The following is a hodge-podge from London:
Here is the 'Stone of London'. It's got a large 'unsubstantiated' history beginning with Brutus of Troy who brought it to the area with him; to a piece of Roman work; etc. At least document-wise we have the following: The first known reference to the Stone is in a book belonging to Athelstan, (Ethelstone) King of the West Saxons in the early 10th Century. In the list of lands and rents some places are described as being 'near unto London stone'. It was already a landmark in 1198 when it was referred to on maps as Lonenstane or Londenstane. As was common at that time, people who lived nearby were named de Londenstane. In fact the first mayor of London was Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone (meaning 'Henry, son of Ailwin of London Stone') who was appointed some time between 1189 and 1193.
Over the years the London Stone became the traditional place to pass laws, make proclamations, reclaim debts and swear oaths, sometimes with ceremony, perhaps accompanied by drums and trumpets or in front of a crowd. Petitioners could strike the Stone with their papers in order to make their position known to the authorities.
And here it is! The Stone of London! Now just hit it with your sword and you can be Lord Mayor of London!
I'm so dense...whenever I heard of Paddington train station I thought ‘what a funny name…like Paddington Bear…’ Umm…yeah, so that’s where Paddington Bear got his name! ;) and here is a statue of him at the train station….yeah…I’m smart! ;)
And this is the crazy part about London – you make a ‘wrong turn at Albuquerque’ and you can find just about anything. I made a left down a dark, strange alley and found this shield that tells us that this is where Chaucer’s pilgrims left all those years ago….
This is the University of London’s ‘Senate House’. It was built in the late 1930’s and lots of people say it’s fascist or Stalinist, but George Orwell/Eric Blair called it ‘the Ministry of Truth’ in ‘1984’. Scary….
The night we were done with our conference, I was on the bus and just happened to get off near Chinatown. So I went for a really good Chinese buffet for 5 pounds! Great deal!
Then a few shots of ‘Big Ben’. In the States I always thought ‘Big Ben’ referred to the ‘tower’ that you see, but ‘Big Ben’ is actually the name of the bell inside.
I was walking towards Leicester Square (where all the theaters are) and I saw this shop that sold Spanish guitars. I walked in, talked to the guy and asked him how long does it take to learn. He said '4 minutes'. He taught me a few notes to play over and over and we ended up playing 'Nothing Else Matters'! Cool-EE-O!
Here is a view of one of the subway entrances - deep, deep down that's for sure...
