The United Kingdom
Take a virtual tour of London in the 1660s
Before the great fire:
The past is a foreign country…
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
L.P. Hartley, British writer
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dale Chihuly shows up everywhere! He is a worldwide phenom…
The American Memorial Chapel at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral
The website of St Paul’s proudly states that “the UK has had a long relationship with the American people, formed largely after the Second World War, a conflict in which thousands of Americans based within the UK were to give their lives.”
The most visible striking reminder of this sacrifice and subsequent deep friendship can be found beyond the High Altar at the very east end of the Cathedral, in the American Memorial Chapel, a space rebuilt after being destroyed in the Blitz and dedicated in its entirety to the American dead of WWII.
At the heart of the chapel sits a huge, 500-page, leather-bound book; a roll of honor to the 28,000 Americans – from Aaberg to Zingale – stationed in the UK who gave their lives throughout the War. The book opens:
Defending freedom from the fierce assault of tyranny
they shared the honor and the sacrifice.
Though they died before the dawn of victory their names and deed
will long be remembered where ever free men live.
Thousands of the men named in the roll of honor died on the Normandy beaches on D-Day, as well as in training operations in the lead up to the campaign and in the subsequent battles on the European mainland, right up until the day on which the Allies celebrated Victory in Europe.
The book was unveiled in 1958 at a service to dedicate the Chapel, attended by The Queen and American Vice President, Richard M Nixon.
A year later, President Dwight D Eisenhower visited the Chapel and the roll of honor. Words in the book written by the President, who as a soldier commanded the Allied troops on D-Day, read:
Each name inscribed in this book is a story of personal tragedy and a grieving family; a story repeated endlessly in white crosses girdling the globe. The Americans, whose names here appear, were part of the price that free men have been forced a second time to pay in this century to defend human liberty and rights.
Fittingly, this roll of honor has been enshrined by the Mother Country of all English-speaking democracies in this special chapel of St Paul’s, once a target of barbaric attack. Here, we and all who shall hereafter live in freedom will be reminded that to these men and their comrades of all the Allies we owe a debt to be paid with grateful remembrance of their sacrifice and with the high resolve that the cause for which they died shall live eternally.
St Paul’s proudly states that the chapel itself is truly a place for all Americans. The three stained-glass windows contain the state symbols of every American state. The wood carvings contain the birds, plants and flowers of America and hidden away in one panel are a space rocket and stars – a nod to the space program that was being developed at the time the Chapel was completed.
Each November, St Paul’s holds a US Thanksgiving service, to which all Americans in London are invited.
I visited this august memorial last month and was struck by its peaceful majesty. In this calm, quiet space, the American war dead are remembered. The inscription in the floor tells the story, simply and beautifully. It reads: “To the American dead of the Second World War from the People of Britain.”
A virtual tour of 17th century London
Random shots of London, July 2019
Buckingham Palace at the end of the road:
The (extraordinary) British Museum
What can I say that hasn’t already been said 1,00,000 times or more about this incredible museum?
I will let my pictures speak for me.
Whenever I am lucky enough to visit the British Museum, I always go right to the Elgin Marbles.
Mass tourism is the bane of my existence. I hate it with every fiber in my being.
Did I mention that I detest mass tourism? I do.
Mass tourism.
Beautiful, lush St Jame’s Park, London
It’s a beautiful park in the heart of London, but did you know it takes its name from a leper hospital! It sure does! Read on…
St James’s Park is a 57-acre park in the City of Westminster, central London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St James’s area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that also includes (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens.
The park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, the Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south. It meets Green Park at Queen’s Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its center, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St James’s Palace is on the opposite side of The Mall.
The park has a small lake, St James’s Park Lake, with two islands, West Island, and Duck Island, named for the lake’s collection of waterfowl.
A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since pelicans were donated by a Russian ambassador in 1664 to Charles II. While most of the time the wings are clipped, there is a pelican who can be seen flying to the London Zoo in hopes of another meal.
The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a view west towards Buckingham Palace framed by trees. Looking east the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with Horse Guards, the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock, and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower, and the Shard behind.
I first visited St Jame’s Park with my mother on a trip to London many years ago. She delighted in the flower beds, planted seasonally, and always lush and beautiful. As I walked through the gardens last month, I thought of my mom and how much she would love how they looked that day!
Nerd Alert: the history part of this post:
In 1532, Henry VIII purchased an area of marshland through which the Tyburn flowed from Eton College. It lay to the west of York Palace acquired by Henry from Cardinal Wolsey; it was purchased in order to turn York Palace, subsequently renamed Whitehall, into a dwelling fit for a king.
On James I’s accession to the throne in 1603, he ordered that the park be drained and landscaped, and exotic animals were kept in the park, including camels, crocodiles, an elephant and exotic birds, kept in aviaries.
While Charles II was in exile in France under the Commonwealth of England, he was impressed by the elaborate gardens at French royal palaces, and on his ascension he had the park redesigned in a more formal style, probably by the French landscaper André Mollet.
An 850 x 42 yard canal was created as evidenced in the old plan. The king opened the park to the public and used the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn. The park became notorious at the time as a meeting place for impromptu acts of lechery, as described by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester in his poem “A Ramble in St James’s Park.”
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries cows grazed on the park, and milk could be bought fresh at the “Lactarian,” described by Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach in 1710.
The 18th century saw further changes, including the reclamation of part of the canal for Horse Guards Parade and the purchase of Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) at the west end of the Mall, for the use of Queen Charlotte in 1761.
Further remodelling in 1826–27, commissioned by the Prince Regent (later George IV) and overseen by the architect and landscaper John Nash, saw the canal’s conversion into a more naturally-shaped lake, and formal avenues rerouted to romantic winding pathways.
At the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, while The Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887.
The Marble Arch was moved to its current location at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane in 1851 and the Victoria Memorial was erected between 1906 and 1934.
Duck Island Cottage, in the pictures above, has a long history and is now the headquarters for the London Parks & Gardens Trust.
The park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Great British baking
Are you a fan of the tv show, The Great British Bake-off? I am! I learned so much about baking in general and about British desserts in particular from watching that show.
Yesterday I was in the cantina of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and was delighted to see Lemon Drizzle Cake, Bakewell tart, and other desserts I learned about on the show.
I tried the Bakewell tart, and it was tasty. It needed some salt to balance all the sugar. But, that’s just me.
get back, lauretta! 
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