Pouring My Art Out

How did you get around in London with all that crazy traffic, I am sure you are all dying to ask…

Posted on July 8, 2015 by pouringmyartout

I have five words for you… hop-on/hop-off busses…

There I am, listening to the historic narration on the pink headphones provided on the busses. And there, by pure coincidence, is St. Paul’s in the background.

The busses take these big, circular routes all around the city, and it is a great way not only to get to know the area, but you can use it for free transportation also.

Riding on the top deck of the double-decker busses, which are open to the sky, gives you a great all-around view.

I was walking on the Tower Bridge and just happened to catch one of the busses in my picture. My wife did a lot of research because there is more than one bus tour company. The Big Bus is the one to get!

If we hadn’t been riding the bus when we passed this little church… which was a special church for airmen during World War Two…

And if I hadn’t been listening to the narration…

I would never have found out that those pock marks on the side of the church are some of the last bits of bomb fragment damage left over from the Nazi bombing in the Second World War.

I don’t even remember what that building is, but Mollie took the picture and my head is in it… so of course I am posting it.

So when you go to London, don’t rent a car… that would be crazy. We used the famous London cabs quite a bit too, but the bus tours are worth doing. Don’t try to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road inside London.

And just so you know, I rode the bus past this old pub three times before I finally remembered to take a picture of the serious wardrobe malfunction going on above the door on the fourth trip. HA!

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged current-events, england, great britain, hop on hop off bus tours, humor, london, london traffic, photography, pubs, travel | 28 Comments

For Trent Lewin, my head minion…

Posted on July 8, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Here is a picture of a brochure we brought back from London…

Is there something you would like to tell us???

Posted in My travels, stuff about blogging | Tagged bloggers, blogging, blogs, current-events, humor, london, minions, sale, shirts | 34 Comments

High tea in a low crypt…

Posted on July 8, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Okay, that title warrants some explanation… we had high tea in a low crypt… is that better?

I am not going to go into the history of the term ‘high tea’, because it has diverged from its original meaning. Suffice it to say that ‘high tea’ is now just a fancy way of saying tea time with snacks. So we had high tea in London after our tour of the Tower… because we come from good English stock and that is what we do. Only this time we had high tea in the crypts under St. Paul’s Cathedral. How cool is that?

No, I don’t mean that we ate little finger sandwiches and tasty little pastries in a musty tomb surrounded by interred corpses… okay, well, there are still interred corpses down there, but they are neatly tucked under the floor stones and behind walls, and the space is now open and airy and contains a few little restaurants and a souvenir shop.

St. Paul’s… and once again, I encourage you to Google it if you are interested… is where you have seen all the famous weddings of the Royal Family. Unfortunately, they do not allow photography inside the church, which is a shame, because we went to the Evensong Service and sat in the choir seats and the inside of that building is freekin’ gorgeous.

Go back and watch some of the Royal weddings and you can see right where we sat. I was raised Episcopalian… which is really the same… almost… as the Church of England. I might have fallen away from the notion of organized religion, but I still felt right at home during the service.

My mom is a trained opera singer… purely amateur… and she has been singing in the choir at my family’s church in Berkeley since before I was born. She goes on these trips to Europe with the choir where they sing in cathedrals all around England and on the continent.

So my mom has actually sung in services inside St. Paul’s.

I suppose some of you might remember the picture of me wearing a nice button down shirt I posted earlier. I hope this explains the anomaly.

I couldn’t very well go to high tea looking like a scruffy vagrant… which reminds me… you should really see my beard now… HA!

Anyway, between the Tower of London and our trip to St. Paul’s, that accounts pretty much for the first full day of our trip to Europe…

More or less…

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged art, england, great britain, high tea, humor, london, photography, st pauls, travel | 4 Comments

The Tower… the final chapter…

Posted on July 7, 2015 by pouringmyartout

I think nothing sums up the history of the Tower of London like the new buildings that are popping up in the city around it…

It is the juxtaposition of the ancient stone battlements and the ultramodern skyscrapers that is both poignant and mesmerizing.

And the London skyline is full of magical and whimsical new towers.

The past and the future coexist with mutual admiration.

Maybe that is what is fascinating about all of Europe.

It is the timelessness of the overall experience. I can’t remember what the locals call that weird, bent building that seems to be breaking like a wave, but I love the sense of fun that the new generation of towers brings to the scene.

You look out over the ancient walls of the Tower, past a World War Two war ship and on to the Shard, a breathtaking new edifice that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Catch a glimpse of ‘The Pickle’ as they call the building that looks a little like a rocket ship from a 50’s sci-fi movie, and you almost have to laugh.

It is almost too much to take in at one time.

It is like time traveling with your eyes.

And it can take your breath away.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged architecture, art, history, humor, london, photography, the pickle, the shard, tower of london, travel | 26 Comments

The Tower… part 5…

Posted on July 7, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Well, we are almost done with the Tower of London… the very first part of our very first full day in Europe… which gives you an idea of the number of pictures you have to look forward to.

In the middle of the courtyard of the Tower is this strange memorial. In the center there is a pillow made of crystal. It symbolizes the pillow upon which rested the head of one of King Henry the Eighth’s wives… after it was removed from her shoulders….

A lot of people were executed in and around the Tower grounds.

In the old days you did not want to make the king or queen angry.

If you think our laws today are tilted in favor of the rich, famous and powerful, I can only suggest once again that you delve into some history books.

That gate is called ‘the Traitor’s Gate’. You did not want to pass through that.

Visit the Tower. Let the history flow around you.

More than a thousand years of history, washing around the Tower like a relentless tide…

And all the while, the Tower stood.

Watching as the world changed around it.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged current-events, england, history, humor, london, photography, tower of london, travel | 4 Comments

The Tower… part 4…

Posted on July 7, 2015 by pouringmyartout

The Tower of London is not only full of history, it is literally full of history…

There are sets of armor and muskets and swords and guns and knives and other fun things like that…

Many of the suits of armor were worn by famous kings and people we all know from history.

It is a little strange to think about how many human beings have died throughout history in order for the world to end up as it is today.

It is a sobering thought… which might be why the world is now so full of bars and pubs…

I am not a fan of the huge set of scaffolding stairs that now allow… wait… is that the back of my head over there on the left? I guess Mollie took this picture. Wow… the back of my head really is flat. I thought that was just a joke.

That right there is the actual Tower of London… the White Tower…

It was built when the London was just recovering from the dark ages following the fall of the Roman Empire, and it wasn’t built to protect the locals… it was built to protect their new overlords from the locals… seriously, you should Google all this stuff.

The Tower has been the center of London for so long in so many ways.

The city grew around it, and the British conquered a large portion of the world.

And during all that history, the Tower loomed there, holding prisoners and keeping secrets.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged current-events, england, great britain, history, humor, london, photography, tower of london | 4 Comments

The Tower… part 3…

Posted on July 6, 2015 by pouringmyartout

The Tower of London has some strange animal connections. To begin with, there are the famous tower ravens…

Even in World War Two, when the Germans were bombing London, there were always at least a few ravens kept on the Tower grounds. This is because there is a legend that when the last raven leaves the Tower, the soul of Great Britain will go with it.

It also turns out that for many years, the Kings and Queens of England used the Tower grounds not only to keep human prisoners, but animal ones too.

Back in the day, the royal families of Europe would try to outdo one another with their royal menageries.

To commemorate these weird times, the Tower now has life-sized wire statues of some of the animals that were once kept there.

It is just a tad unnerving.

But the ravens are awesome. They are not at all scared of people. They are also huge and their beaks are sort of intimidating.

When you wander around the Tower grounds, keep an eye out for these magnificent birds.

The add to the mystique of the place.

They fit in with the décor so to speak.

I spotted that one using his beak to dig little holes in the grass to shove bits of lunch meat from a sandwich that he had scrounged into. Then he would tear up some more grass and use it to plug the hole. These birds are actually very smart, in case you didn’t know.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged animals, birds, humor, london, nature, photography, ravens, tower of london | 10 Comments

The Tower… part 2…

Posted on July 6, 2015 by pouringmyartout

If you are going to go on the escorted tour of the Tower of London, be sure to get Bob…

Sure, any Yeoman Warder will do in a pinch. They were all noncommissioned officers in the Queen’s military for at least 22 years and were awarded the good conduct ribbon. They can all answer your questions. But Bob was awesome!!!

Remember, as you walk around, that the Tower was originally built as a stronghold to intimidate the local populace. (Look it up, it is your history too). It towered over the other buildings in the area… pun intended. It has been added to quite a bit over the 1,000 some-odd years it has stood there.

Mollie must have taken that picture of the cobblestones in the courtyard… what an artistic kid.

This is still a working military installation.

It is still a fortress.

They feel safe leaving the crown jewels there, including the largest diamond on the planet.

The uniforms may look quaint to some of you, but unlike the artillery pieces, which, I believe, were captured from Napoleon’s troops, the guns those guards are carrying are not just for show.

I hope you all have a chance to experience this historic site someday if you haven’t yet.

And if you do…

I hope you get to meet Bob. He will make the ghosts come alive. And there are a lot of ghosts there.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!… oh… wait… that isn’t a ghost.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged crown jewels, current-events, england, history, humor, london, photography, social-media, tower of london, travel | 2 Comments

The Tower… part 1…

Posted on July 6, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Well, here we go with the adventures of our first full day in Europe…

That is the Tower of London… the White Tower… once a symbol of oppression, now an awesome tourist trap and vault for the crown jewels. That shot was taken during a river cruise later that week, but it is a good picture.

The Tower was built in the year… uh… 1,000 something. This isn’t a history lesson, it is a travelogue… you should Google it.

But you can feel the history in that place.

It seeps right out of the stones.

If you go to London, do not miss seeing the Tower.

Just so you know, I still carry my small, cheap camera around, just to take all these selfies for the blog.

There is a good picture of my mom, resting from all the walking we did.

Those guards are not for show. They are guarding the crown jewels.

To be honest, I have over 50 pictures just of the Tower, but don’t worry, by the end of the trip, we were tapering off the number of photos a little. The first few days are always so exciting that you go a little camera crazy.

And, ironically or not, there are some great views of the Tower Bridge from the Tower itself.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged crown jewels, england, humor, london, photography, tower of london, travel | 16 Comments

Even more pictures of London…

Posted on July 5, 2015 by pouringmyartout

I will start telling you the details of our trip tomorrow, but that first few days in London was so exciting that between Mollie and I, we took a heck of a lot of pictures of the city, and I hate to waste them. We will still have plenty that will tie in with our individual adventures, but until then…