Battle of Britain and Bartle Frere and dinner

We walked along Embankment and saw the Battle of Britain Memorial.  These memorials are getting more artistic.

and those famous words.....

Also along the Victoria Gardens are statues to various people.  This one stood out - I knew Mt Bartle Frere was Queensland's highest peak, but I didn't know he was a person!  Here is his statue.  he was administrator of Cape Colony in South Africa - not sure whether he ever came to Queensland

And if they ever make a statue of you, make sure they put some anti-bird mechanism on the top.  I guess that is why the monarchs are sculpted with crowns on them.

We had dinner with Anne - Italian for main course and French for coffee and dessert.  Kin Mun braved the hot chocolate! 

Cambridge

Today we went to Cambridge - an easy train ride.  I was quite surprised at just how much of a tourist icon it is.  And it is quite different to Oxford - grander buildings, larger town centre.  Kin Mun was always interested in Cambridge, as it was famous for its scientific research, whereas I have always thought first of Oxford, the city of dreaming spires.

But some pics.

 General street scene.

The old Fitzwilliam College, where Lee Kwan Yew went. So the seeds of modern Singapore were sown here. 

St John's College

Stone bridge over the river - part of St John's.

The very old Trinity College with its statue of Henry VIII. But it was not open to the public.

And the iconic Kings College Chapel and its grounds.  Just magnificent.

 

Quirky Cambridge

You can tell what would upset the peace and quiet of Clare.

Now these are REAL punters - not just voters! 

 Even Cambridge is on the lookout for students.

I had to look twice at this one - and read the fine print.

Bits & Pieces - coffee and signs.

These coffee carts are for you Pete and Mary - the Cambridge equivalent of Coffeewheels.  This one is built on a three wheeler - motor cycle with wider rear axle?

This one has a Mazzer grinder and the coffee machine is English made.  He told us that it can also run on butane.  It is pedal power. Wouldn't work where you are.

I have always chuckled at Chinese brands translated into English - for example Flying Horse and Wheel cotton.  But I have begun to notice that the English are pretty good at it - in English. Spotted these today.

Dinner with Anne

We followed Anne's recommendation and tried Tayyabs Restaurant at Whitechapel.  It was good  food, with equally good Indian kulfi.  Then we re-visited Aldgate Coffee House which was just around the corner. A lovely evening.

Highgate Hill Cemetery

The weather the last few days has been lovely English summer weather - warm and no rain.  So it was a good day to go to Highgate Hill Cemetery in northern London.  Karl Marx was the star attraction.

Comrade!

Originally thery were here

but in 1956 a new grave and memorial were organised by the Marx Memorial Fund and put in a more prominent location.  Other ideological soul mates were also buried nearby.

And also the writer George Eliot, who was really a lady but used a man's name to boost sales - in the Victorian era.

And not hard to guess this fellow's occupation.

Apparently artist Sidney Nolan was also buried nearby, but we just couldn't find his grave.

And it is a living cemetery, if there can be such a thing.  Burials still occur - we saw graves from 2015 and 2016.

Bits and pieces - a 3d mirror and Dartmouth

A 3-d mirror - couldn't resist taking a photo.  Another kind of selfie.   In the Ladies of tonight's restaurant.

And for those of us from Longreach old enough to remember....

Coffee - navigating the differences

Different countries have different coffee cultures.  We have puzzled over what is here, finding it tasteless, weak and without aroma.  Anne gave us details of an Aussie company in London, but we have been up in Leicester.

It was an Italian coffeehouse owner in Leicester who explained it all  to us.  We asked him for a cappuccino European style.  The result was much better, but then he told us that in Italy, a cappuccino isn't considered a proper coffee!

But he said that in Italy, people drink espressos (for the caffeine) - a short black.  They drink at the bar, without sitting down.  The English see a cup of coffee as a time to socialise, so they want a bigger drink.  So they take a single shot and dilute it (with milk or water) to make it last longer. We asked if the beans were stale - no he said, they use first rate beans, but serve it differently.  

So we had breakfast there - but that was also European style - brioche!  So what are we to do - English breakfast comes with English coffee, European coffee comes with European breakfast!

Anyhow, today, back in London, we hit paydirt. 

We went into the coffee shop and I did my usual thing of asking to see the cup they used for cappuccino, ready to ask for less milk please.  But it was the smaller Aussie size!  Our coffee came - just like Australia!  The joy on KM's face!  I talked to the ladies there - the shop was owned by a man from Bangladesh, and they were trained specially on how to make coffee.

So there you go.  It is just opposite Aldgate station, so we may be able to go back.

Wednesday - election results, Whitechapel and food

We have been getting up and checking the Aus election count each morning.  As of today, it seems that Malcolm is inching towards something but not quite sure what. Wonder if there will be an answer by the time we get home next week.  The UK isn't having much luck picking its next leader either.  The Poles living in the UK are wondering if they should go back to Poland, one reason being the dropping pound.  For us, the exchange rate has been good news.

Anyhow, today we went on a walking tour of Whitechapel - billed as the Jewish tour, but it was about more than that.  We revisited the Synagogue where I had been with Beo Lan last year on our "7 churches and a synagogue" tour.
KM in the synagogue.

 The walking tour

Many narrow streets in Whitechapel 

And housing for Hugenots then became council housing.

Then we had lunch at Brick Lane - famous for its Indian food.  I have never had much luck at Brick Lane, except the time Sue and Steve took us, as they knew where to go.  There are just so many restaurants, a bit hit and miss, and this time we missed.  But we still ate it and we weren't hungry at the end of it.  No pic - wasn't worth it.

But later on we did see this

and got excited, thinking it was Singapore food.  But inside was the usual English (and delicious) cakes and slices, no noodles.  Perhaps it was a Singaporean behind the coffee machine.

Ouch! Privatised rail services....

Today we got our first brush with the sting of privatised rail.  Mark had warned us long ago to buy tickets online, but we had done so well the last few days just rolling up and buying tickets, that we thought going to London would be the same.

At the ticket counter, the price was a shock - THREE times the fare that we paid to get up to Leicester.  But we were in a weak bargaining position, so had to cop it.  Lesson learned.

Otherwise all went well today.  Back to London, checked into our apartment, went looking for lunch, did some shopping, had a rest (getting old).  Then caught a train to Chinatown where we found a lovely Vietnamese restaurant and walked back to our apartment.  But our Aus pho is much cheaper, although this was a more subtle flavour.

Sorry, no pics today.  Still reeling from the privatisation monster.