June 2022
It has been a good year in London. As this adventure ends the next will soo begin and with change comes opportunity.
Queen Elizabeth the II’s Platinum (70 year) Jubilee was a big deal to many in the UK, and to others a waste of resources. I decided to have fun with it and went British head to toe.
Carnaby is a fun street in Soho London.
The final parade route was in front of Buckingham Palace (in front of me, not behind). They had so many flags all over the UK.
They set up a big screen in St. James park next to the parade route so you could sit and watch while still being there.
A digital version of the Queen in her royal carriage had just passed.
A bus for every decade of the Queen’s rule.
The Queen came out to wave in front of Buckingham Palace after Ed Sheeran played.
Went to a friend’s place for a BBQ. We played a lot of charades.
Some friends from Nepal took me out for a delicious Nepalese dinner. They own a shop in Greenwich market and we became friends after I shared Jolly Ranchers with them. It was my first time trying food from Nepal. I really enjoyed it.
After the Jubilee, I headed up to the Lake District in northwestern England. It is beautiful countryside with lovely stonework and fields full of sheep and cows. I stayed in Windermere and hiked around Grasmere. If you would like to experience the English countryside and take some lovely walks, I highly recommend Grasmere.
I appreciated going from Buckingham Palace on Sunday, to walking through fields filled with animals on Monday. I got the full spectrum of what the UK has to offer.
A famous little gingerbread stand.
The Lake District is easy to trek with beautiful paths.
That is Helm Crag, where I hiked earlier in the day.
From the Lake District, I headed to Liverpool, home of the Beatles.
The Royal Liver Building is a famous building and home of the giant metal, completely made up, Liver bird which was designed by a man from Stuttgart and has become associated with Liverpool and the football club.
Saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was colorful.
Checked out the Beatle’s Story museum. This is a replica of the Casbah Club where they played hundreds of shows early in their career.
From Liverpool, I headed to Belfast, Northern Ireland to complete the four countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
Northern Ireland is mostly Protestant and part of the UK. Ireland is mostly Catholic and the only English-speaking country left in the EU.
They have a lot of street art all around the city.
They filmed some Game of Thrones up here and have GoT stained glass around the city as well.
Lots of good live music all over Ireland.
City Hall.
Belfast was an important ship-building and industrial city.
Particularly famous for building the Titanic.
I wish this climbing area in the W5 Science Center did not have an age limit.
Travel ads from the future.
The Titanic Quarter Belfast.
A few days after returning from Belfast, I checked out the Royal Ascot horseraces. We saw Charles, Camila, William, Kate, and Anne parading in the paddock. The blue, yellow, and red flag means royals are present and are also the Queen’s racing colors. The Queen had a few horses racing that day.
After the royals, they had horses in the paddock.
Unexpectedly ran into a very tall family friend.
Trying to pick a winner, lost every bet. An Irishman in Belfast had told me who to bet on in the third race, but I had forgotten about it until that horse won.
Great day for racing. Ascot racetrack is a triangular turf (grass) track. The base of the triangle has an extension, so the shorter races were in a straight line, which is different than the circular racing I am used to in the USA.
After the racing, people gathered to sing songs.
A look over campus and Greenwich Park from the Royal Observatory. It was really nice living next to this, my dorm was to the left behind the trees, and having a great place to run.
The Royal Observatory is home to the Prime Meridian. Longitude 0. This is me standing on the east/west divide as I prepare to move from the west to the east.
Being able to accurately tell time at sea was a big deal and a big challenge. This is John Harrison’s first clock designed to accurately tell time while at sea.
This is Harrison’s 4th clock, created in 1772, and perhaps the most important timepiece in history. An accurate means of telling time while at sea was a major navigational breakthrough.
Every day this red ball drops at 13:00. Back in the day, this allowed ships on the River Thames to accurately set their clocks.
I also went to see King Lear at a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
This playhouse is historically famous for having inexpensive standing room tickets, in an open-air circular design, which made attending plays possible for the general public.
Standing on the Millennium Bridge with the Shard, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London behind me.
The Cutty Sark is a famous Victorian Era (late 1800s) clipper ship, known for being fast and carrying profitable goods, such as tea from China and wool from Australia. She could sail to China in 90 days, and back in 108 going around Africa. This was before the Suez Canal opened a shorter route through Egypt.
Uh oh, I am looking the wrong way.
Various ship figureheads.
The Queens House at Greenwich Park. I like the blue and gold.
We all like having our picture taken.
It was a good year living here.
And going to graduate school on such a beautiful campus.
Next is a few weeks at home before moving to Korea.