Guildhall

Last Thursday Lisa and I toured the City of London's historic Guildhall. These tours are only available on the days of the City's Court of Common Council meetings which are held about nine times a year. We had to book over a month in advance!

The City of London (the square mile at the heart of the city, not the Greater London area) has been governed from this spot for more than 800 years. The present Guildhall was built between 1411 and 1430. Grammatical note: it is not referred as "the Guildhall" only "Guildhall."

The Great Hall is the site of the Court of Common Council meetings, state banquets, and the annual installation of The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of London. The Lord Mayor of London acts as a spokesperson for local authority rather than as a political figure. 

The west gallery of the Great Hall is guarded at both corners by the statues of Gog and Magog, giants who represent the conflict between ancient Britons and Trojan invaders. Legend has it that the two giants were defeated by Brutus and chained to the gates of his palace on the site of Guildhall. You can see one of these giants in the the photo below. 

Guildhall was not destroyed during the Great Fire of 1666, but it did need some repairs to the roof. Some of the statues, windows, and galleries were damaged during a Luftwaffe fire-raid in 1940. 

Immediately beneath Guildhall lies the oldest medieval crypt in London. The western crypt was thought to date from the 13th century and the eastern crypt dates from the 15th century. 

The Old Library is a gothic hall designed by Sir Horace Hones, who designed London's famous Tower Bridge. 

This statue of Margaret Thatcher used to be in the Guildhall Art Gallery (open to the public every day, unlike Guildhall) but was moved to this more secure location after a disgruntled man came in and broke off the head. They were able to restore the statue but you can still see a faint seam on the neck. 

Our tour guide was really knowledgeable and animated. She even took us to a former church sight nearby. The church of St Mary Aldermanbury was destroyed in the Great Fire and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. After it was destroyed again in World War II the remains were moved to Missouri and restored as a memorial to Winston Churchill. Fascinating!

I really enjoyed the tour of Guildhall. It is rare to find such a well preserved building from the 15th Century in this part of the city. 

Feast of St George

Last Saturday was the celebration of the Feast of St George in Trafalgar Square so I met up with my friends Cierra and Lisa for the festivities. The event was free and had music, activities, and loads of food stands. If you look to the left of Nelson's column in the photo below you can see Elizabeth Tower which holds Big Ben. 

St George's Day is officially April 23rd, the date traditionally accepted as St George's death in 303 AD. St George is the patron saint of England and his cross forms the national flag of England which has been used since the Crusades. 

Saint George was a soldier and officer in the Roman army who was killed by Emperor Diocletian for not abandoning Christianity. 

They had this giant version of the deck chairs that you can rent in the summer in the parks. Here we are with our flags of England featuring the cross of St George.

St George is typically featured on a horse slaying a dragon. The dragon represents the enemies of Christianity. The Feast of St George had a funny logo with him holding a giant fork instead of his sword. 

For the feasting part, we had these really delicious chips (fries) and Cierra and I split this "fishdog" which was basically a fish stick on a hot dog bun with minted mushy peas underneath. 

For dessert we had doughnuts with salted caramel sauce. The doughnuts were more like churros but were still pretty good. The food was overpriced since it was a special event but it was still tasty. 

We also heard some great live music including the Beatles cover band from the musical Let It Be on the West End. The weather was beautiful (not raining) and we all had a great time at the feast.

Hindu Temple

My friend, Jess, invited me to come with her to tour the Hindu temple in London. I had never heard of this place before so I was really excited to see it. The Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is often referred to as the "Neasden Temple" since it is located in Neasden (right by the IKEA, actually). 

As a large traditional stone mandir, this building needed to conform to ancient architectural texts and Britain's modern building code. Mass amounts of time were put in to figuring out which materials would stand up to Britain's weather and intricate carvings. 

The carved figures on the front porch serve as both ornate decoration and structural support. This building uses no structural steel inside or out. 

The stones and wood were carved by artists in India then built in London. The columns, domes, and ceilings are designed with celestial beings, floral and geometric patterns, and stone latticework.  

The Neasden temple was selected as one of the seven wonders of London by Time Out London alongside St Pancras (you know it as Kings Cross Station in Harry Potter), the Natural History Museum, and Old Royal Naval College. 

As we toured the inside the mandir, one of the worshippers approached us and told us about the different figures in the carvings. He told us about the living presence of the Deities in what we thought were statues. The sacred images are given rest times as they are seen as living and conscious. I was really glad that he gave us an introduction to some of the beliefs and answered our initial questions.

Jess takes amazing photos and took this cute photo of us outside the mandir. I really enjoyed going to this amazing sight in London. This city will never cease to impress me

PopUps and More

I may have mentioned before that London has some amazing food. Here is a compilation of some amazing food I've had in the last few weeks. 

Lisa and Cierra recommended the cronuts from Dum Dum Donutterie at the Boxpark Pop Up Mall in Shoreditch. 

They had several different kinds of cronuts (a cross between a croissant and a doughnut) including strawberries and cream, zebra, chocolate and hazelnut, cocounut, almond and pistachio, and apple cinnamon. 

I tried the Peter Andre's Yum Yum Dum Dum which was filled with Dulce de Leche creme. I have no idea why it is named after Peter Andre, a singer and reality tv star well known in the UK, but it was amazing! I also got the apple cinnamon cronut for Warren to try, but we agreed the Peter Andre was far superior. 

One food item I really miss is bagels. The ones you find in the grocery store here just aren't the same as ones from Einstein Brothers or Brueggers back home. When I heard about the famous "beigel" place in Brick Lane, I knew it would be right up my alley. 

I love any kind of place that really only sells one thing and has a line out the door. Add on the fact that a bagel with cream cheese is only £1 and they are open 24 hours a day, and this place becomes magical. 

I will say that Beigel Bake is a poor substitute for bagels from the US but it will definitely get me by for the next year or so. It tasted more like a roll and cream cheese isn't quite the same here. But this will do. 

Easter weekend there was a fried food pop up. They were frying over 100 items (except butter, which is a staple at American state fairs) including: cheese, snickers, doughnuts, cakes, muffins, and an entire leg of lamb on Easter Sunday. 

Lisa and I tried the fried cheese and the Cadbury creme egg. The cheese was amazing because you really can't go wrong with frying cheese. The Cadbury creme egg really should have been amazing but they used a "scream" egg which meant it was from Halloween. It definitely tasted old and the chocolate didn't melt right. 

Inside the food hall at Selfridges there are some amazing food places. I read about their salt beef sandwiches and ventured out to try one with my friend Suzette. We tried it with the rosemary focaccia bread and American mustard (English mustard is a bit strong for us). It was delicious! But it was so salty our tongues hurt afterwards. 

Lucky for us there is a St John's Bakery just a few steps away and we were able to get custard doughnuts to balance out all the salt. The custard filling in these doughnuts is some of the best custard I've ever had. The doughnut part is okay on its own but it really just acts as a vessel for more custard. 

It isn't often that I go to a proper restaurant since there is so much amazing street food in London. But a few weeks ago Warren and I went to Honest Burger in Notting Hill. 

There are loads of great burger places in London and Honest Burger did not disappoint. The burgers and rosemary fries  were delicious. I'd put Honest Burger above Patty & Bun but below Meat Market and Bleeker Street in the ranking of my favourite burgers in London. 

And since Notting Hill is just a short walk away I'm sure we will be back again. 

Shrewsbury and Birmingham

A few weekends ago Warren and I headed to Shrewsbury, an adorable little Tudor town. It has a largely unaltered medieval street plan and well preserved buildings with timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. The weather was beautiful, and the town was very lively. There were loads of locals out doing their shopping, buskers performing, and tourists checking out the sights. 

I had four churches on my list to see in Shrewsbury. The first and most impressive one was St Mary's Church. It dates from Saxon times and is the only complete Medieval church in Shrewsbury. 

The ceiling is really impressive. It was carved in the 15th century and is adorned with shields, animals, and angels.

St Mary's Church is also known for its stained glass. The glass was not originally installed in St Mary's Church, but rather it is a collection from throughout Europe and was brought here during the 18th and 19th centuries. 

It features Old Testament kings and prophets as well as scenes from the life of St Bernard (such as him ridding flies from an abbey, riding a mule, and curing the sick). 

Everything in this church was absolutely breathtaking, from the Victorian tiled floor, the beautiful stonework, the ceiling, and even the church pews. 

The next church on our list was Shrewsbury Abbey. This site has been a place of worship since the Anglo-Saxon times. The current Abbey was built in 1083 on the site of an existing Saxon church. 

There were several monuments and stained glass windows featuring St Winefride, a seventh century Welsh martyr. Winefride had taken a vow of celibacy but was chased by a suitor after turning him down. He was so upset at the rejection that he chased her and cut off her head. 

A well of pure water sprang from the earth where her head landed and the suitor was swallowed by the earth. Winefride's uncle replaced her head on her body and she lived. She died fifteen years later and her remains were brought to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1137.

Shrewsbury Cathedral was started in 1853 (so pretty recent compared to the first two churches) by the Earl of Shrewsbury. Sadly, the Earl died three months before the building was finished. 

Most of the stained glass was done by a Shrewsbury artist between World War I and II. They depict many martyrs of the English Reformation and are considered among her best work. 

The cathedral is on top of a hill in Shrewsbury but is tucked away by the school's football fields. 

On our way to the fourth church we walked across the Welsh Bridge that crosses the river Severn. The Welsh border is only 9 miles to the west of Shrewsbury.

St Chad's was the last church we saw on our trip to Shrewsbury. There are several more churches that I would have enjoyed but Warren can only handle so many churches in one day. 

St Chad's was built in the 18th century and has a unique circular nave. Charles Darwin was baptised in St Chad's in 1809 and attended the church as a young boy. 

The 1984 version of The Christmas Carol was filmed in Shrewsbury and a headstone for Ebenezer Scrooge is still in the cemetery. The movie production used an actual period headstone with a worn off inscription and added Ebenezer's name to it. So it is an authentic gravestone, not a movie prop. 

St Chad's is a really interesting church in a town full of really interesting churches. 

The library was also very unique. Here it is with the statue of Charles Darwin in front. 

After our time in Shrewsbury we spent a few hours in Birmingham (it was on our way home). Birmingham is England's second largest city. 

When traveling throughout England it is very common to come across a statue of Queen Victoria, the longest ruling British monarch. 

Birmingham was badly bombed during World War II's "Birmingham Blitz". The city was extensively redeveloped during the 1950s and 1960s. The photo below is the library of Birmingham and shows off the modern architecture. 

This statue really stuck out (for obvious reasons) and reminded me of something you might see in the US with the signers of the Declaration of Independence. But instead it is a statue of Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and William Murdoch who are most famous for improving and developing the steam engine. 

I wish we had spent more time in Birmingham and I hope that we will get to go back. If not to explore more of the town than to hear more of the Brummie accent, which is considered the least attractive accent in the British Isles (think Ozzy Osbourne).