Security Tightened around Parliament

While walking over to listen to music last evening, we noticed that the road near Parliament was closed and new barriers were being put in place. Later I spotted an article in the evening paper that stated that "Security Tightened around Parliament"

"The anti-terror barriers around Parliament were today being upgraded to prevent a lorry bomb attack by terrorists. The road layout outside is also being changed to reduce traffic to one lane in each direction, with the security barrier due to be extended out away from the Lords. Fears of a vehicle-borne bomb attack in London have grown following the failed car bomb bids in the capital and at Glasgow airport last month."

Changing of the Guard - Buckingham Palace

David (Helen's Brother) and I attended the daily "Changing of the Guard" at Buckingham Palace today along with thousands of other visitors. We watched part of the procession to Buckingham Palace along the road and then crossed the street and attempted to get a "peak view" of the actual ceremony. Today, the Irish Band Guard played march tunes and also played "Down Town" made famous by Petula Clark This is the first time that I have actually watched the whole ceremony since we have been here. It was interesting.

Brighton Roadtrip

Last Saturday, we got up early to rent a car and drive to the coast in Sussex (south of London). I walked over to the car rental place at 7:30AM to be first in line to get our car. I had made a reservation online on Friday. I was the first in line and when they opened at 8AM, they could not find my reservation. I had accidentally made it for 28th of August not July. Hertz did not have any available cars. Helen and David arrived just as I found out that we did not have a car. We discussed taking the train to Brighton but then decided to check another car rental place next to Hertz. Luckily, they had a car although it was 75 gbp instead of 46 at Hertz. We took it and were on the road about 8:30AM.

Helen navigates and I drive and this seems to work the best for the two of us. We were able to get out of town without to much hassle. Brighton Beach of first destination was about 70 miles and 2 hrs away. We parked the car in a car park next to the beach. We all had to use the WC (water closet, Loo, restroom, toilet). On the entry to the Loo was a certificate for the Best Kept Loo of the 2007. Great Loo.....

We walked down to the beach which is covered with small rocks and no sands. We walked along the boardwalk towards the Pier. I spotted some art work in a shop that appeared to be from Cuba. Paintings of old chevys and other old cars. I chatted with the person in the shop and a local artist travels to Cuba often and had done the paintings. Click here to see more photos of our outing plus Cuba photos.

We walked back up into town to see the Royal Pavilion , a seaside home built in 1815 for Price Regents and later George IV. We then drove east along the coast towards Eastbourne.

We stopped at Beachy Head which has these chalky white cliffs. They wind was really blowing but we were able to find a spot on the ridge and have lunch and enjoy the views. Afterwards, we hiked up the ridge to the former Lighthouse and had some spectacular views of the cliffs. Then we walked down on the beach and by the tide pools as it was low tide.

When we left the coast area we drove around some single track roads between Wilmngton and Lewes. We were in search of the "Long Man", a chalk layout created by the Saxons. While driving David mentioned that he had read about a "White Horse" figure in the AA book and we went around a corner and we spotted a "White Horse" figure on the side of a hill. As it turned out this is not the one that he read about and I could not find any information on it but there was about several other "White Horse" figures in the UK.

We stopped in Lewes, Sussex and had some local beer after walking around the Lewes Castle.

Getting back in to London was exciting. About 60 miles from London, we hit stop and go traffic on the A23. Helen decided that we should get off and drive around it. We traveled a little longer distance but did not run into any more traffic until we were about 10 miles out of the city. With great guidance we drove across the Thames and right back to the car rental. As we were walking back to the flat, it started to rain.

Helen's Brother is in London

Helen's brother David, from Knoxville TN, is in London visiting us for 2 wks. Yesterday, we went to the Tower of London. Today, David and I went to the Science Museum and the met Helen at the Royal Albert Hall for a lunchtime music concert. The photo is across the street at the Royal Albert Monument.

We then went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. We walked by Harrod's Department store where David and I found a 45,000 pound sterling cell phone. Yes, 45K ($90K). Looked like something that Elton John would purchase.

Tomorrow we are renting a car and driving to Brighton and Eastborne along the southern coast.

Bus 148 , 31, 607 - Ealing Blues Festival

On Saturday, 21 July, we caught the 148 bus just outside our flat to Shepherds Bush getting off at the Noting Hill Holland Park stop. Then we caught the 31 bus and got off at Shepherds Bush Green Stop-T. Then we caught the 607 bus to Uxbridge and got off in Ealing Broadway stop-K. We were now in Ealing to attend the Annual Ealing Blues Festival. The cost was 1 gbp each. They expected 10,000 people over the weekend to attend this festival that has been in July for the past 20 years. Two large tents were set up with music from 2PM- 9PM.

Anyone remember Manfred Mann from the 60's? Do WahDiddy Diddy.... Well, Paul Jones (top photo) was the front man for Manfred Mann and Dave Kelly (another legend) play a wonderful bluesy set. I remember Manfred Mann but did not remember that they played a bluesy style. Paul Jones is an excellent harmonic player and has a weekly BBC radio program.

There were several other great artists that played in our tent while it poured down rain and made a mess of the festival grounds.

Using the local bus transportation was really a great way to travel. We were able to set in the upper level and view parts of greater London that we would not see using the tube (which we did on our return trip). We went through Shepherds Bush and Acton on our way to Ealing. These areas appear to be heavily muslin populated area where store signs were in English and Arabic. Ealing is where our friends Mark and Kelly live and is a really nice area.

Caravan Garden Party

Walking over to the French Tourist Office this afternoon, I noticed dressed up lady's with hats walking through St. James Park. Luckily I had my camera with me. Today, there were 7,500 people going to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace put on by the Caravan Club. We have seen many hats while walking by Westminster Cathedral when weddings are in progress but this is the most hats that I have seen in one place except on TV during the Darby. Click here to see individual hat photos.

Historic cottages in Tewkesbury under feet of water

The UK is flooded after several days of torrential downpours. This photo is just north of Gloucester where 150,000 homes are without drinking water, and 50,000 homes are without power. Last Friday evening, over 10,000 cars were stranded on motorways. Here in London, it really rained hard on Friday before noon and again on Saturday but Sunday was clear.

Our friends, Kelly and Mark, send us an email Saturday, that Mark's grandmother's farm near Oxford was flooded one day before closure of the sale of the farm.

I noticed on the news today that China is also having major floods as well as Texas and mud-slides in Colorado. Global warming is at work....

In the UK, the Brown Government has just proposed to built an additional 250,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years. Today they are releasing a report that states they will build in the flood plain zones.

Britain is protecting the biggest heroin crop of all time

Sunday's Daily Mail newspaper had a great article on Heroin and UK's involvement in Afghanistan. Click here to read the article.

This past week, Britain lost another soldier in Afghanistan and author Craig Murry offers an interesting look at the bumper crop of opium and now heroin and what has happened since we removed the Taliban and how they have been replaced by drug lords including top ranked officials of the Karzai's government.

Norway - Sogndal - Aurland - Bergen

Norway - Day 4 Glacier Hike

On July 7th, we headed north out of Sogndal and driving towards the Austerdalen Valley and the Jostedalsbreen glacier - Norway's largest glacier.

As soon as we left Sogndal, we came around a corner and took several reflective photos of a lake and mountain. We then took a short side trip to Solvorn, a small village on the Fjord. Here we bot some more strawberries that were just picked by the locals.

We then continued up the valley and drove passed an 18km lake. The road was very narrow and many narrow tunnels. This time the tunnels had no lights, and Rick did not like driving through them.

After about 2 hrs, we reached the start of our 16km hike up to view the glacier. It was actually flat most of the way but very rocky and lots of water to cross. The final portion was pretty steep and then opened up to a really nice view of the tongue of the glacier. In 1894, an Englishman found this area and called it " the finest ice scenery in Europe". We felt very small sitting on the ridge looking at the glacier. While sitting there, we could hear the sounds of the glacier, cracking and rocks dropping underneath.

After we hiked out, we headed back to Sogndal. There was a "ride the rockies" type of a bike race going on and they were still riding into Sogndal.

At 07:07:07 PM on the 07 Jul 07, we celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary with a nice bottle of wine, some Norwegian Salmon, and expensive tomatos we purchased in town.

To view more photos of this portion of our Norway trip, click here.

Norway - Day 3 Fjord Tour

On July 6th, we woke up to the "ship d' jour". Another cruise ship arrived about 7AM. It was not a large as the QE2.

Today, we decided to take a half day Fjord tour on the ferry. We left Flam and sailed through the Aurlandsfjord and into the Naeroyfjord, which is the narrowest fjord in Europe. We had wonderful weather, calm waters, and fabulous views.


It took about 2 hours each direction. Some of the villages in the Fjord, Drydal, are only accessible by boat. One person got off in Drydal and it appeared that the entire community came out to meet her. It appeared to be a "commune".

The Naeroyfjord is about 18km long and only 6km is covered by roads and on just one side.

On the return portion of our tour, the seagulls followed our ferry almost all the way back to Flam as passengers were feeding the birds. Several times we had to move or duck out of the way of seagull droppings.

After we finished our tour, we drove to Aurland and found accomodation for our final two nights. Then we continued on and took a small car ferry to Sogndal area. We had booked accomodations in Balastran but found a place in Sogndal and were able to cancel our the reservations. After being in Norway for a few days we decided that we would enjoy this area more and looked forward to the next day when we would hike to a glacier.

To view more photos of this portion of our trip, click here.

Norway - Day 2 Hike above the Fjord

On July 5Th, we woke up and looked our window and looked directly at the Queen Elizabeth 2. It had just sailed into the dock at about 6AM after being leaving the arctic circle. This is one big ship and seem to take up the entire end of the Fjord.

Today, we drove down the Fjord to Aurland (8km) and then headed up a road above the town. We stopped a wonderful view vantage point looking over the Fjord. Even the toilet had a view.

We then parked the car and started a hike up the ridge called "Prest". Each time we get a little higher, we would stop and take more photos. After 1.5hrs and a pretty steep climb, we reached the "Prest" area. After signing the log book, we decided to hike up further to another point. This took about 45 mins.

We sat on the top and had lunch and enjoyed the views below.

After our hike, we continued on the road to Lardel. This was across the snow fields. They snow was piled up to 10-15' in some areas.

Driving back to Flam, we passed through the world's longest tunnel (24.5KM). Before they finished this tunnel the only way across the top was the long narrow road that we drove on. The tunnel really opened up the next Fjord area.

To view more photos of this portion of our trip, click here.

Norway - Bergen to Flam

On July 4Th, we got up early and took the tube (underground) to Liverpool rail station and caught the 7:50AM train to Stansted Airport . This is a regional airport about 45 minutes by train north of London. We flew on Norwegian Air to Bergen, Norway. After 1.5hr flight, we picked up our rental car and started our 2.5 hr drive to Flam. Flam is called the "nutshell" of the Norwegian Fjord area.

After leaving the airport, we stopped by a shopping center to stock up on some groceries for our lunches. We were really impressed when we entered the grocery store when we noticed people using a recycle machine to return cans, bottles, and some plastic bags. Also the store used an innovative idea of displaying the prices for items on a digital display device under the items.

As we drove towards Flam we drove by the fjord next to Bergen and several lakes. The water was so flat and reflective, we had to stop and take some photos. We also drove through several long tunnels (11km). Everywhere you look you could see a waterfall. When we drove around the corner in the road, both of us at the same time said, "look at that!!!". It was the largest and closest waterfall we had seen.

When we arrived in Flam we could not believe the view of the Fjord. It was absolutely beautiful.

After we checked in to our hotel, we walked around the area and enjoyed the views. It was still light out when we went to bed at almost 11PM. It also started to get light about 2AM.

To view more photo of this portion of our trip, Click Here

Norway - Holiday

Just a quick post. We arrived safely back in London after a week in Norway. We had a wonderful holiday. Norway was beautiful with fjord's, gorges, snowfields, waterfalls, and tunnels. Norway was very expensive even after living in London. One evening we decided to share a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke at in a small village. It was $19. We bought 4 vine tomatos at the local grocery store for $6. Petrol was over $7.50/gal.

Norway has the longest car tunnel ,through it's mountains, in the world at 24.5KM. We did 3 serious hikes. The first one was a very steep climb to the top with a dramatic view looking down into the fjord. We also hike up to the largest glacier in Europe. While eating our lunch next to the glacier, we could hear it creeking, cracking, and rocks falling underneath into the glacier flow. Our third hike was up a valley to view the 2500M mountains but our view was blocked by the clouds except for a brief peak when we drove into the parking lot.

I will review the rest of the photos and make some additional post in a couple days.

Wimbledon and the Rain

Since summer started, it has rained almost every day. This is really played havic on Wimbledon Tennis tournament. Matches start on one day and finish over the next couple days.

Today has been the worse since it rains and then clears up quickly. Nadal's Saturdays match actual started playing yesterday (3 Jul) and had several "delays" and he was up 2 sets to 0 needing one point to win the match. He hit what appeared to be a winner that was ruled out and then it started raining again. After several more attempts to get in the match, they ended tied 2 sets to 2 and Nadal up 2-0 in 5th set. That was last night. Today, after several attempts, they are tied 4-4 in the 5th.

It does not look any better for tomorrow.

Sounds of the City

Since last Friday's failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in central London, there has been a noticeable increase in security and when you are outside you hear "Sirens after Sirens". I thought it was bad before last week but now it seems like a continuous sound.

They have arrested 8 people believe to be part of the latest attacks. The profiles have changed as several of the people arrested are Doctors and have come here within the past couple years from Jordon and Iraq. The two people that drove a SUV into Glasgow's airport terminal apparently were Doctors. The police found another car at the local hospital that contained bomb material and had to be control detonated.

Yesterday, I had to go to the Liverpool Rail station and I used the underground (tube). This is the first time that I have seen police riding on the tube. Since we are staying directly across from Scotland Yard, I can see the increase in the number of police with sub-machine guns. Also just along Victoria Street this morning, I noticed more police on the street.

London has more CCTV cameras than any place in the world. Somewhere around 3 million including vehicle registration identification cameras. It has been reported that a normal person in London for 1 day, that their image will be captured around 300 times. I walk by Scotland Yard almost daily and normally wave to the CCTV cameras.


We are headed to Norway on the 4th of July and will return on the 10th. At least we will be out of London on the 2 year anniversary of the 7 Jul 05 bombings......