Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for london
An Iconic Tower in London
By Linda Tancs
Built in the 1960s, London’s BT Tower was once the city’s tallest building (at around 581 feet) until NatWest Tower opened in 1980. A national landmark, it was initially used for transmitting signals to television broadcasters and later featured a revolving restaurant and viewing platform (until an act of terrorism shut it down). As its role in telecommunications diminished with the evolution of fixed and mobile technology, the landmark saw new use as a giant banner of sorts when a wrap-around LED screen was installed around the 36th and 37th floors to provide messaging for various national events and even social media posts. The building has been sold to MCR, a major hotel group boasting properties like New York’s TWA Hotel and The High Line.
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Courtside in London
By Linda Tancs
Close to a statue of Abraham Lincoln on Parliament Square, the Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Housed in a neo-Gothic building (formerly Middlesex Guildhall), it’s open to guided tours each Friday. Highlights include the beautifully-appointed courtrooms and library. Visitors can also sit in on live hearings during the week.
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The Blackfriar
By Linda Tancs
Built in 1875 on the site of a Dominican friary, The Blackfriar pub is set in a historic, Art Nouveau Grade II wedge-shaped building on Queen Victoria Street owing its survival to a group of conservationists. It features mosaics, ornamental balconies and the famous guardian black friar above the front door. You’ll enjoy the friezes of mottos or little jokes that give a glimpse into late 19th-century England as well.
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The Little Green Huts
By Linda Tancs
A quirky part of London’s history are the little green huts that pop up in various parts of the capital. Known as cabmen’s shelters, they were established in 1875 for London’s cabbies as a place to rest and eat during the workday. Once numbering 61, the 13 remaining shelters are all Grade II-listed (protected) buildings. You’ll find them at locales like Wellington Place, Russell Square and Kensington Park Road. Nowadays even non-cabbies can order takeaway from a service window; hours vary at each shelter.
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Urban Art in London
By Linda Tancs
There’s only one place in London, England, where you’ll find legalized graffiti and street art, and that’s at Leake Street. In fact, urban art is encouraged on the walls and ceilings of the street, which is a road tunnel in Lambeth. Less than 1,000 feet long, the street runs off York Road and under the platforms and tracks of Waterloo station. The area is known as Leake Street Arches, a dining and entertainment complex which incorporates the graffiti tunnel and a new pedestrianized walkway connecting Leake Street to Westminster Bridge roundabout. The entrance is next door to Park Plaza County Hall.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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The Coronation of King Charles
By Linda Tancs
The Coronation of His Majesty The King Charles III and Queen Camilla will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, sparking a series of ceremonial, celebratory and community events that will take place over the Coronation Weekend. For instance, on May 7 a special evening Coronation Concert will be staged and broadcast live at Windsor Castle by the BBC. The highlight of the concert, Lighting up the Nation, features iconic locations across the United Kingdom being lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations. During the day neighbors and communities are invited to share food and fun together at what’s being styled the “Coronation Big Lunch.” Monday, a Bank Holiday, is set aside for “The Big Help Out,” a day for volunteering and community service.
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London’s Oldest Bookshop
By Linda Tancs
Hatchards is London’s oldest bookshop. It was established in 1797 by publisher John Hatchard and has occupied its current space at 187 Piccadilly since Georgian times. Far from a crusty old bookstore, it shelves are lined with the latest bestsellers and contemporary works along with time-honored classics. The store’s dedicated team can even source out-of-print titles. As one might expect, they’re the Official Bookseller to the Royal Household.
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A Local History Museum in London
By Linda Tancs
Gunnersbury Park boasts an opulent stately home in Regency style located in the London Borough of Hounslow. Once owned by the Rothschild banking family, it now houses a local history and heritage museum for the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. You can thank Maria de Rothschild for that, who sold the park and its mansion houses to Ealing Borough Council and Acton Borough Council in 1925 to be preserved as a public space. Some popular features are the 19th-century carriages owned by the Rothschilds, the Victorian kitchens and the Greek-style Doric Temple, one of the oldest buildings in the park. You can get there easily via Acton Town or South Ealing tube stations.
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Jewish Heritage in Britain
By Linda Tancs
Around 150,000 Jewish immigrants settled in Britain from the late 19th century until the early 20th century, and the majority built their homes and lives in London’s East End. Their history there (as well as the overall history from medieval times to the present) is chronicled at the Jewish Museum on Albert Street. The facility houses some 28,000 objects representing the history of the Jewish community in Britain and includes a Judaica collection and a social history collection covering subjects such as Nazism and the Holocaust.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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The Story of Fleming
By Linda Tancs
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin at St. Mary’s Hospital in 1928, a breakthrough that earned him a Nobel Prize. It’s only fitting, then, that the London hospital is home to the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum. Declared an International Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry, you can see Fleming’s laboratory (restored to its 1928 condition) and explore the story of Fleming and his development of penicillin through displays and video.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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