Travel --- 11/19/2005 - 12/27/2005 --- Tanzania
12/24 In London now. We have gone from a place where cheap hotel rooms cost $2.50/night to a place where cheap hotel rooms cost $250/night. We are very lucky to have a free place to stay with Hussein's friend Michael. Rachel, Hussein and the kids are go to Cambridge to visit another friend. I spend the day sightseeing in London.
My first stop is Lesticer Square. Here I purchase half price tickets to the musical Blood Brothers. The matinee is the last performance of any show which I have a chance of seeing. London is beautiful during Christmas, but everything closes down. I'm particularly bummed that the museums are closed the entire time we are in London. There are some great, free museums here. The Tate Modern and National Portrait Gallery even have big photography exhibits showing. Oh well, next trip to England I'll do the museum thing. From Lesticer Square I walk to the recently renovated Piccadilly Circus, past bunches of very expensive buildings including a showcase DeBeers store and the Ritz Hotel. Then across Green Park to Buckingham Palace, Wellington Arch, and Hyde Park. Back East to Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Parliament House, Whitehall Drive and Trafalgar Square. Then back to Lesticer Square to see Blood Brothers. It is a good show with catchy songs and a predictable plot. The fact that it is set in England makes it an appropriate choice for the first show I've ever seen abroad.
It gets dark early in London this time of year. Night has fallen when I leave the show. I catch the end of a free Christmas concert in Trafalgar Square, then back to Westminster Abbey and Parliament House for some photographs. Across the Westminster bridge and on to the London Eye, Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, Millennium Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Then catch the Underground and bus back to Michael's house.
12/25 The busses and Underground are closed for Christmas. Somehow we acquire a car which belongs to someone who is out of town. We spend some time at Mayenge's house. Then take Nassor and Sophia to London for their first time seeing the city. We start at Tower Bridge, see the Tower of London, Swiss Re building, London Bridge and HMS Belfast. Then we drive the kids across town so they can see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We head back to Michael's house where he has guests over for a Christmas party.
12/26 I'm awake early to do a last round of sightseeing before leaving the country. The shop where I usually buy my transit pass is closed for Boxing Day. A friendly bus driver lets me ride for free to the Underground station where I buy a day pass (which would have included my bus fare, so it isn't like London transit lost out). Walking with all my luggage (the Dana Bomb pack and my Golite day pack) I start at the monument to the fire of London, walk along London Bridge, the Temple of Mithras, the Royal Exchange, the Bank of England, right past the Swiss Re building, the funky Lloyds building, and Bevis Marks Synagogue. Then take the Underground to Hyde Park. Quickly see Speaker's Corner (nobody speaking today) and the Marble Arch. Then back to the Underground and off to Heathrow. I meet the Saidis and together we fly back to Washington's Dulles airport.
Half the cost of the trip is for the plane ticket. I keep track of expenses and the breakdown is: $1088 Plane Ticket; $288 Shots and Meds; $95 Scuba; $86 Film and Processing; $51 London Show and Transit Passes; $50 TZ Entry Visa; $529 Everything Else. Not a bad deal considering the length and breadth of the trip.
12/27 Waking early in Silver Springs, I am eager to get home. After six weeks of travel it is only a six hour drive to sleep in my own bed. I reach my house as the sun is setting. 10 lbs. lighter, $2200 poorer, and 500 photos richer.
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Leicester Square London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Leicester Square London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Leicester Square London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Green Park London -- 12/24/2005 |
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A fountain in Green Park commemorating Canadian soldiers from WWII. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Buckingham Palace London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Buckingham Palace London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Queen Victoria Memorial London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Queen Victoria Memorial London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Buckingham Palace London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Wellington Arch London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Geese in Hyde Park. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Victoria Station (obviously) London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Little Ben London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Cathedral reflecting in a nearby building. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Cathedral London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Cathedral interior London -- 12/24/2005 |
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London Eye London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Clock Tower London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Clock Tower with the London Eye in the background. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Parliament House London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Parliament House London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Clock Tower London -- 12/24/2005 |
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One of the buildings on Whitehall Drive. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Trafalgar Square London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Trafalgar Square London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Clock Tower London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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In front of Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Westminster Abbey London -- 12/24/2005 |
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London Eye and River Thames London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Paul's Cathedral viewed from across the River Thames. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Paul's Cathedral London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Shakespeare's Globe London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Paul's Cathedral London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Paul's Cathedral. I spent a good deal of this day trying to photograph moving cars and busses. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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St. Paul's Cathedral. I spent a good deal of this day trying to photograph moving cars and busses. London -- 12/24/2005 |
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Tower Bridge London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Swiss Re Tower London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Canary Wharf Tower, the tallest building in the UK. There is the most amazing traffic light tree here, but I didn't get a picture of it. London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Nassor, Sophia and Matthew London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Nassor, Sophia, Matthew, Rachel and Hussein. London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Me with my Time Out London book and camera. London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Hussein, Matthew, Sophia, Nassor and me London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Tower of London London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Tower Bridge London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Tower Bridge London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Tower of London London -- 12/25/2005 |
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HMS Belfast and London Bridge viewed from Tower Bridge. London -- 12/25/2005 |
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Monument to the Great Fire of London. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast viewed from London Bridge. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Monument to the Great Fire of London. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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This church closes for Christmas. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Temple of Mithras London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Temple of Mithras London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Temple of Mithras London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Royal Exchange London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Statue of Wellington in front of the Bank of England. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Swiss Re Tower London -- 12/26/2005 |
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St. Andrews Undershaft Church in front of the Swiss Re Tower. An interesting juxtaposition of architectural styles. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Lloyds Building. This looks like something from the movie Brazil. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Bevis Marks Synagogue. The oldest synagogue in England. London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Bevis Marks Synagogue London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Bevis Marks Synagogue London -- 12/26/2005 |
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Marble Arch London -- 12/26/2005 |
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This 16 ounce water bottle has traveled with me to Australia, Africa and Europe. It was leftover from a summer 2005 teambuilding program, so I acquired it for free. After telling someone I had carried the bottle across four continents, they replied that I must not drink much water. London -- 12/27/2005 |
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Welcome Home. London -- 12/27/2005 |