Deb: And my final comment on all things London is regards her
fine people. How I love Londoners! I love their accents, their expressions and
their attitudes. On my lone dinner night at the Italian restaurant, I was right
across from a really cute pub that was brimming with post-work London, laughing
and drinking. I love their tradition of standing in and around the pub,
allowing the passerby—or voyeur, in my case—to drink in, if not with them, the
lovely fun ambiance.
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| Fresh roses every day at The Langham in the lobby and our rooms. |
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| View from our hotel room in The Langham |
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| Another view |
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| The Langham hotel when it was Foley House |
I love that they state the time as “twenty of” and use
expressions like “bollocks” for crap and ‘brilliant” for everything.
I love that the cabs are sooooooooooooooo clean and that the
drivers are not only friendly, but engaging and knowledgeable. They take a
three-year course to learn every nook and cranny of their fine city and, if you’re
interested, they will tell you anything you want to know. When tipped, they
respond like it is the first tip of their lives, although clearly it isn’t, “Much
appreciated, M’um, very much appreciated. Have a lovely day for yourself.”
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The oldest cabbie station in London.
Lawrece Olivier used to get his tea and sandwich every morning. |
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| Gorgeous gates dedicated to Queen Mum. Snapped on a driveby! |
Everything is “lovely this and lovely that” and every single
person I stopped for directions was a fountain of knowledge, as if my asking
had rounded out their day.
The woman at the Portrait Gallery when telling me that one
exhibit was sold out looked as if she would cry at my disappointment. I found
myself reassuring her that I would indeed be back.
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| Anna Wintour at the Portrait Gallery––huge canvas! |
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More Enchanted Palace
|
And that is my final love. INDEED. How I love the indeed. Indeed
is everywhere. They are lousy with indeed. Could listen to it all day, the
indeed.
So that is truly and finally it from your London Correspondent. I
cannot wait to get back. It is a very fine city indeed!
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Lovely details of the Peter Pan statue
|
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| More details of Pan Statue |
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| A swan grooming itself with Kensington Palace in the BG |
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Little doggie competing with the birds for bread crumbs.
He was so calm and cool. They were, "What the? |
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| Royal Mews containing the Royal Chocolatier and other fine shops. |
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The great Ferris Wheel in the middle of London.
Takes a half our to make one rotation. Great way to see the town. |
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| Spencer House––ancestoral home of Diana |
Great pictures as always Deb. Love the view from your all room. And that Farris wheel is huge.did you all get to ride it. Thats great that everyone was so nice and knew so much there in London. Glad you had a great time.
ReplyDeleteMy favortie British colloquialism has got to be calling others "love".
ReplyDeleteI love British people too, Deb!!!!!! I was so afraid that they were going to be snobbish and stuffy, but they're so delightful! @Erin, my favorite British-ism is when they say "cheers" in place of "bye" when they're on the phone or something. :D
ReplyDeleteDid you go on the Eye???? That was my favorite part! It was also raining when I was on it so that made it even more London! :D
Lovely tour Deb. Hope your Mom continues to do well. How long does Colin stay in London?
ReplyDeleteOh, Deb, that is so gorgeous. I need to somehow figure out a way to go - to my Hubby's delight. I guess I need to create a travel "bucket-list".
ReplyDeleteOne of Hubby's amusing travel stories has to do with how he managed to get into England without a passport. The airline let him depart Toronto without a passport. When he arrived at Heathrow, there was a bit of a delay in disembarking.
Keep in mind this was almost 20 years ago - it wouldn't happen today...
Needless to say, his parents (who are Canadian) were waiting for him. After demonstrating he was born in Norwich, and a stop at the Canadian consulate to report his passport being lost, he was then able to enjoy the UK. :)
My inlaws have many travel stories...
I never forget Daniel Day-Lewis's Oscar acceptance speech, ending with the ever-so-gracious "Thank you very much INDEED."
ReplyDeleteJo, I have a similar passport story -- only mine involved leaving an hysterical teenager at the airport (with her parents) because we thought we could travel with her to Antigua without a passport (someone told us, I swear!!) ... and we could not. It was horrible!!
ReplyDeleteDeb and I have been busy in the edit suite today!! So exciting. And then prepping for a BIG HUGE announcement on Friday. Deb is now back at the hospital with her mom. All is still stable. Fingers crossed!! Prayers still a-comin'!
Thanks loves.
Lovely pictures! I've only spent about 36 hours in London but I hope to go back. I flew into Heathrow and my cabbie wasn't one of the famous London ones, but he was incredibly entertaining. He was also a bit crazy as a driver and a few times I just closed my eyes so I didn't have to see how close we were getting to other cars, buildings and fixed things along the road. Without any extra charge in my fare, he took me on a very landmark-senic route through London to my B&B. It was fabulous.
ReplyDeleteNow I really miss Scotland. This blog just...makes me happy. Haven't been feeling well all day, yucky sick stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhat I loved was that the locals are so nice! All of my friends that I met in Scotland that went to London said the people were really rude. I'm thinking they just went to a different part...lol. Love the beautiful pictures :]
Aw, get better soon, Kelly!! Molly, been there with the stunt-drivery cabbies, eyes closed. Ack!
ReplyDeleteI feel exactly the same way about the other side of the pond. I even use the terms "brilliant" and "the loo" on a regular basis. did you LOVE the portrait museum???? I did!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures as always.
ReplyDeleteI would have been happy just listening to the accent. Yeah, I'm easy.
The outdoor pictures look like the Boston Common, with the notable exception of that gate, which I would love to get a close-up look of.
I have a few places on my bucket list. With a bit of a push (or pull) from a friend, this one will probably happen first.
Yay for editing! Looking forward to reading the news Saturday. (Friday is show day, plus an a.m. Drs appt.) It's always something, isn't it?
Barb:
ReplyDeleteYour lotto ticket came in... re: your show??? *crosses fingers*
Too early for show news, Dawn (haven't finished the edits yet) so keep those fingers crossed pretty please, but great personal news (swoons a little) :)
ReplyDeleteHave fun at the show!!!!!
Okay to let you know how really confused and compobbled I am I will tell you that the following comment was posted on the wrong blog. Sorry all. Spent.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone. I am sorry that I am just now responding. It has been a busy day ending at the hospital. Things are looking up medically for my Mom but in so many other ways things are in crisis and flux. I have read each and every comment but I hope you understand that instead of commenting on each, I have swallowed them whole, grateful. xo
Guys I just read all your comments again, feeling so badly about not addressing them all personally before I nodded off. Everyone seems to share my love of London and all things England and my husband all all things Who's line and Daniel day saying indeed at the end of his speech. Indeed!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant photos Deb. :) My British friends are fond of saying bugger to/at me. Maybe it's JUST to/at me?
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so fresh and clean there. Maybe from all the rain.. Glad you enjoyed part of your trip at least. Also glad your mum is stable. Rehab will make a lot of difference and hopefully she will cooperate.
Don't worry about us and responding. Just set it on autopilot and we'll get along just fine for awhile, lovey.
HUGE HUGS & positive thoughts,
Karen
Karen you are right. Bugger is a good one and not just at you. (why would it be you lovely girl?)And thanks Karen, thanks.
ReplyDeleteAs a native Brit it's lovely to hear someone gush about brilliant our capital is. We tend to hear more about its gritty, dark side (crime, unemployment, pollution etc.), so it's nice to see there are still those who appreciate it's light side. Personally, I'm desperate to move down to London, explore its streets, experience the cultural delights, and just soak up the atmosphere. I just need to overcome the small hurdle of getting a job there first, fingers crossed eh. Here's hoping you get the chance to visit again soon.
ReplyDeleteSuzy
PS. I have never heard anyone express the time as "twenty of...", but then I am a Northerner, although when I worked in a Canadian summer camp I told some kids it was 'half 4' (as in half past four) they thought I meant it was '2pm', there's colloquial differences for you
Suzy, thanks for sharing this -- I had a good giggle at the half four/2pm line! So sweet! And, yes, fingers crossed for you!! xo Barbara
ReplyDeleteI realise that I am slightly late in posting this comment, but here goes ...I too am a native Brit like suzy and I think its 'brilliant' that you love London :). I don't actually live there but I have been. It's great that you love our slang.. we have a lot of it! words like "izzit" for "is it" and "summit" for something are slang terms here in Leicester ! Glad you loved it there! P.S I have never heard of twenty of" - only things like ".... Minutes past the hour" haha :)
ReplyDelete