beelikej: (Emma)
[personal profile] beelikej
Been busy with work and I spent the last two weekends doing absolutely nothing, which was bliss. It was great to return to the office after working from home since November; I really missed the cycling to and from work, but it took some getting used to again, rushing in the morning to get out of the house on time!

Now that I found my weekly rhythm again, I continued sorting my photo-album from October 2018. So here's Day 2 of my trip to London back then, where I continue my version of the Secret Walk of London and go to a musical:) In case you missed it, here is part 1. I noticed an issue with the photos there; apparently I downsized them with the wrong quality setting in Affinity Photo. I'm still learning the specifics of that program, I think I got it right for this new picspam. If you see anything wonky, let me know! Without further ado, let's start day 2:

Tuesday October 23, 2018
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Perk of a two-night stay: breakfast in the fancy dining room of the hotel.
And since I had all day today, I took a morning bath with a book:)

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Bubbly and pink!

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Around noon I take the tube to Embankment and take the elevator to the Jubilee walking Bridge.

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Enjoying the view over the Thames River.

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Walking along the rivier, there are these old poems to read.

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Zoomed in for a closer look at this statue (Across from The London Eye)

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Walking along the River: I checked out options for boattrips for tomorrow.

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Love the green on the buildings; I walk to the park next to the station to have "lunch".

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Cool bird art in the pond.

I missed a hidden spot in yesterday's walk, so I track back my steps to find it.

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I walk through the alley behind The Savoy Theatre which opened in 1881 and was the first public building in the world to be lit throughout by electricity.

There it is: the Sewer Vent Lamp (#7 on Secret London Walk)
This lamp at the corner of Carting Lane was invented in the 1800's and designed to burn methane waste from the sewer system. Now it's a regular lamp.

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... after walking by the Royal Society of Arts and its gorgous facade I'm back where I stopped the Secret Walk yesterday: the stone animals on the walls of the South African High Commission (#6) on the corner of The Strand and Trafalgar Square.

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Look at those glorious stone carved horns and that golden springbok!

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Trafalgar Square (lay-out by Charles Barry, 1840) with Nelson's Column (William Railton, 1843) and statue of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock (William Behnes, 1861)
Four lions were added to the bottom of the column in 1867, here's one of them.

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This little kiosk on the Southeast corner of Trafalgar Square is the smallest police station in Britain (#5 on Secret London Walk). An officer could sit inside and monitor the crowds and protests for signs of trouble, now it is just a janitorial closet.

Check out these pedestrian traffic lights with LGB theme (there was a straight combo too and also a poly version, see further down)

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The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square. Since 1998 it's a space for public art commissions that give commentary on complex and contemporary issues.

This is the Lamassu, a winged deity that guarded the Nergal Gate at the entrance to the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh in ~700 BC until 2015 when it was destroyed by ISIS. This statue is part of the project The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist by Michael Rakowitz, where he recreates over 7,000 archaelogical artefacts looted from the Iraq Museum during the war or destroyed elsewhere.

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This Lamassu is made of empty Iraqi date syrup cans, representative of a once-renowned industry decimated by the Iraq Wars.

The two fountains in Trafalgar Square in London commemorate Admirals Jellycoe and Beatty (designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1935). This is the mermen version. The elaborate sculptures of mermaids, mermen, tritons and dolphins were created by William McMillan and Sir Charles Wheeler.

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The back of each statue; I love that these statues don't have the traditional single tail, but instead have tails as an extension of each thigh.

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And the sideview of the mermaid version.

Plus that poly pedestrian traffic light. In the background you can see the Ugandan High Commission with a Grey Crowned Crane, Ugandan national bird)

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Centre of London (#4 on Secret London Walk)
Mileages from London are measured from this exact location underneath the statue of King Charles I, on the bum-side of the horse;) On this spot originally stood the Queen Eleanor's Cross of which a replica now can be found in front of Charing Cross Station. (A sight I visited in May 2016, check out the picspam here!

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Duke of Wellington's Mounting Steps (#2 on Secret London Walk)
On Waterloo Place there where some roadworks in front of The Athenaeum Club. But fortunately the secret sight was still approachable: This horseblock was erected by desire of the Duke of Wellington, 1830. These stepping stones allowed the Duke to mount and dismount from his horse with ease while visiting the old gentlemen's club!

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Tadaah!

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There are quite a few impressive buildings here; love the elaborate artworks near the roof.

I have walked so much, but I've found almost all of the secret spots, there is one left, which is the one I want to see most of all. So I walk a little more up North to Soho...

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Carnaby Street is decorated with the lyrics from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody <3 and I see some very cool graffiti; go Liz, go go!

I get a little confused in this area, but I eventually find it...

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John Snow's Cholera Pump (#1 on Secret London Walk)
In February 2018 I had taken a course in data visualisation on maps and the first thing anyone who shows an interest in data mapping will learn about is John Snow's Cholera Map.

At the corner of Broadwick Street and Poland Street stands this old pump, with a plaque at the base that describes its significance:
The Soho Cholera Epidemic
Dr. John Snow (1813-1858), a noted anaesthetist and physician, lived near the focus of the 1854 Soho cholera epidemic, which started in August 1854 in Broad Street, as Broadwick Street was then called. In September of that year more than 500 people died in Soho from the disease.
Snow had studied cholera in the 1848-9 epidemic in South London and developed a novel theory that polluted drinking water caused the disease. He recognised that cholera cases were clustered around the water pump located here and showed it was the cause of the epidemic.
His theory initially met with some disbelief but he convinced the parish council to remove the pump's handle on 8th September 1854, to prevent its further use.


The replica of the original waterpump stands in its original spot, in front of what is now John Snow Public House.

In the 1850s cholera was believed to be spread by miasma in the air, germs were not yet understood and the sudden and serious outbreak of cholera in London's Soho was a mystery. So Snow did something data journalists often do now: he mapped the cases... And on his map it became apparent that the cases were clustered around the pump in Broad (now Broadwick) street.

Original map made by John Snow in 1854 in ArcGIS. Cholera cases are highlighted in black, showing the clusters of cholera cases (indicated by stacked rectangles) in the London epidemic of 1854. The map marks an important part of the development of epidemiology as a field, and of disease mapping as a whole.

*steps away from lectern* I truely had a moment here. It's awesome they put up a replica of the pump where there only was a remembrance stone before.

Time for food. My favorite sweet spot had moved to nearby Covent Garden, so that's where I go next (as if I hadn't done enough walking already;)

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Choccywoccydoodah is now housed in a dark and small basement. I enjoy the cake, but the atmosphere is not as comfy as it used to be.

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The shop still has amazing chocolate works to admire though:)

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I do a bit of window shopping at Forbidden Planet *chinhands*

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I also drool at the new Fantasy shop The Noble Collection at Seven Dials, before I go to the Gielgud Theatre for Patti LuPone!

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Company is a Stephen Sondheim musical. This edition featured Rosalie Craig as Bobbie, Patti LuPone as Joanne and Mel Giedroyc as Sarah. I had gotten a ticket because of Patti with bonus Mel and didn't know anything about the story. It was a new version where the main character is a woman instead of a man which was how it was originally written. For me it totally worked as Bobbie is a 35 year old single woman who sees all her friends get settled in marriage, which was quite relatable :-p

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The Gielgud theatre is very pretty.
My loot of today! I found a little Dean to go with my little Sam \o/

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I end the day as I started it: with a bath and a book!

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Green bubbles this time, haha :-D

Goodnight.


To be continued with Day 3 soon!

J.

X-posted to https://beelikej.livejournal.com/572911.html

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