Day tripping around London

Today, I walked here, there, and everywhere on the London Walks Magical Mystery Tour.

We began our tour in the Soho area, where the offices of MPL Communications is currently located. Our tour guide, Richard, said he's run into Paul McCartney a couple times by the office, and showed us the photos to prove it. Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky today. He told us it stands for McCartney Productions Limited, not McCartney Paul and Linda, as many people often suggest.

Next, we saw Trident Studios, where many classic rock stars recorded songs. The Beatles most notably used this studio for Hey Jude, and in the 1970s, it was also used by Elton John, Lou Reed, the Rolling Stones, and David Bowie.

Further along was this public washroom, where John Lennon took part in Not Only...But Also skit, where he played the doorman to this "Gentlemen's Club".

OK, I didn't get the pose perfect, but I tried!

This is a poster up in the Soho area. Our tour guide pointed out that the people in the front row appear to be imitating the front of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

Next was Carnaby Street, where the independent fashion boutiques drew many rock stars, including the Beatles. John Stephen's shops turned this area into one of the best shopping streets in London during the 1960s. However, once it was recognized as such, it became populated with rock fans, leaving the stars to shop elsewhere.

We stopped at the London Palladium, the venue often credited with the start of Beatlemania. The tour guide described how fans swarmed to the concerts, and it became so popular that the band eventually decided to stop touring because it was no longer about the music.

This is 3 Savile Row, the headquarters for the Beatles' multimedia company, Apple Corps. The tour guide described the business as meant to help other artists so they didn't have to rely on men in suits. If I'm not mistaken, it was also the location of many Beatles interview, including the one where Lennon said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Our tour guide said this was meant as a comment on the declining church-going rates, etc, but it was taken out of context when republished in Datebook, an American magazine, sparking lots of anger and controversy.

In Piccadilly Circus sits the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, also known as the London Pavilion, where all four Beatles movies were premiered. The royal family were known to attend the premieres, most notably Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. The guide told the story of the after-party for the premiere of a Hard Day's Night, which was attended by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. George Harrison was apparently informed that they could not eat while the princess and lord were still present, and therefore he went up to her and said, "Your Highness, we really are hungry and we can't eat until you two go."

Next up was probably the highlight of the tour: Abbey Road.

The gates all around were covered in graffiti, despite that the walls are repainted about six times per year. Many fans pass through the area on a daily basis and take photos crossing the road. One fan left this flower dedicated to John Lennon, with the recent anniversary of his death.

It took a while to get our photos, but lucky for us, it was Boxing Day and thus there were probably fewer cars around than usual. There is a constant live stream of the crossing at www.abbeyroad.com/visit
If you click on Archive, you can watch the last 24 hours. I would be crossing around the 1:35pm mark.

Walking along with my friend Michael, who is staying at our student house for two weeks.

This week, the crossing was listed as a heritage site––an honour usually reserved for buildings such as cathedrals. It's the first listing of its kind, and essentially makes it a bit more difficult for anybody to move the crossing in the future. Most of the articles mentioned that the crossing is not in its original location, having been moved about 3m. However, our guide insisted this was simply a rumour, and showed us other photos taken from the day of the photoshoot that show a manhole on the ground, which still appears to be in the exact same spot.

The studios inside are said to be almost identical to the ones the Beatles used. However, this wasn't intentional. Instead, they decided it worked well the way it was, so why bother changing it?

That brings us to the end of the tour. From there, we continued to walk along nearby roads, making our way back to Oxford Street. On the way, we passed this synagogue––the first one I've seen in London (though I'm sure there are loads more).

We stopped at this Beatles coffeeshop, where I bought a deck of Beatles-themed playing cards. There was a ton of merchandise, including 3D posters, overpriced postcards, and many books, including one written by our tour guide.

We continued down the road to Baker Street, and stopped by the Sherlock Holmes museum.

Here was more merchandise, including pipes, Sherlock Holmes chocolate coins, and beautiful editions of the books. I've never actually read any of the short stories, but I think I'll have to bump that to the top of my reading list!

Then, we braved the big crowds of Boxing Day shoppers, continued our walk along Oxford Street, and headed home.

In all, it was a great day.

Next up: more day tripping in the form of a tour of Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Cotswolds. I know I'm super behind on my posts and I have quite a lot to tell you about. I need a few more hours in the day, but I swear, I will cover it all eventually!

Falling in love with Edinburgh.

Yesterday, I saw the most gorgeous city I have ever seen. Edinburgh.

The Old Town of Edinburgh

To get to Edinburgh, my flatmates and I woke up early and headed to the bus stop. We waited a while but only one bus showed up, and not one that would take us to the train station. After a while, we noticed a sign saying the bus stop was closed and that we should go to the car park outside Cottrell Building to catch it. We got there and found a pipe with cardboard attached with the words bus stop. As there was no list of buses, we waited there until we realized none of the buses into town were stopping there. We wandered about and found a second pipe with another cardboard attached saying bus stop, once again, with no list of buses. However, a bus into town stopped there shortly after and we hopped on.

Fifteen minutes later, we were inside the train station, waiting in a long queue to buy our tickets. Donald waited in the line with a ticket vendor at the end, while Saori and I queued for the electronic ticket agent. He got his ticket really quickly, but our line was moving super slowly. Saori moved into the queue for real ticket vendors, but was next in line at the same time as I was next for the electronic vendor, so we each stayed in our own lines. She came running out with her ticket, while the couple in front of me fumbled with the machine. By the time I got my ticket, it was 11:06–the same time the train was supposed to depart. We ran down the steps onto the platform and press the button to open the doors. They did not open. Instead, we watched the train drive away, and waited half an hour for the next one.

We finally got on the train, and took the hour-long journey to Edinburgh. Within minutes of exiting the train station, all anger was forgotten.

Right outside the train station.

It was like something out of a fairy tale. The streets and buildings were just radiating history, and it became easy to visualize the city in its medieval state. Most of the city is considered heritage sites, so owners are not allowed to change the appearance, and the government apparently spends millions of pounds every year keeping the city beautiful. And it really shows.

We wandered about and found our way to a Starbucks on the Royal Mile, where a free walking tour group was assembling. We joined in the tour and were in for an amazing three hours.

Tour guide Andra from New Europe showed us around in a very entertaining and informative tour.

Our tour guide was a woman named Andra from Toronto, who took a double major in history and drama at McGill University. She was incredibly bubbly and energetic, and quite funny, telling us stories about the history and modern day life of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle, built on top of a dead volcano.

She explained the names of the buildings we saw, laughing about how self-descriptive they were. For example, there is an artificial hill created by dumping a mound of earth, so they call it the Mound. This trend continued throughout the city, making it quite easy to remember what each area or building looked like.

We walked through the old town, saw the statues of Adam Smith and David Hume, stopping to rub Hume's big toe for good luck. Apparently this began as a way to get luck in academics, and so many people have rubbed it that they have had to replace the big toe.

On the Royal Mile is the Heart of Midlothian, which represents the heart of the former council area, where an administrative office used to sit, as well as a tolbooth prison, where many people were executed. Now, people apparently spit on it for good luck, and avoid walking directly on it. The tour guide said it is always obvious who is a tourist because they will walk across it. Instead of avoiding this spit-covered part of the ground, she said she sees many people sitting inside the heart to take photos, and has seen multiple marriage proposals on this heart.

Standing in front of the Edinburgh Writers Museum. I felt such a connection with the city. I plan on visiting again and again.

Close to the Writers Museum is this old-fashioned burglar alarm. Residents of the city would build their steps with a trick step on the way up to their house. They would know which one is not a real step and would avoid it when they climbed up and down the stairs, and they would alert visitors as to which one they should skip. However, the trick step was a different number on each house, so strangers would not know which one was a trick. Someone who was trying to break into the house would run up the dark stairs and trip, causing them to fall down the stairs. This would hopefully create enough noise to wake the owner, who would assess the situation and either push the intruder out the door or attack them. The tour guide laughed at its simplicity in comparison with the sensors we use today, but advised the group to avoid this security method so that they won't get sued by the intruder.

We saw George Heriot's School, which is often described as the real-life Hogwarts, where students are grouped into four houses. It is visible from the back window fo the Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote a lot of the series. We weren't able to go inside the school because of weekend activities, but hopefully I will be able to take a closer look when I visit the city once again.

Directly in front of the school is Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is known to be one of the most haunted sites in Edinburgh. Apparently Rowling would peruse the cemetery when faced with writer's block and find  names for characters among the graves. In the cemetery is a grave for a Thomas Riddell and one for a William McGonagall. I'm going to have to go back and visit these graves some time.

On one side is the stone for Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier who belonged to a Edinburgh night guard. His owner, John Gray, died of tuberculosis in 1858. The dog apparently spent the rest of its life, 14 years, guarding its master's grave. The tour guide said its statue is the most photographed statue in Edinburgh.

After the tour, Saori and I headed to the Elephant House for dinner and dessert. It was surreal, knowing we were eating in the very cafe where Rowling began writing Harry Potter, surrounded by a city full of her inspirations. All over the store are articles about elephants, as well as photos and articles of Rowling. On the window, it says "The Birthplace of Harry Potter." But my favourite part was the bathrooms, which had walls filled with messages to Rowling.

I ate a delicious sandwich of chorizo with mozzarella and pesto on ciabatta bread, while Saori had apple pie with ice cream.

The Elephant House: Birthplace of Harry Potter.

Saori and I had a great time here. Definitely will return for a cup of tea next time I'm in the city.

On our way back to the train station, we found a busker putting on a very entertaining performance!

He was quite funny, and performed dangerous tricks. He juggled machetes, doing tricks such as throwing them behind his back or under his legs while juggling. He swallowed a 20" steel blade, and lay down under a bed of nails, while a very large man stood on top. He put on an amazing performance.

From there, we headed back to Waverley Station, arriving just in time to take a train back to Stirling.

All in all, it was an amazing day, and I even found an cute Scottish bear to add to my collection!

I absolutely adored Edinburgh, and I have a new dream: find a summer or winter break job in Edinburgh.

London Day 3: Diagon Alley, Canadian pub, and more touring.

Today was another day of using the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. This time, I had already been on the whole route, so it didn't feel like buildings and monuments were jumping out of nowhere like they did yesterday.

I started the day with a trip to Diagon Alley, which in the muggle world is actually Leadenhall Market. It was interesting that no one seemed to know where it was. I asked my cousin and her husband, but they had never heard of it. None of the tour guides I spoke to knew anything of it. I ended up using a map and making my own way there. Once I got closer, I found signs pointing me right to it.

It was quite a beautiful little area, and I wish I had time to sit and have a cup of tea, but alas, I had a full day of touring ahead of me.

There were tables set up where vendors were selling various treats and foods. There were some meringue sweets that looked delicious, and little tarts and chocolates. There was a huge table full of cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, and almonds, all in a huge variety of flavours. I ended up buying a bag of mixed nuts cooked with honey. They are super sweet but still delicious.

Yes, I finally worked up the nerve to ask a stranger to take my picture. I have this fear that they'll dash away with my camera, but I've determined that other tourists with big fancy DSLR cameras probably don't want my camera and are quite happy to take photos. I've also approached families and people who are waiting around in one spot for a while.

They had this beautiful pen shop where each pen was super fancy with intricate designs that cost at least about £75. Lots of fun to browse through bit slightly out of my budget, considering I tend to lose pens within days of buying them. I do think someone should open a magic shop there. It would do quite well!

The tour guide said this is the spot where Sweeney Todd is supposed to have had his barbershop. 186 Fleet Street. As far as I know–and I'm not going to research scary things to double-check facts right before bed–the musical has some truth to it, or at least is loosely based on a true story. It is a strange thing, to look at this place and know it is where it may have happened. This is the thought that kept going through my mind as I toured all over London. These are the places where the things I've read in history books actually happened; things that date back centuries and centuries.

Next, I headed down the Covent Garden Market, where I visited some little shops, including this sweet shop. But my favourite was...

Yes, I found a Canadian pub in London.

What made it Canadian? It had hockey jerseys on the walls (Edmonton Oilers–no Sens or Leafs), served poutine, Sleeman, and Moosehead, and had some Canadian employees. Apparently the cheese on the poutine is grated cheddar, not cheese curds, so I'm not sure it counts as poutine, but the menu swears it's an age-old recipe from Quebec. There was also a bear and a TV that supposedly shows hockey games.

More than anything else, this pub reminded me of a British pub that you'd find in Canada. However, I will make sure I remember it for when the homesickness kicks in.

Next, I took a boat cruise down the River Thames. The guide was really funny, and he shared some interesting facts about some of the buildings we passed.

This building is along the river. Technically, no buildings are allowed to advertise along the river, so OXO hid it in their stained glass windows. Apparently, someone took them to court, where they argued that they didn't realize that the windows spelled the name of the company and that it was simply a coincidence. The judge believed them, and they have had free advertising where there should be no advertising for many decades.

I just liked this photo because the glass building really stands out among the older style structures around it. The guide joked that inside was a university for glass cleaners. I can't quite remember what is actually inside, so a glass cleaner university is how I shall remember it.

This is the Tower of London. Its purpose has changed over the years, but it is famously known as an execution centre. In a 400 year span, over 100 people were beheaded here, including two of King Henry VIII's wives. Apparently, if the executed person was important, their head would be preserved in tar, put on a spike, and placed along the river to warn others. According to the guide, William Wallace, Mel Gibson's character in Braveheart, was one of the last people to be executed here.

This was the end of the boat cruise, so I headed back onto land for some food.

And what do I eat for my first meal out in the UK?

Fish and chips of course!

A creepy bird decided to perch down beside me while I ate.

It was nice to have some company while I ate my deliciously greasy meal. Lucky he wasn't a mooch.

And that's marks the end of my London adventure! My conclusion: London is very pretty and there was so much history in every spot. I didn't fall in love with it like I thought I would, but I did have a lot of fun. I'd like to see the museums and perhaps the Changing of the Guard but I figured I'd save some things since I am sure I will be back.

I will be heading to Scotland tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be more blogging from there. I'm really looking forward to meeting students, as it gets quite lonely touring alone. But for now, my job is to figure out how I can possibly repack everything in that luggage bag. Goodnight readers!