LONDON INFO for the VISITOR

                                   Helpful London Info

     I’ve made several trips to England and have posted numerous posts previously in this blog. For the month of January I’m going to concentrate the whole month on England with things not yet covered and I’m sure when the month is done I’ll still have more stories to tell.

      London is perhaps one of the most exciting, historic, traditional, vibrant and artistic cities in the world. Centuries of history, timeless traditions, and culture with its familiar landmarks draws many visitors to London. Once the capitol of a world empire, London has harmony, elegance, and royal magnificence. There are exciting visions around every corner. Central London, the pulse and heart of the city, is where most well known tourist sites are located. Museums, theaters, large shops, and parks are north of the Thames. Hundreds of years-old buildings sit beside stunning modern ones. Pageantry and centuries old ceremonies mix with modern street culture.

      Most visits to London include or center around the West End, an area that incorporates the elegance of Mayfair, the crowded shopping around Oxford Street, the tourist glitter of Piccadilly Circus (which is not a circus), the exotic labyrinth of Soho, chic rehabilitated Covent Gardens and half price theater tickets at Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square, Regular theater ticket offices open at 10 AM.

       Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square are in the middle of the West End. Southwest lies Chelsea and Kensington with its posh shops and expensive restaurants. The political and royal part of the city, Westminster, with Buckingham Palace and Parliament, is southeast. Northeast is the area for art galleries, book stores, some colleges and the fabulous British Museum.

      Soho is a chaotic jumble of the exotic to the tacky. The porno palaces are mingled among good restaurants and wonderful shops.  It’s just sort of an eclectic hodge podge.

       The Thames River, originating from a spring in the heart of England, winds east to the North Sea while running several miles through London.

        London is both easy and frustrating to walk.  Streets frequently change names, sometimes four or five times. The numbers often are not consistent as #2 might be across the street from #30, and you really have to look for street signs that are often on the corner of a building but often not conspicuous. In addition a name may refer to a street, square, villa, or row in different parts of the city. All this can be confusing for a stranger; a good map is helpful and feel free to ask directions or questions from storekeepers or people on the street.

       Good transportation systems make getting around London and its environs easy. The system combines three airports, eight train stations, and lots of buses. Taxis are numerous and reasonable. The underground (tube, subway, take your choice of terminology) is quick, efficient, and reasonable. It’s easy to follow and one quickly can learn his way around the system. However, one must climb and descend many stairs in and out of the system. Once inside, escalators move you to different levels. Buses are cheaper than the tube, cover most of the city but are obviously slower. The famous red double-decker bus is a local bus. The single buses run express. Do be very careful crossing the street—look right before stepping off the curb!

       London was once a one square mile city within ancient walls. The walls, removed in the 1600s, revealed a dreary, decayed relic of a city with narrow streets and alleyways. Today the 600 square mile giant city has a population of seven million. Quite a shopping area exists underground at the major tube stations.

     Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace takes place at 11AM but only on even days.

More London Info tomorrow.

VENICE ITALY

Venician  Memories   

Gondolas of Venice are for tourists. Water taxis get one around the city, and water boats transport all goods and supplies.  There are no cars or bikes in old Venice.

 

Venice is easy to walk, but the many alleyways make it real easy to get lost.

Italian coffee is so strong a spoon will stand up in it all by itself

Venice is at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea. The city is divided into six districts. Yellow signs around the city direct you to Piazza San Marcos, the Rialto Bridge, Pizzale Roma, or the train station.

The Grand Canal is the main waterway and is shaped like an inverted ‘S’. The train station is at one end, and Piazza San Marco (St Mark) at the other. You can cross the Grand Canal at three points

  The large St. Mark’s square is bordered  on three sides by stores that all are under a covered walkway.       The Basilicade de San Marco, a Byzantine church, and Doge’s Palace are on the fourth side.

All the paintings inside the church are done in mosaics and simply gorgeous! The many columns are of different colored marble, and there are many statues.

The elevator to the top of the church tower provides a fantastic view of St Mark’s Square.

This clock near the palace is several hundred years old. It strikes on the hour and the hand on the roman

numerals move every five minutes. It’s fascinating to watch the little people strike the bell. The bell slowly rotates so it is struck in a different spot each time.

The winged lion is the symbol of both St. Mark and of Venice.

Handmade lace was gorgeous and still made in Venice.

A very rude young vendor in the square.

The Rialto Bridge is the largest bridge in Venice and the only one with shops on it.

By the evening dinner hour the vendors are gone, and musicians play for the dinner crowd at the sidewalk restaurants.

A nice visit with a medical student from Madrid who was visiting the city and with whom we struck up a conversation.

We were lucky to stay in an old hotel in old Venice to get the real flavor of the city. There was no A/C, but with the window open at night we were sent to dreamland by the singing gondoliers below!

IMPRESSIONS OF CUBA

                                 Havana and Beyond

There are many modes of transportation in Havana. Besides traditional yellow cabs, there are bike-taxis, horse drawn taxis, bicycles, and the adorable coco-cabs. People hitchhike all the time, especially out of the city. Obviously it is safe to do so and most vehicles stop to pick up someone if they have the room. The old cars are easy to maintain. Even though parts may not be available they are easy to reproduce. The Russian cars are often cut up to make trucks or vans.

Traffic never slows. Pedestrians obviously do not have the right of way. However, we never saw an accident. Of course speed limits are low, probably averaging about 40 miles an hour. There are very few traffic lights in Havana.

Walking can be hazardous because of the conditions of the sidewalks. Havana has little pollution, which was a total surprise.

Panhandlers are nearly non-existent. 

The city is full of parks of all sizes and there are many many statues. Plazas abound. The island is lush and green, and extremely clean. Litter does not exist

Outside of hotels, for some reason the toilet seat seemed to be missing much of the time. It was smart to carry tissues or T P when away from the hotel.

Riding through decaying parts of town I noticed wires strung like spider webs, out of windows, exposed to the outside, running loop after loop to somewhere else. It made me wonder who paid the electric bill, if in fact such a bill exists.

In the countryside I noted horses, goats, and cows grazing with no restrains and many times no fences. If there was a fence it was a flimsy line or two of wire.

 My trip to Cuba was made just days before the US shut travel down. Now that Cuba has opened up, it will be interesting to see what, if any, travel changes occur. Cuba has had many visitors, just not US citizens, for years.

KURANDA, AUSTRAILA

    A Different Visit

Kuranda is 1000’ above sea level, and can be reached by road, cable car, or train. We arrived by road and returned by train.

            The road was well paved, narrow, and contained 116 curves. It cuts through a beautiful rain forest. that receives 3-4 feet of rain a year! The soil is poor and the terrain steep. However it is so dense that it produces an umbrella which makes the area ecologically self-sufficient. It is one of the world’s oldest rain forests, and is on Australia’s heritage list. Pythons in the forest can grow to be 20-30 feet long!

            The sky cable ride from Cairns to Kurunda is 7 ½ kilometers long, making it the longest in the world. The cables are above the rain forest providing a spectacular view.

            Kuranda is a small town full of shops and eateries. An aboriginal influence was evident. We had plenty of time to wander around, get something to eat and to rest on one of the many benches. It is a pretty quaint little town.                      

Our meeting spot for return to Cairns was the train station. The track goes through 15 tunnels, the longest being 1/3 mile long. We also passed over 30 bridges. Construction of this railroad was an engineering feat of tremendous magnitude and many lives were lost during construction.

            The first soil was turned in 1886. Built in three sections, the first and third sections were relatively easy. The second section involved steep grades, dense jungle, and the Aborigines defending their territory. Section two contains the tunnels and 93 curves going from 5 ½ meters at Redlynch to 327 meters at Myola. Remember in 1887 bulldozers, and modern equipment were not available.  This railroad was built with strategy, fortitude, dynamite, hand tools, buckets, and bare hands and opened to the public in 1891.

            This train ride was every bit as awesome as the one through the Copper Canyon, it’s just shorter. The waterfalls we saw were marvelous. The scenery was certainly gorgeous!                 

The ride was an hour and a half, the last half-hour being in Cairns getting to the railroad station.

It was a fun day in a strange place with different customs and lifestyle.