Sunday, March 20, 2011

London!

On Thursday, after a day of jet lag, I put on my tourist hat and went to Westminster Abbey. I took a guided tour and it was wonderful. There were a lot of textiles around, if you looked. Most of the altar covers, backdrops were raw linen cross stitched in red. This, I was told by our guide, was due to Lent. There were also multitudes of needlepointed kneelers. The patterns were awesome, the ones I saw in the Quoir mostly geometric, but, wow, there were a lot! (The guide, Peter, and I discussed the kneelers. He wanted to know whether they were tapestry or cross stitch. Definitely tapestry. He said the kneelers at his church were cross stitch and he knew that for sure because he'd stitched two!)No photos were allowed inside. I took this window in the Cloisters area where photos were allowed.

There was also plenty of discussion about the upcoming royal wedding. We were shown the traditional route of such processionals and where weddings traditionally take place.

This is a view from one side of the Cloisters to the other. The walk through the cloisters included a small chapel, a museum with some lovely embroidered clothing on royal effigies of the past, a snack bar and souvenir stand, loads of school children eating lunch. They led out to some gardens.Below is one. the fountain is designed to be soothing to patients in the infirmary. After buying the requisite souvenirs at the gift shop, I strolled over to St. James's Park and crossed it at the bridge. This is the entrance map.In spite of the chilly overcast day the park was full of people, school children, flowers and birds. I think these might be a kind of waterfowl--they were begging food next to the water.Just look at the daffodils and cherry trees!And swans--in addition, the park had several other large water birds, some of which I couldn't identify, but might be pelicans (or storks if they go into the water). Some had long beaks.Then I walked down Marlborough St, past Pall Mall to St. James's Street and on to Piccadilly, looking into the shop windows of all the posh shops. And last, I toured Fortnum and Mason's. I began at the top floor and worked my way down, floor by floor. By far the most interesting to me was the ground floor, with it's spectacular Easter candy display, teas and marmalades. I stopped for a "posh" tea there (my term). Here's the spread:It was every bit as good as it looks. And my weary feet welcomed the break. More souvenir shopping then I walked up to Piccadilly Circus to the tube to head back to my home away from home.

3 comments:

Wagapapa said...

I love London!

I'm glad you enjoyed there :D

Wish I could return soon.

Rachel said...

You had quite a day, didn't you!

Donna said...

Lucky you!