildings. The first buildings on the site were actually walls built by the Romans in the 2nd century. After William the Conqueror took over England he built the center building of the Tower of London complex, the White Tower, around 1078. His main reason for doing this, according to the tour guide, was the scare the people of near by London into submission.

The Tower of London complex has been continuously added to and changed since the time of William the Conqueror. In its past the Tower has served as a royal residence, an armory, a prison for traitors, and a storage location for the Crown Jewels. At one point in its history it even had a moat. However, in the 19th century it had to be filled in because all of London's sewage would end up draining into it. YUCK!

The place was a mad house of tourists today since it is Easter Monday, which is a holiday in England. However, we were able to see quite a bit before we had to leave due to the crowds. In the most interesting place in the complex, the Jewel House, we could not take pictures. Here is a picture of me standing in front of it. Nearly as exciting as seeing the Crown Jewels, I know. :-) We did get to see many different royal crowns encrusted with jewels and tons of gold plates and service ware. There was even a punch bowl that was the size of a small bathtub completely made out of gold.

Inside of the Tower of London complex live seven ravens. There is a myth that if they ever leave the complex the kingdom will fall. In order to ensure this does not happen, their wings have been clipped so that they can't fly. That seems like cheating to me, but I guess it is working since the Queen is still here.

Mr. Wood

Good Morning!

Wow! Lots of great comments. Some people are really raking in the extra credit. Right about now a whole group of you are getting ready to leave for DC. Have fun!

It is 9:30 in the mornning here and we are getting ready to take the tube to the Tower of London. More than likely the place will be packed with tourists, kind of like Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, but it should still be fun. On the way there I am planning on finding a bagel shop. For some reason I have bagels on my mind! The picture posted here is of downtown London from yesterday. Check out the giant egg!

Mr. Wood