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Tag Archives: London

The Flower Box

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by pat in Burnham-on-Crouch, Cornwall, England, Gardens, Uncategorized, United Kingdom

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Cornwall, Flower box, London

Everywhere we went in Great Britain on our travels there was a great profusion of flower boxes.

A perfect window dressing. Photo by me

From the simplest to the most elaborate they were everywhere.

A creative flower display in Fowey, Cornwall, England on the southwest coast. Photo by me

The English love their gardens and if they don’t have a bit of land to plant in they will create a plot to hang on a wall, …

Like a special hat over the doorway, these bright red geraniums decorate a building in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. Photo by me

…grace a pub in London,

Happy hour on a Friday afternoon made happier by the flowers over head. Photo by me

or swing from a doorway.

A flower basket at the front door. Photo by me

I think they get their inspiration from the rock walls nearby.  With all the rain, flowers grow anywhere. It really is special to see.

Flowers on the cliff walls. Photo by me

 

 

Ice skating on both sides of the pond

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by pat in England, London, Travel, Uncategorized

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Central Park, Ice skating, London, New York City, winter

As winter arrives, outdoor ice skating rinks appear in London. They open from mid-November to mid-January and many have special events happening throughout the season.

The skating ring at Somerset House. photo by Michael Pead, creative commons

I love the idea that these skating spots pop up throughout the city for the season.  There’s advantages to being in a very cold country. The rink at Somerset House is open until January 22nd this year. They even have a New Year’s Eve party. The one at the Natural History Museum is only open until January 8th.

One of the ice rinks set up over the Christmas period was this one at the Natural History Museum, London. photo by Christine Matthews, creative commons

They materialize like magic, some in small corners, some in a space much more grand. The space at the Royal Naval College looks spectacular from past years.

The Xmas Ice Skating Rink, Old Royal Naval College The Ice Skating Rink at the Old Royal Naval College has become a regular feature in Greenwich during December/January. Canary Wharf and the other office blocks on the Isle of Dogs, just across the River Thames, can be seen in the background. photo by Katherine Tyrrell, Creative Commons

I grew up on Long Island in New York, and loved escaping down to the local pond to go ice skating when I was a child. It was always a fight for space on the slick surface between the boys trying to play hockey and the girls practicing their twirls.

But when I got older, I had the joy of having an apartment for a decade in New York City.  It was a wonderful time of year when my sister and I could head over to Central Park and see the rink being readied for skaters.

Heading over to skate in Central Park years ago in New York City. Photo by my sister and skating companion.

It was a small circle to go round and round in, but fun none the less. And there was hot chocolate to be had at the end of the day.

The Central Park skating rink in New York City getting ready for visitors

We couldn’t wait to get out there.  It was definitely a city rite of winter.

My sister skating in Central Park. Photo by me.

For pure crowd watching nothing was better than the ice skaters at Rockefeller Plaza.  I never skated there, but spent hours standing at the elevated railing watching the show below. There was such a variety of people swirling around on the ice.

There was one particular man that did almost a slow motion dance on the ice.  For years when I returned he would be there, doing his dreamy, Tai Chi like moves on the ice.  I wondered if he ever left.  Often my sister and I would stand above the rink and watch him do his moves.  And then one day we returned and he was not there, and we never saw him again.  We often comment on him when we see the rink, and wonder where our mystery skater has disappeared to.

Ice Rink at Rockefeller Center, photo by Andy C, creative commons

A new favorite rink is the one at Bryant Park behind the NYC Public Library. This one is open well into February this year. One more place to pass the winter season with swirls and twirls, and maybe a few bruises. But the hot chocolate is always available.

Skating at Bryant Park NYC. photo by Beyond my Ken, creative commons

I love that both cities, London and New York, have their own traditions of winter skating that are so similar and yet distinct to the individual city.  I’m not sure which is my favorite spot, but I think it must be Central Park because of the memories.

 

The Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by pat in London, Uncategorized

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Christmas Tree, London, Trafalgar Square

The majestic Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree is a London tradition that attracts hundreds of tourists and spectators each year.  The people of Oslo Norway have been giving a Christmas tree to be displayed in London’s Trafalgar Square since 1947 in gratitude and friendship to the British people for their support during World War II.

Trafalgar Square, London photo by Christine Matthews, geography.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year the tree was lit on December 1st, and will be lit from noon until midnight every day until the 12th night of Christmas in early January. From Monday December 5th until Thursday December 22, a different choir will be singing around the tree to raise money for various charities.

The tree is always decorated in a traditional Norwegian style and adorned with 500 white lights. It is always huge, at least 20 feet high. At the base of the tree stands a plaque, bearing the words:

This tree is given by the city of Oslo as a token of Norwegian gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during the years 1940-45.

A tree has been given annually since 1947.

The World’s Largest Cardboard Christmas Tree is in London

17 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by pat in England, London, Uncategorized

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Christmas Tree, Design Museum, London

Isn’t this fabulous. Giles Miller has created the world’s largest cardboard Christmas Tree, standing almost 20 feet high in the Design Museum of London’s public atrium.  The tree has at least 3,600 individually cut, handmade cardboard pieces.

Christmas Markets, a German tradition in London

15 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by pat in London, Uncategorized

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Christmas Market, London

Recently some friends of ours were telling us about the spectacular Christmas markets that are a tradition in Germany every year.  While I was looking at the View London website, I noticed that London has this same type of market beneath the London Eye on the Southbank for the month before Christmas.

Southbank Christmas market at night

The traditional Christmas Market features 60 open air chalets between the Southbank Centre and the London Eye and  offers gifts and culinary specialties (one photo shows Angus Beef for sale. Yum!).

The market will take place this year from November 18th until 6 pm on the 24th of December 2011. In the tradition of the German markets you can even get a glass of “Gluhwein” (German mulled wine) while listening to traditional Christmas music and watching the children go round on the merry-go-round in the center of it all. Happy Holidays!

 

The Anglophile

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by pat in London, Travel, Uncategorized

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anglophile, London, travel

There is a wonderful blog that I have been meaning to pass on to you, called The Anglophile that is created by Thomas Moore Sr.

I follow it every day, schedule permitting, and am amazed by the coverage he gives to all the gorgeous places and enticing events of London. I don’t know how he manages the time and resources, but, if you love London as I do, this site is one of the absolute best.

The Anglophile is a spin off from his private apartment leasing service in London for the holiday or business traveler called The London Connection.

So, scattered among the rich photos and discoveries of London life on The Anglophile, are images and descriptions of some of the most inviting flats for rent in London that I have ever seen. I personally have not used his service yet since I had not discovered it before our last trip to England. But since the discovery, I have been putting the idea into My Beloved Brit’s brain that an actual flat in London would be a real treat on our next trip…not that we don’t love visiting family.  I’ll keep you posted.

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