Tuesday, February 10, 2009

London: Monday and the So-Called "Tsnow-nami"

subtitle: Where's the Stiff Upper Lip?

Journal for Monday, Feb. 2, London

(My apologies to any British or Londoners out there who might be reading this journaling over the next couple of days. But, come on! You really set yourself up for this, and one totally fun part of this trip was laughing at your reaction to snow!)

On Monday morning, we woke up to a transformed world, with a nice, sparkly cosmetic white dusting over everything. I thought it was much prettier than the gray of London I'd seen on my way in by train.

And then we headed down the stairs to our English breakfast, only to be told that the staff hadn't been able to make it in because of the snow, but we could have tea, coffee and toast. In fact, all over the hotel were signs telling us that all transportation in London was shut down! The airports were closed, all schools closed, no buses, no Tube, no trains. (No tube???? It's underground! Something about the 3rd rail getting wet. . . but it DOES rain in London, doesn't it?)



We decided to don our cuddle duds (remember my post about them?) and head on out, using our standard "penguin shuffle" on about 2" of snow and ice. It tends to be quite effective: a wide stance (no Minneapolis airport jokes here), shuffling on the super slick, fast speed on dry patches to pick up the pace. Every where we looked, people were taking photographs and my kids thought that for once, there mother blended in a little better.



Just behind these phone booths is Russel Park. We had planned to walk through it to head to the center of the City, but they even closed the parks, locking the gates, because of the snow! Don't ask me why!



On this first day of the "tsnownami", the Londoners were quite cheerful and chatty on the street, although the general friendliness didn't last, and I suspect it was unusual rather than standard. Before I took this photo of the snowman, a Londoner informed me I had to get permission from the snowman first, and he carried on a little conversation with the snowman and got permission for me.

Our first stop was the British Museum, but we were told it was closed due to the "adverse weather conditions." So we headed to Covent Gardens.



Ummm. . . not much happening or open in Covent Gardens. Usually it's filled with street performers, vendors and tourists. London has such an interesting history, much of it involving bloodshed, plague, fire, and gallows. On this day, the big threat were the flying snowballs.



By the time we got to the Portrait Gallery, the "closed" signs were getting a bit old and disappointing. I particularly did not like the tone of "if at all."



We decided to head to the London Eye. Originally, I hadn't planned on spending money on the London Eye as it seemed quite expensive for what struck me to be like a glass elevator that would rotate like a ferris wheel and give you a view of the city. But we had only 4 days in London, and we were getting desperate to get to do SOME of the things of London.



Here, just beyond these protesters ("Stop the Killing in Tibet) and police, you can see the London Eye. It wasn't moving.




This was one of my favorite parts of our London trip. . . Westminster Abbey. And it was open! And no lines! Isn't it pretty, covered in snow? They provide an audioguide and you tour it at your own pace. It was beautiful and fascinating (and open! Did I mention "open?"), and the tour provided more of a glimpse of the history of London and its monarchy. It's also the burial or memorial spot of many writers and poets of England. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside.




Here's an entrance to the Westminster Tube station. Dianna, (in the foreground) was quite cold by now. She actually wasn't wearing a winter jacket, because hers had gotten stolen in Amsterdam. We went in search of a cafe or pub. . .



Some, . . . .ummmm. . . . "enterprising". . . .store owners decided to try removing some of the ice and snow from the walks in front of their shops BY THROWING BUCKETS OF WATER ON IT! You see why I'm shocked by London's reactions to snow? I can understand that given how rare it is to have snow that they wouldn't invest in snow shovels or plows, etc., but there's this basic science thing about water and temperature that seems like common sense.

But who am I to talk about "common sense" as you'll see tomorrow when I tell you about my mistake at the cafe for lunch. involving my searching for an ATM, getting yelled at by the guards at Parliament, being hit by a snowball, and being on the verge of tears.

25 comments:

Becky said...

Oh, how frustrating to not be able to see the sights when you only had a few days! Glad you at least got to see Westminster Abbey. It does look really beautiful with the snow on it.

Lilly Bella Photography said...

These are beautiful photos! The snowman is amazing! Thanks for sharing!!

Shauna said...

Amazing captures! The snow on those trees is gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Oh my that was a great read. I do hope that things melt fast there and that you get to enjoy more of London though. Beautiful shots!
Cari

janett said...

I am totally cracking up about everything being shut down because of the snow, but I can totally understand how frustrating that would be.

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos! The snow makes everything look so pretty!

Reds said...

Angela - you ROCK! I so love your journaling and your vacation captures! Can't wait to hear more about your London vacation!

pat said...

Angela, I am loving this trip to London. I've always wanted to go, and since you have the photo habit, I am sure I will see more than my DD showed me from her trip. LOVE the snow shots; it really makes all the buildings look magical. Can't wait to see more.

Sharon said...

Oh good gravy! Two inches of snow and everything is closed? They handled the blitzkrieg for goodness sakes! lol

Fun captures!

CindyTykie said...

Awesome shots!

Maria said...

OMG! I know that it must have been challenging living through some of these adventures, but what great stories! Love the picture of Westminster Abbey. Weather aside, did you like London? How does it compare to other European cities you've visited?

Becky Anderson said...

What a great way to document your trip. How frustrating with the snow, you got great pictures and a great story anyway.

Also thanks for the advice on my 'orange' coloring. I have stopped adding contrast in ACR and doing in photoshop with luminosity. I also change my curves layer to luminosity and it seems to help. I think it is working a lot better. Thanks again!

Amy B. said...

Wow! How beautiful are these photos with the snow covering. TFS!

Lauren Hartman said...

The Abbey looks gorgeous! Sorry you encountered all those "closed"
signs though, how disappointing.

R.A. BNKetti said...

I hope that you get more pleasant weather, you did a great job with the weather you did have!!! I especially like the one of you and your son playing by the telephone booths!

Jackie's Shot said...

Sorry for the sites that you were not able to visit due to snow but your pictures are really beautiful with the snow. ~Jackie

shirley said...

You certainly captured something that doesn't happen every day in London. I do think it is funny how a mere 5" of snow seemed to paralyze things. I'll be back to read more about your adventure across the Pond.

Suzy said...

LOL they sure don't know how to deal with a little bit of snow! What a fun read and great pix!

Anonymous said...

Holy MOLY....these are gorgeous. Seriously...they are closed with like a dusting of snow? That is silly. I love that you mentioned your cuddle duds again! And all the sites are so gorgeous with a little dusting. The snow man TOTALLY cracked me up. Is that a beer in his mouth?

Jeanne said...

I so agree with the previous comments...it seems an overreaction to a bit of snow. Now, I know this is only one day of your trip, but it doesn't appear to be snowing at the time you took the photos you shared. Which seems to me that the snow was over and it was just on the ground. Was more snow in the forecast? Loved your whole post but I really giggled at the subtitle...where's the stiff upper lip!

Nicki said...

Sorry for your frustration, but at least you saw some humor in it. (sounds like the time I was in Georgia and they had a dusting of snow (maybe 1 inch) and everything EVERYTHING came to a standstill.... so funny!) Looking forward to tomorrow.

Gypsy Girl(Brenda) said...

OMG things didn't seem to work out the way you planned. I can not believe everything was closed. What a site Westminster Abbey is. Glad you got to go in. Anxiously waiting to hear why you were yelled at.

Gypsy Girl(Brenda) said...

OMG things didn't seem to work out the way you planned. I can not believe everything was closed. What a site Westminster Abbey is. Glad you got to go in. Anxiously waiting to hear why you were yelled at.

Amy said...

Oh my, how frustrating, but it sure does look beautiful! I'm loving all of your photographs. :)

Cathi Green said...

These photos are fabulous, London is so beautiful in the snow.