Erik Maldre

Elmhurst Library is the new jewel in beautiful uptown Elmhurst, IL. I’m not sure what kind of stone work is on the exterior, but it’s a great look. The architects were Lohan Caprile Goettsch.

My wife and I loved The Albert pub and restaurant. It is a classic London pub. If there’s just one pub you visit in London, then go to The Albert. Classic stuff.

The whole pub is ornate and rich in its deep, dark carved wood and old glass light fixtures. This pub has aged well over its many, many years. It opened its doors in the mid 1800s. It has been a popular stomping grounds for Parliament members. The Albert is about 3 blocks from the House of Parliament.

Their ale list includes: Young’s, London Pride, Bombardier, Courage Director’s. I tried all four and my fav was Courage Director’s.

We ate two meals there. For one meal, we ate in the pub in their non-smoking room. It’s a quaint room filled with the same charm as the rest of the pub. I decided to have the classic English meal there: fish and chips. Good stuff. I get sick if I eat too much fried food, but I didn’t get sick from this. It’s not too heavy.

We also ate at the restaurant upstairs. Go there! It was our last meal in London and it was great. Cheap price too. Lots of good food. They had Yorkshire Pudding. Funny thing. Very few places in London serve Yourkshire Pudding. It was our best meal in London. We noticed their restaurant on our first day in London and avoided it cuz it looked kinda expensive. We were wrong. I want to say our meal was 8 pounds per person including drinks. I love the Albert.

The Lyceum Theatre was a nice setting to see the Lion King. Top notch performance. The opening act was mind-blowing. The rest of the show was strong and excellent performances were given by all. It was good to see that actors didn’t try to cover their English accents with American accents.

You can purchase a print of this photo and other London photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/lyceum_theatre/7068.html

The lines for the London Eye are long, very long. But don’t let that deceive you. The line is always moving. It’s incredible. We had to wait in line for only 20 minutes. We were there in the middle of a non-foggy Saturday, so the crowds were out.

Each pod on the Eye holds about 15 people comfortably. There’s a bench in the middle. There were probably only 4 people in our pod that spoke English including my wife and I.

We saved the London Eye for our last day which was smart. We were able to see many of the places we visited earlier in the week. So we had landmarks we could relate to. “Look! There’s Buckingham Palace!” “Look! There’s Westminster”.

You can purchase a print of this photo and other other London photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/london_eye/7224.html

I didn’t realize that Westminister Abbey had so many famous English people buried there. It was intense. There’s fancy coffins everywhere. Statues everywhere. The place is jam-packed with tourists, dead people, and statues. What an odd group of three.

We got there right when it opened and it was still busy. At least we didn’t have to wait in line to buy our tickets. That’s the big trick to sightseeing London. Get to the major tourist attractions when they open. Most places open around 9am. If you go to Westminster Abbey at noon you will be waiting in line for about an hour.

You can purchase a print of this photo and other London photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/westminster_abbey/2_6968.html

This was the second stop on our day trip (1: Windsor Castle 2:Salisbury Cathedral 3:Stonehenge). Salisbury Cathedral is about 20 minutes away from Stonehenge via bus.
It is a true Gothic cathedral. Many churches throughout Europe were built over long stretches of time, thus encompassing different styles and influences. Salisbury was built between 1220 and 1258 besides the tower and spire. The spire is the second tallest in Europe at 404 feet.

Its true Gothic architecture and its spire aren’t the only attractions. Salisbury Cathedral houses the world’s oldest working clock from circa 1386. The Chapter House is a small section of the cathedral set off to the side around the corner. What makes the unassuming Chapter House so extraordinary is that it houses one of the four original copies of the Magna Carta! I had about 1 minute to look at it. We had little time in Salisbury. I was shocked to see how small the Magna Carta. The handwriting was so small.

Salisbury Cathedral boasts the largest cloisters in England. What a beautiful walkway.To the right of the closisters is a pleasant courtyard. It would have been nice just sit, relax, and enjoy the courtyard. However, our tour bus was departing soon.

You can purchase this image of the Salisbury Cathedral and other Salisbury photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/salisbury_cathedral/7101.html

Notting Hill is a mixed bag. We found a great shop that was selling used Rugby balls and used cricket balls for a decent price so we got one of each.

But the Portobello Market isn’t anything spectacular. Alot of junk. One dude was selling shoes. He had a sign saying “5 pounds per shoe, Find the matching shoe and get it half off”. I wish got a photo of that.

Then there was one vendor selling just buttons. These buttons were not cheap 3 pounds for 6 buttons? With conversion (2:1) that comes to $1 per button.

There’s alot of vendors selling flowers and fruit.

Portobello Market is much better for people watching than actually buying stuff.

Don’t feel like it’s necessary to go to the Portobello Market if you’re visiting London.

You can buy this Notting Hill photo and other London photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/notting_hill/7166.html

The tube is a great way to get around London. If you’re there for a week, make sure you buy a weekly pass. You get unlimited rides on the underground and buses. I was there in March 2005 and the week pass was about 30 pounds. what a bargain.

The underground gets you everywhere you need to go. Trains come by about ever 10 minutes, so you’re never waiting long. And the stations are located all throughout London so it’s easy hop around on the tube.

The whole week we were in London netted in countless tube rides, just one bus ride and just one taxi ride. We took the taxi because we were running late for a play and needed to travel about 5 blocks in 5 minutes. We took the bus once for the experience, but we got on the wrong bus and we wound up way north. The Tube is so much easier to understand.

Mind the Gap!

You can purchase this image and other London photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/tube/7171.html

Windsor Castle is quite large, but still charming. The town of Windsor is equally charming.

There are a fair number of rooms and buildings open to visitors at Windsor Castle. Though a large percentage are off limits. After all, this is the preferred living quarters for the Queen. So it’s nice to see a living castle.

They don’t let you take photos inside which is a bummer.

You can purchase this photo of Windsor Castle and other Windsor Castle photos at:
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/windsor_castle/1_7098.html

St. Paul’s Cathedral is beautiful. It’s massive. It’s beautiful and massive. Then there’s the staircase leading to the Whispering Gallery, Stone Gallery, and Golden Gallery. This part of St. Paul’s interprets beauty and mass in different ways.

It’s an honest display of utility through the centuries. Cold stone walls combined with stuctural 2×4 construction house gritty iron staircases lit by 20th century flourescent lights. All serve their function. That is to elevate travelers high above London.

Sure you can let a plastic pod at London Eye whisk you high above London without a single step required on your part. However, what the journey up St. Paul’s dome does is entitle the participant to experience just how far they are traveling by forcing them to circle round and round a twirling iron staircase (even better when it’s raining and the steps are wet like the day we were there), and climb up winding stone steps with mysterious doors along the way.

Most doors are locked. Almost all doors are closed. Rarely will you see an open door. I did. I thought it was the door to the Whispering Gallery. My wife and I were the first ones to walk up to the Whispering Gallery that day. (I was about 30 steps ahead of her). When I walked through the doorway, I saw an organ keyboard command central thing. Cool. And I walked a little further and saw some sort of board room setting complete with a simple and long table surrounded by old, rickety chairs. It was spellbinding. Do I belong here? I quickly turned around and returned to the staircase.

This photograph was taken from the veranda at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Dig that space between the light fixture and St. Paul’s dome.

You can buy a copy of this photo (and more St. Paul’s photos):
http://unlikelymoose.com/art/photograph/london/st_pauls_cathedral/01_6902.html