Monday, September 05, 2005

Winchester, England (Aug 9th)

The next day, I took a train to Winchester, the old capital of England. Why Winchester? I've not sure how it first struck me, but it was way back in May or June when I first started searching through the tourist literature. The grand plan was to buy a two day train pass allowing me to travel in the greater London area. This city offered an interesting mix of things and I wanted somewhere that would allow me to see a bit of the English countryside.

First item of interest - the Round Table. While not THE Round Table of legend, it is A Round Table modeled after the legend. Apparently it's some 600 yrs old and it hangs in the wall of the Great Hall of the former Winchester Castle.

Second item of interest - site of a really old cathedral (11th century). I just walked around the grounds a bit.

Item 3 - Jane Austen lived near this city and died in a house inside Winchester. It is a private home now, with just a commemorative sign. Her actual house is converted into a museum but it was too far to access by foot for the day. So, I made a semi-pilgrimage. BTW, what's the word on the new P&P with Ms. Knightley?

Item 4 - Wolvesley Castle. My first castle was in Antwerp but this is the first one I was allowed to clamber all over. It was in ruins, but I loved it. For the first 15 minutes I was there, it was just me and the pidgeons. Only later did other tourists show up.

Returned to London that evening and spent the whole time exploring more of its public spaces. I think my all time favorite was Trafalgar Square. I suppose the ppl there were largely tourists but I'd never encountered a place in Toronto with that feel and energy.

This next one is just beside the National Theatre. I'm not sure whether these folks were congregating there during an intermission or whether they were just using the space. The whole strip next to the bridges is just filled with ppl enjoying the evenings though. Alcohol is allowed on the streets etc. so there are ppl spilling out of pubs with glass in hand and people on the benches will be relaxing with a bottle of something.

A view of St. Paul's. Another reason I loved walking the bridges at sunset aside from the people watching was because the majority of the important buildings could be seen from here, not to mention pretty bridges. And speaking of pretty bridges...

Here you see the Tower Bridge (NOT the London Bridge, I might have been on the London Bridge though). So pretty. And would you believe that it opens for boats? I spent a good few minutes wondering how that battleship in the foreground got in between the bridges, cuz the one I was on didn't seem to lift or swing. Then I saw the Tower Bridge opening up and the light dawned. J and I saw a number of lifting bridges in the Netherlands and Belgium but nothing on this scale. That sailboat stopped a lot of traffic.


Why sunset at the bridges? Here's why sunset at the bridges.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

a great ebook blog,keep it up

9/05/2005 4:48 PM  

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