London Bridge in Arizona

I had doubts when new friends told me to visit the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Sometimes I do fall for unlikely tales. Like the time I thought the Las Vegas blackjack dealer’s Mom really named him “Texas” (His name badge read “Texas”). And once – just once, I did go snipe hunting in Ligonier and felt disappointed that my friend caught one in a bag. (Later, I learned there are no snipes and a twisted gum band on a stick made the commotion in the bag.) Yes, I repeated “gullible” slowly numerous times to really see if I could make it sound like “fire truck”. (In my defense, how could my sweet daughter Suzie trick me? She did and belly laughed at my fruitless attempts.) So why would I believe the London Bridge is in Arizona! After all, I’d been to London in November 2008 and walked across the Thames River on the London Bridge. Now, I’m supposed to believe there’s a London Bridge in Arizona…

Truth is: The London Bridge is in Lake Havasu City. Ed and I visited the Bridge. We touched the Bridge. We walked under the Bridge. We watched the US and British flags atop the Bridge wave in the breeze. This was no joke.

The Colorado River now runs beneath the bridge that once spanned the Thames River. The London Bridge was purchased from the City of London on April 18, 1968 for $2,460,000. It took three years and more money – some $4,500,000 – to transport and rebuild the bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. On October 10, 1971, the bridge project was compete. I should not have been so skeptical.

March 19, 2009

The Household Cavalry Museum: Behind the Scenes

If you are at all interested in the pageantry of the British culture and enjoy horses, a visit to the Household Cavalry Museum in London will please you. This small museum offers a unique look behind the scenes of the work that goes into the ceremonial duties and operational role of the Household Cavalry.

The Museum presents the military history of the Household Cavalry through collections of memorabilia and displays of uniforms. Videos offer accounts of how the men train on their assigned horses, care for the animals, and prepare for the ceremonial occasions. The Museum covers the 300 year history of this branch of the British military up to their present fighting role as an armored reconnaissance regiment without boring the visitor with an overload of information. This is a small museum easily visited in one hour.

I particularly enjoyed studying the artistic detail of the collection of the uniforms worn by these military men – bright red jackets worn under highly polished metal vests, swords, sashes, and ornate hats topped with long red tassels. I lingered around these casements. By contrast, a glimpse is all you get of the actual stables. I would have liked a better look inside the working stables of The Queen’s Life Guard. The glazed screen inside the museum made it hard to really see inside. The more visible sample stalls in the museum, though they looked authentic, seemed lifeless even with the feed bins and saddles hung on the wall.

The actual Horse Guards outside seemed lifeless too, but in a good way. Two mounted sentries in ceremonial uniforms were motionless in the guardhouse gates. I admired their discipline to stare forward over the crowd where people jockeyed for photos as close as they dared to the towering horses. The emotionless guards never flinched when a camera flashed, though the horses occasionally reacted. A sign on the guardhouse walls warned that the horses do bite when agitated. More than once I saw the sentry tug the reins of distracted horse to maintain their rigid stance. My guide book noted that these fellows are really “guarding nothing in particular” but that did not matter to me or the folks milling around. The guards’ presence is a great photo opportunity especially if you are a horse lover.

The Household Cavalry Museum is located between Horse Guards Road and Whitehall, London. www.householdcavalrymuseum.org.uk

November 8, 2008

The Mall

When the sun began to set, London took on a new look and gave me some new experiences. I had lingered too long at Trafalgar Square late in the day and was making my way back toward Buckingham Palace over a half mile away.

I followed the tree-lined street of The Mall not really knowing what I was passing. I selected my first stop along the way because I responded to the invitation for “free admission” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and it really wasn’t all that late. This break exposed me to Šuillakku, an exhibition by Italian artist Roberto Cuoghi. According to the information at the ICA, Cuoghi spent two years immersed in the language, rituals, and superstitions of the ancient Assyrians to create a sound installation. He created music, voices and other sounds suggesting an imaginative journey back to Mesopotamia in the seventh century BC. After my brief exposure to this exhibition, I made a quick return to the present century. I continued on my walk enjoying the comfortable sounds of taxis, cars, jets, and passing groups of tourists versus the ram’s horn, lutes, elephant bell, and other Assyrian recreations.

Next, a cluster of tourists snapping photos caught my attention. I discovered they were posing for photos with two armed guards. “What are they guarding?”I asked. The place happened to be St. James’s Palace, the Royal residence of Prince Charles. Through the gate I could see the magnificent palace illuminated by lantern-like lights. The guards carried threatening guns yet seemed positioned at their sentry more for the enjoyment of tourists who edged close for souvenir photos. Intermittently, the guards would march stiff legged with the gun slung over their shoulders then return to stand for more photos.

Eventually, I crossed to the Queen Victoria Memorial. Here I paused to ponder on my own thoughts reflected in the tribute to Victoria: Truth, Motherhood, and Justice.

From the Memorial, Buckingham Palace looked aglow. Moonlight gave the royal residence and inviting look, an enchantment reserved for fairy tales and royalty.

November 8, 2009

Visiting London? Here's Some Tips

I call London a look and see city. I classify it this way because of the abundance of museums, historic places, and traditional pageantry. As an international destination, tourism experts rank London in the Top 10 places to visit. Prior to my 10-day trip to London and contrary to the norm, I had little interest in the city. Now, I can’t wait for the future opportunity to go back.

Here are some tips I want to share with you about how you can prepare for your first or return trip to London.

Before going to London, I recommend a refresher lesson on British history. A quick read focused on the sequence of reigning Kings and Queens, poets, writers, scientists, and musicians will help you to appreciate the information and artifacts so much more.

You will not be alone if you walk around with a guide book stuffed in a backpack or purse. I saw numerous tourists standing on sidewalks consulting pages of text. I used a combination of two resources while in London. London: The Rough Guide gave me comprehensive descriptions of each London community, the attractions, and maps. Lonely Planet’s pocket guide Britain Work, Live and Travel is a more manageable sized tour book if you want to travel light. I supplemented all of this information with a website www.visitlondon.com . The advantage of the Visit London website is that it provides you with a link to the transportation system. By entering your starting location, desired destination, preferred date and approximate time of travel, the system offers an itinitery of trains, subways, and buses that will get you where you want to go.

Trains, the Underground (subways), and buses – you will need them all to see London. The mass transportation system is the pulse of London. On the trains and subways, you’ll see businessmen reading the daily newspaper, students in uniform for private schools, businesswomen text messaging or making notes for the day’s meetings at the office. Some Londoners can balance a coffee without spilling it; some seem to wake up just in time to exit at their station stop. They don’t mind the explosive sound of an opposite bound train zooming past. They have a stride that steps confidently from platform to car over the deep gap between them. They stand close to one another butt-to-butt, shoulder-to-shoulder, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. Follow the example of the Londoners and you’ll fit right in with the rhythm of using local modes of transportation.

Although I had printed in advance several transportation itiniteries from Visit London, I still confirmed routes with persons staffing the information booths at the ticketing stations. They were able to advise me of which Railcard to purchase. For example, for me, the best deal from my hotel at the Gatwick Airport was a ticket on the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station, a train running non-stop every 15-minutes. It was the fasted way to central London and departs from the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport. When I needed to travel beyond the main attraction center of London to the Docklands, I was advised to by a multi-zone Railcard for the week. This required a passport size photo and presentation of a valid form of photo ID (driver’s license or passport). Curtained passport photo booths are readily available in the airport and transportation centers. Credit cards are accepted for the Railcard; you need £3 for the coin operated photo booth.

Take an umbrella! Although the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported on November 9^th that “north-westerlies make November twice as bright”, London has recorded only 75 hours of sunshine each November for the last decade. At the turn of the century, November offered London only 30 hours of sunshine. I enjoyed a few of those 75 hours during my stay. Sometimes, the drizzle hardly necessitated my pulling the collapsible Dollar Store umbrella from my Coach Shopper bag. Then, there were several days when the rain driven by gale force winds drenched me even with my red umbrella fully open.

My last comment is do not over plan your stay. With so much to see and do, you need to try to allow some time in your day for making impulsive decisions. I came across The Household Calvary Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Arts on separate occasions while wandering in London. Both proved to be interesting, unplanned stops. Also, do not rush through places like Westminster Abbey or the Tower of London. They deserve your time. After all, you’ve traveled a long way to see these places. Vacation is time to slow down. It’s the quality of the visit not the quantity of places. Then, perhaps you’ll be like me – looking forward to another time to return to London.