Monday, February 26, 2007

Victoria Memorial


You know I'm gonna have to take this bit by bit because I have lots of pics to arrange into albums. In the meantime, I'll give you tastes of my weekend in London before arriving here in Hannover last evening.


From Gatwick Airport on Friday, I rode the train to Victoria Station and walked from there with my suitcase to our hotel in the St. James area. I just happened to walk by Buckingham Palace, where this Victoria Memorial sits out front! So, of course, I had my camera in hand and snapped away. All of this we had seen in 2002, but not with my digital camera.


I wanted to keep zooming in on Queen Victoria herself who has sat there since 1911, gazing out on the world as it gazes back at her. I was quite surprised to see her nose job (below) when I later transferred my pics!



On the pinnacle of the memorial, high above Queen Victoria, stands the winged Victory, so graceful in her glory. Wiki says the whole sculpture has a nautical theme, so I'm guessing she feels quite victorious over battles at sea.



How's this for starting out the London weekend! Before I get to our Saturday's excursion (last post), I'll next take you to St. Paul's Cathedral, which we did NOT see last trip. It was my main goal for Friday while Donica was in business meetings and was well worth the time and effort.

And BTW, don't be surprised if my next post is on New Blogger! I think it'll make me switch after this post, so wish me luck. I may even change my template!

17 comments:

  1. Oh, how exciting. That's interesting about her nose job. I wouldn't them doing mine! They didn't do the best job matching colors. :) So was your hotel close by? Good-luck with blogger. I think they've worked out the kinks now. Can't wait to see if you change anything! It really is easy to rearrange elements on the page with the new one.

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  2. LOL - I can't get over the nose job pic. Actually like you've said, the internet has been wacko for me lately... pics not loading is a big one...

    If you switch to a new template, don't foget to save your links!

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  3. Ruth: Yes, the hotel was about 10-15 minutes' walk away. A nice jaunt through a great part of town! Donica had told me to take the subway once I got to Victoria station, but when I looked at the map and saw the route, I said "No way!" I knew I would walk.

    ET: Hmmm. I hate when things flub up, especially during MR. Sigh. Thanks for the tip about the links!!!

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  4. That was a great start to the London weekend. Can't wait to see and read the rest. :)

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  5. Then maybe you were in the same general neighborhood where I stayed in 2005, not too far from Charing Cross Rd.

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  6. CS: I thought so! I certainly felt I got my money's worth. :)

    Ruth: YES! In fact, we met at the thistle monument at the Charing Cross Thistle Hotel just a couple blocks from our hotel. And both are near Trafalgar Square! I walked past all of this on my way to St. Paul's Cathedral.

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  7. That nose job is hilarious. :) I look forward to reading about more of your adventures thru London.
    The new blogger isn't as bad as I had feared. It took a couple of days to adjust but now it feels totally normal.

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  8. Great pictures, and you even captured a bit of blue sky!! So it doesnt rail all the time in London, after all!

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  9. Mad: It was a great weekend and I'll be delighted to share it all. Thanks for the encouragement about New Blogger. I plan to do it this week.

    Ex-S: HA. No, it apparently doesn't rain all the time but off and on throughout each day. :) On Saturday's excursion, the only time it DID rain at photo time was when we were at Stonehenge for 30 minutes! Outside! I had to take all my pics from under my coat, held up over my head.

    Dennis: You're a sweetheart! Always there, always supportive, always loving. Thanks!

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  10. Sounds like you had a great time, except for rain at Stonehenge. (I think it rained when we were there too, many years ago.) I am looking forward to reading all about your trip.

    Oh, and I was worried about the switch to New Blogger, but it finally forced me. It wasn't as bad as I thought. (I didn't upgrade to the new templates though.)

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  11. Hi, so you are the new pond express, to and from all the time:)
    The nose -he-he-he unbelieveable.I think the Queen are afraid of pollution:))

    New blogger - that will be piece of cake for you.

    Here it's still snowing. Around 0 C.
    Miss the Sunshine.

    :)

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  12. Karen: Little by little, on both blogs, you'll get the gist, I'm sure. You're so sweet! After I make these replies, I'm gonna try the switcheroo!

    Tor: Yup. The Pond Express. I like that. :) Okay, here I go. Wish me luck.

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  13. I DID IT. I SWITCHED TO NEW BLOGGER!!! :)

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  14. Hi Ginnie,
    I thought I'd drop by to get a quick (sneak) preview of your UK pics

    It's hardly stopped raining here since January, so I'm delighted to hear you had some dry weather and managed to take some super pictures.

    Queen Vic certainly doesn't look too amused by her nose job, but when they fix her face (one day) maybe it won't be so obvious.

    Look forward to seeing more of your pictures. :)

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  15. Ellie: What a sweetheart!! And a nice surprise to see you here. The thing that's true here on Blogger as opposed to SC is that I can show several pics in one post, which is nice. I'm still working on my albums!! Haven't even gotten to Saturday's excursion to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath! But you already know how long that all takes. Thanks for stopping by.

    Tim: Thank you kindly, sir! :)

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