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    • Great trip. Nice pics.

      We took a guided tour of Westminster, London and the guide told us a great Henry VIII story. When Henry died, he was to be buried at Windsor Castle. En route to Windsor, the funeral procession made several stops so the casket could lay in state in various towns and be venerated by his loyal subjects. However without modern refrigeration or embalming, and given Henry was a very large fellow, he started to bloat until he exploded. They scraped all the bits of the dead king they could off the ceiling and floor, dumped it all in the casket, and moved on.

      The Exploding Kings of England

    • odd man out wrote:

      Great trip. Nice pics.

      We took a guided tour of Westminster, London and the guide told us a great Henry VIII story. When Henry died, he was to be buried at Windsor Castle. En route to Windsor, the funeral procession made several stops so the casket could lay in state in various towns and be venerated by his loyal subjects. However without modern refrigeration or embalming, and given Henry was a very large fellow, he started to bloat until he exploded. They scraped all the bits of the dead king they could off the ceiling and floor, dumped it all in the casket, and moved on.

      The Exploding Kings of England
      I file that one under TMI. <X
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • I feel that whatever I write will fail to do justice to Borough Market -- the sights, sounds, smells and tastes are amazing.

      Here's a little video introduction


      I had the intent to seek out BM on Saturday the 3rd and to take that as a no museum and no history day. But on Thursday as I left St Paul's and went south over the Millennium Bridge and across the river to wander around, I just happened upon the market.

      The smells are just powerful -- the smell of smokrrs and the smell of baking bread, fresh meats and seafood, cheeses, small craft brewers and coffee stands and ethnic food all lingering around. It smelled like a good paradise. And I just happened to wander in about lunch time.

      Here are a couple photos from Saturday morning just as it opened.



      The first thing that attracted my attention were the Baker's and I ended up getting a onion and tomato focaccia, and oh was so good.

      Then I happened upon Hobbs, a little stall offering what they billed as both "Southern" and "Cajun" pulled pork bbq. I has to try it... It was damn good but reminded me more of what I'd think if as Cuban with a strong cumin flavor. But damn good along with a spicy slaw.



      Sadly though I couldn't spend the entire day here and I wanted to get over to the British Museum. But! I knew exactly where I was and how to get back. In the mean time I headed to the Middle Eastern stall and got some baklava and cinnamon & honey peanuts for much later.

      Friday, I ducked in between visiting the Tower of London and HMS Belfast and tried a "salt beef" sandwich -- what we'd call corned beef. Only this was farm made and served up in fresh baked rye bread with home-made pickles and mustard. Worthy

      Saturday I headed back, but this time right at opening for breakfast, which was a fresh fresh and I mean fresh pretzel, some Italian blue cheese and a cappuccino.
      gif.004.gif

      Then what the hell after visiting the Churchilla War Rooms and before getting into Westminster Palace I went back for Lunch... A fresh German brat


      BM closes on Sundays, which is good because I could probably die there. And that was my side trip to Gravesend. Ha! But they're open on Mondays, and back I went...

      For a roast pork sandwich with rocket and apple sauce!




      And afterwards, I happened upon the German baker lady putting out fresh lemon curd berliners, and that was a fitting end to my Borough Market experience.
      Of course I talk to myself... sometimes I need expert advice.

    • One evening I found myself in the Covent Garden area, and if one is the sort that like shopping, this is the place to be. To name brand and to upscal for me. However, located in the area were three outfitters. Actual camping, hiking, and climbing stores. Over all not any worse and not any better than anything we have. But what hurt is that all three were having end of the season sales and one had their store branded merino wool base layers dirt cheap. I bought a top, but my luggage limits kept me from buying more. :(

      Then found a little pie shop tucked away, and tried out a steak and stout pie with mash.

      And a few other observations...

      I'm now a fan and a supporter of public pay toilets. While in Covent Garden, I needed to go and found myself paying £1 to get in. At first I wad a little WTF, but then once in I realized how amazingly clean they were and that each toilet was in its own little closet plenty large enough to get comfortable. There was no stretch of ghosts of pissers past and attendants on the ball taking care if the place. For that, yup you're damn right I'd pay.

      As far as money, both Ireland (as part of the EU) and UK have 1 and 2 £/€ coins and the smallest paper bill is a fiver. The 1 and 2 £/€ coins certainly made things easier and I found that the result was that I did not end up with ridiculous amounts of either bills or coins. The EU has done away with 1¢ and prices ended in either 0 or 5. UK still has both 1 and 2 pence coins, however there too most prices usually ended in 0 and 5 and only rarely did I get pennies back. It reenforced my opinion to kill US pennies and paper $1 and $2 bills and to adopt those denominated coins as well.
      Images

      • IMG_20160904_172025303.jpg

        128.72 kB, 800×450, viewed 256 times
      Of course I talk to myself... sometimes I need expert advice.

    • I don't recall seeing a lot of pay toilets in London. I wonder if that's a new trend (it's been a few years since I've been there). I do recall that the Tower of London had really nice toilets.

      Another think I remember about the UK, every time I paid with a credit card I had to sign the charge slip and the cashier would turn my card over and carefully compare the signature on the card to the signature on the slip. I don't recall anyone in the US ever bothering to look at the signatures. As the trip went on I got more and more paranoid and stressed about signing my name "correctly" lest I get flagged for fraud - flashbacks of taking tests in school.

    • odd man out wrote:

      I don't recall seeing a lot of pay toilets in London. I wonder if that's a new trend (it's been a few years since I've been there). I do recall that the Tower of London had really nice toilets.

      Another think I remember about the UK, every time I paid with a credit card I had to sign the charge slip and the cashier would turn my card over and carefully compare the signature on the card to the signature on the slip. I don't recall anyone in the US ever bothering to look at the signatures. As the trip went on I got more and more paranoid and stressed about signing my name "correctly" lest I get flagged for fraud - flashbacks of taking tests in school.

      Personally I only encountered pay toilets twice, the second time was at Kings Cross, for only 30p. They even had showers available. They were not as nice as the toilets at Covent Gardens, but still far and above what one normally encounters at a standard puis lic toilet.

      Here is a short article --
      londonist.com/2015/09/where-is…t-expensive-public-toilet

      And the company that ran the toilets at Covent Gardens is 2theloo 2theloo.com/
      Of course I talk to myself... sometimes I need expert advice.

    • Astro wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Great trip. Nice pics.

      We took a guided tour of Westminster, London and the guide told us a great Henry VIII story. When Henry died, he was to be buried at Windsor Castle. En route to Windsor, the funeral procession made several stops so the casket could lay in state in various towns and be venerated by his loyal subjects. However without modern refrigeration or embalming, and given Henry was a very large fellow, he started to bloat until he exploded. They scraped all the bits of the dead king they could off the ceiling and floor, dumped it all in the casket, and moved on.

      The Exploding Kings of England
      I file that one under TMI. <X
      Gross but fascinating.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • odd man out wrote:

      Agree that the US should do away with 1$ bills and 1 cent coins. Now that Canada has done away with their penny, the US has become the repository of old Canadian pennies since now they only flow in one direction (here).
      Why would you want to get rid of the $1 bill.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • "Friday, I ducked in between visiting the Tower of London and HMS Belfast and tried a "salt beef" sandwich -- what we'd call corned beef. Only this was farm made and served up in fresh baked rye bread with home-made pickles and mustard. "

      Good memories. Thanks.

      When in Germany, visited the village of Wittlich site of one of the many wine festivals. They roast more than 100 pigs in similar fashion.

      militaryingermany.com/event/sa…rkirmes-pig-fest-wittlich

      A memorable aroma.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • chief wrote:

      dollar coins have been tried and failed. the govt has billions of dollar coins in storage from the last fiasco. nobody wants the damn things, i sure don't.
      They still use them in MA for a train run. It is set to take a Susan B Anthony Dollar. Of course since they are not comonly avaialable there is a dispenser in the train station to buy them. I think the political force in that neighborhood had two different (or more) favors to pay off.

    • Mountain-Mike wrote:

      chief wrote:

      dollar coins have been tried and failed. the govt has billions of dollar coins in storage from the last fiasco. nobody wants the damn things, i sure don't.
      They still use them in MA for a train run. It is set to take a Susan B Anthony Dollar. Of course since they are not comonly avaialable there is a dispenser in the train station to buy them. I think the political force in that neighborhood had two different (or more) favors to pay off.
      The local transit system fare kiosks dispense change primarily comprised of dollar coins. I used a pocketful of such coins to purchase an electronic fare card and was amused to have the human attendant express displeasure at having to count 30+ coins.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • odd man out wrote:

      if you eliminate 1$bills, issue 1$ and 2$ coins that are not the same size as quarters, the government would save boatloads of money, people would use them, and no one dies.
      Please remember this is a hiking website. No way in the stinking world would I want to carry $1 and $2 coins instead of paper bills. Paper money is the ultralight way for those who will not take credit cards. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Astro wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      if you eliminate 1$bills, issue 1$ and 2$ coins that are not the same size as quarters, the government would save boatloads of money, people would use them, and no one dies.
      Please remember this is a hiking website. No way in the stinking world would I want to carry $1 and $2 coins instead of paper bills. Paper money is the ultralight way for those who will not take credit cards. :)

      And like any piece of ultra lightweight gear it's over hyped, over priced, fragile garbage gif.013.gif finger.gif
      Of course I talk to myself... sometimes I need expert advice.

    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      i remember carrying quarters for the pay phones. :)
      Now you are really dating yourself. :D
      Let us know next time you see one, other than a museum. :)
      Next time I'm at the arena where the Utah Jazz play, I'll photo the only pay phone I know still operational. It's located on the light rail platform just to the east of the north entrance.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • Rasty wrote:

      Grinder wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      1 dollar coins last longer, but they certanly weigh more than paper dollars.
      Tough as hell to stuff into a g-string too, especially when drunk.
      There has to be a way to strap a donation can to the string

      Now I get it, you are trying to pop the string off by sheer weight of the coins.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.