A London good bye dinner. We decided to treat ourselves to a Turkish dinner a day before we leave London and spend the next day packing and resting. I do not think I have walked this much in India in the past two years as I have done in London. So, London, good bye it is.
Stonehenge is the ultimate historical mystery that has baffled many and till today we are not sure about the details of this and many theories propound. Built on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, this is the largest human made circle of erected stones. This consists of thirty stones in an outer circle in a horse shoe shape and the stones are called Sarsens. Inside is an inner circle and then an outer circle called blue sarsens. The lightest stones weigh 3600 kg. and the heaviest one weigh 22 tons which is equalent to the weight of four African Elephants. These stones were brought from 32 km.and 225 km.from Wales and this is a mystery as to how they were brought and for what purpose. Some say they were dragged through wooden made sledges and other say through wooden rafts flown across the river.The next mystery is that after being brought here, how were they made to stand. It is believed that a deep hole was dug and using wedges and ropes these stones were then made to stand erect. The very imagination of this boggles one's mind and this looks beyond one's imagination and one is no longer sure. However, what is known that all this was built in about 1000 years in several stages. Most probably all this began about 5000 years back as a simple earth work enclosure where pre historic people buried their cremated dead. The stone circle as per carbon dating is said to have begun around 2500 years in the late Neolithic period. Some theories propound that this was for measuring time with the shadows falling on earth, some say this was a healing place where early period people came for healing, to some this is a ritualistic place and others think it is a burial place. What ever the reason, it continues raise the awe factor and attract a large number of people. Even today on Summer Solstice, 21st June where the sun is at the highest point, 15,000 to 20,000 people gather at this site to observe the sunrise, which is said to be really beautiful. The first rays of sun fall on the Heel Stone a single stone that stands outside the main circle of rocks. However, I had visited this site earlier in 2005 or 2006, when I was in Bristol and had rented a room with a British Lady. Her son and his friend had come down from London and we had driven to this place. It was empty, there were no tickets and I am sure, I have a face book post some where or at least pictures, where we went inside, touched the stones and took pictures standing next to these stones. My only memory is that there was a lot of cow dung around and we had to be very careful where we were stepping but we went around taking a number of pictures standing near each stone and looking like pygmies. We were the only four people in the place. I have a very vivid memory of this visit for on our way back they decided they wanted to eat Indian cuisine for they loved Indian food and were looking for an Indian restaurant. I had then suggested to them that if they help, I would cook a meal which would be better than the restaurant for here ever Indian restaurant (be it of a Pakistani, Ceylonese or Bangla desi, they all called it Indian and add a lot of sugar in dishes). They very haapily drove me to the market, we shopped and there was so much excitement in learning to cook an Indian meal. To me what was needed was a lot of onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and each dish was done in a similar fashion. The two boys had helped in cutting, peeling, crushing and we did indeed have a wonderful Indian vegetarian meal with Lassi added minus Haldi, which I could not find in the market. Every one had enjoyed the meal very much and the son had also noted down some Indian recipes and told me he would cook them back home. However, today, when we visited this site in 2019,there were thousands of tourists, we had to buy tickets, buses took us to the spot and the whole area is cardoned off and we cannot go near the stones. May be this is required to protect this cultural heritage for posterity. But this site always raises a lot of curiosity and one wonders as to how the earlier humans managed to drag these stones to this distance and place them erect.
The underground Tube trains will always remain a lasting memory of London and the reason why this is my most preferred travel destination in the world. Travel in and around London is so easy due to the Trains. We have a similar system in Paris but not knowing French and the accent was do different that I could not really get to know this or feel completely at ease during my travel in Paris. Even in the US the public transport is very bad and one has to depend on children to take you around especially in the outskirts. In London, one has total independence to travel and I am amazed at this network of trains. Like many other firsts, this is the first railway network laid down in the world. The first proposal for this was laid in 1830 but it did not have many takers and the proposal to have a central rail was soon rejected. As the population of London was increasing and many people commuting and coming into London, Charles Pearson again put up this proposal in 1853 and the first New Metropolitan line was set up from Farrington to King Cross. Slowly many were added and today there is a network of so many lines, Picadelli line, Circle line, Jubilee line, Victoria line and we have traveled extensively on it. There are maps in the station and on trains with routes and an announcement tells you which station is coming next and which side the door would open and the most famous one liners, Please mind the gap. It is slightly expensive but very convenient. We get an Oyster card which we paid some thing like 112 pounds for two for a week and once the money is over you refill it with 20 to 25 pound each, which for us lasted a week and you can keep refilling it and we did this five times during our stay. Each station is spick and span and even from my memory of 2005, I don't think not find any wear and tear in the seats or stations. My hats off to the upkeep and maintenance and also to the population that respects these and owns these as their own. I saw a gentleman eating from a box in one of the trains and felt little bad that he was keeping the boxes below his seat. However, when he got up to leave the train, he picked up the boxes and carried them in his hand to be thrown in the Trash bins outside. I picked up a News paper few weeks back and unfortunately did not see the name of the paper and thought I kept looking at many papers after this, I could not find this column.This column was titled, Tube Crushes or some such thing and many people had sent in their write up and it brings a smile. Sample this, she was the most gorgeous blond that I ever laid eyes on and as she spoke on her phone, I fell in love with that husky voice. Another wrote, she wore the most striking skirt and when I sneezed, your bless you, rings in my ears. Another wrote, I can keep travelling up and down this route just hoping you will again get into this train. The most charming personality that I have come across. Indeed travel in London with in the city is so easy and there are different trains for travelers going out of London and we have been in a large number of these traveling a lot with in London and outside it.
The National portrait Gallery is opposite to Trafalgar Square. This is the largest collection of portraits in the world boasting of 215,000 works from 16th century to present day. Though founded in 1856, many of these portrait paintings were housed in different places all over London. They were moved to the present gallery opposite Trafalgar Square at St. Martin Place, in 1896.This is a joy for any one interested in art for it tells you the history through art. It has historical portraits from Queen Elizabeth to present day J. K. Rowling. Here one can see portraits of Kings, Queens, poets, soldiers, artists, philosophers, scientists and even film stars. As a Historian, I spent more time in the historical galleries and clicked more pictures here than in the ones that had portraits of the contemporary periods.
The underground Tube trains will always remain a lasting memory of London and the reason why this is my most preferred travel destination in the world. Travel in and around London is so easy due to the Trains. We have a similar system in Paris but not knowing French and the accent was do different that I could not really get to know this or feel completely at ease during my travel in Paris. Even in the US the public transport is very bad and one has to depend on children to take you around especially in the outskirts. In London, one has total independence to travel and I am amazed at this network of trains. Like many other firsts, this is the first railway network laid down in the world. The first proposal for this was laid in 1830 but it did not have many takers and the proposal to have a central rail was soon rejected. As the population of London was increasing and many people commuting and coming into London, Charles Pearson again put up this proposal in 1853 and the first New Metropolitan line was set up from Farrington to King Cross. Slowly many were added and today there is a network of so many lines, Picadelli line, Circle line, Jubilee line, Victoria line and we have traveled extensively on it. There are maps in the station and on trains with routes and an announcement tells you which station is coming next and which side the door would open and the most famous one liners, Please mind the gap. It is slightly expensive but very convenient. We get an Oyster card which we paid some thing like 112 pounds for two for a week and once the money is over you refill it with 20 to 25 pound each, which for us lasted a week and you can keep refilling it and we did this five times during our stay. Each station is spick and span and even from my memory of 2005, I don't think not find any wear and tear in the seats or stations. My hats off to the upkeep and maintenance and also to the population that respects these and owns these as their own. I saw a gentleman eating from a box in one of the trains and felt little bad that he was keeping the boxes below his seat. However, when he got up to leave the train, he picked up the boxes and carried them in his hand to be thrown in the Trash bins outside. I picked up a News paper few weeks back and unfortunately did not see the name of the paper and thought I kept looking at many papers after this, I could not find this column.This column was titled, Tube Crushes or some such thing and many people had sent in their write up and it brings a smile. Sample this, she was the most gorgeous blond that I ever laid eyes on and as she spoke on her phone, I fell in love with that husky voice. Another wrote, she wore the most striking skirt and when I sneezed, your bless you, rings in my ears. Another wrote, I can keep travelling up and down this route just hoping you will again get into this train. The most charming personality that I have come across. Indeed travel in London with in the city is so easy and there are different trains for travelers going out of London and we have been in a large number of these traveling a lot with in London and outside it.
The Trafalgar Square as we know it today was from 14th to 17th centuries a courtyard for the great mews and had stables. In 1812, John Nash started developing it as a public space and it was in 1830 that it was named Trafalgar Square. Today this is seen as the centre of National democracies and protests. In fact we saw a major rally and protest again Climate change when we were there. There are beautiful fountains here being adorned with sculptures of mermaids and Tritons ie. male figures with a fish like tail. There are also dolphin sculptures. People just come and spend here time enjoying the open space and admiring the fountains and Sculptures.
The Victoria Pub in Paddington also has a wee bit of History and little did I realise it when Prof. Michele suggested we meet here to have some discussion. I had also suggested him some other eating places.but finally I told him, I would like to come to The Victoria Pub and my, was I glad that we had narrowed down to this place. I have worked with Prof. Michele Chelleni who is an Economic Historian when I was in Paris and Arras for a Fellowship and was invited to his home in Paris many times and we spent a beautiful Christmas eve going to Church with him, seeing the ceremony being performed and where for the first time, I saw African Christian nuns dancing and entering the Church and then we celebrated Christmas with his s whole family. His wife Cristina is a well known painter and we got to know each other very well and I continue to work with Michele on his big History Project on Wages primarily focusing on Women's work in the unorganised sectors in India. He has also visited our home in India and both Suresh and I look upon him and his family, for we have met both his daughters and son, as very dear to us and our very close friends. By chance Michele and Cristina were in London and he suggested that we should meet at Victoria pub. Little did I knew that I was going to witness a piece of History. This pub is as old as Paddington built in 1838.Legend has it that Queen Victoria while going to Paddington liked this place and so it was named after her. A very famous drink here is called Drina, which is a nickname for Victoria given by Prince Albert. This pub has received the Fuller Pub Award in 2007and 2009 and many other awards for being the best pub. It has a library upstairs and lots of paintings decorating it's walls. Charles Dickens wrote part of his book, Our Mutual Friend sitting here. This was also the favourite pub of Charlie Chaplin and Churchil. I felt happy that we were partaking in this history as Michele discussed his progress on the Wage Project and I promised to send him some write ups after I return to India. We had an amazing food and the bartender was a boy from Ahmedabad who was working in this pub since 19 years and felt happy to see us from India. Suresh met a gentleman, about whom I am not sure as to what was his connection to the pub but he proudly took Suresh around explaining all the pictures in minute details as we did our official work.
