European Travel Blog » England

Westminster Tube Station

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:44:12 +0000

Description	A dem fine piece of engineering, wot!
Address	Westminster, London
Phone
Email
Price Range	A tube ticket!
Text
Each of the new stations of the Jubilee line extension must surely qualify as modern works of art in steel and glass. Their scale is huge in an otherwise human-sized city, dwarfing and humbling us flesh and blood travellers, reducing us to ants in a futurist landscape surely designed for the metal muscles of R. Daneel and his kin. My favourite station on the line is Westminster. It is built on three levels plunging deep into the earth, yet the overwhelming impression is one of space. It isn’t light and airy, though – the lighting of the predominantly silver and grey walls is soft and uneven, creating the slight sense of unease of the best type of horror movie where the utterly normal can become terrifying. Overall, the station is reminiscent of a huge, 3D game of snakes and ladders. The massive escalators soar overhead… throw the dice, up or down? I choose down, down, down and down, follow the signs, flow with the crowds, until I reach the narrow, claustrophic platform where I wait in front of the glass doors for the slithering centipede that is the tube train to take me away.

Escape the monotony of the Tube – London

admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:06:41 +0000

Ok, so if you’re running late in the morning, buying your favourite newspaper is the last thing on your mind, and fighting for the last Metro beneath you. But avoiding the gazes of others who didn’t get up when the alarm went off isn’t the best way to spend your journey either. Nor is daydreaming or reading your neighbour’s newspaper conspicuously over-the shoulder (buy your own, cheapskate!!)

Instead, try books – the ideal accessory for that tedious journey and, more often than not, compact enough to slip into your already over-filled handbag and jacket pockets.

Here’s our list of recommended titles:

Titles to make you laugh;
1. The Embarrassing Parents: Social Stereotypes from the Telegraph Magazine
Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape, Telegraph Books Direct, £9.99,
(Tel: 0870 155 7255)
2. Notes From a Small Island
Bill Bryson, Black Swan. £6.99
3. The English, A Portrait of a People
Jeremy Paxman, Penguin Non-Fiction, £7.99

Titles to make you weep:
1. Ariel
Sylvia Plath, Faber & Faber, £8.99
2. A Moment in Time
H.E.Bates, Penguin Fiction, £6.99

Titles to make you think:
1. The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran, Tiger Books International, £3.95
2. The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell, Oxford University Press, £4.99
3. Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad, Penguin Fiction, £3.99
4. Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell, Penguin Modern Classics, £5.99

Titles to help you escape:
1. The Invention of Dr Cake
Andrew Motion, Faber and Faber, £7.99
2. Selected Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson
Penguin Classics, £6.99

Titles to make others blush:
1. Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation
Thomas W Laquer, Zone Books, £22.50
2. Multi-Orgasmic Man: Sexual Secrets That Every Man Should Know
Mantak Chia & Douglas Abrams Arava, Harper Collins, £9.99

The best and the worst tube stations

admin — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:04:06 +0000

Best station to see God

Medal of honour
Canary Wharf

Comments from cadets

“Coming over the water and into that high skylit ceiling is amazing!”

“As you ascend the huge escalator it’s like you’re ascending to heaven.”

Commendation
Angel

Most confusing station

Medal of Honour
Bank/Monument

Comments from cadets
“Is it one station? Is it two? Why are they joined together?”
“It once took me half an hour to find the Northern Line.”

Commendation
Embankment/Charing Cross

Most likely station to find your wallet’s been pickpocketed

Medal of Honour
Oxford Circus

Comments from cadets

“There are often dwarves and other nefarious characters round there waiting for naïve tourists.”

Commendation
Any in the West End

Worst station in which to get chased by a werewolf
Medal of Honour
Tottenham Court Road

Comments from cadets

“You know, I still get scared down there.”

Commendation
Bank

Worst station to trip and fall for fear of getting crushed to death
Medal of Honour
King’s Cross

Comments from cadets
“It’s just gruesome!”
“The horror, the horror!”

Commendation
Arsenal

Best station to get blown to bits by terrorists
Medal of Honour
Bank

Comments from cadets
“The hub of the financial district, the most confusing layout… well, you figure it out.”

Commendation
King’s Cross

Jorvik York

admin — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:43:06 +0000

For a really different prehistoric experience, consider time travel at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, England, devoted to the Viking City that was, in theearly Christian period, York, or Yorvik. Here you seat yourself in an electric cart and move quickly through the scenes typical, first, of 1976, when the archaeological digbegan, then the 1950s, then into the 1930s, back to the 1860s, to 1605 (Guy Fawkes), to 1348 (arrival of the Black Death), to 1066 (the Norman Conquest), and finally to October of 948, when King Erik Bloodaxe arrived in York. Now the main exhibit begins: At this part of the exhibit you see lifelike manikins engaging in everyday tasks in what looks like an ancient village. Through recordings you hear them speak an Anglo-Norsehybrid and even smell the fishy atmosphere (ugh). From rubbish unearthed over years of digging the curators have constructed a lifelike Viking town. Unnecessarily lifelike, for me, was the strip of cloth used as toilet paper and a sample of Viking excrement (pooh).

Entrance into the Jorvik Viking Centre isn’tcheap, but you can opt for staying in the bookshop and purchasing a 36-page book about it for only two and a half British pounds. It does picture the toilet paper and the excrement, however. Although Jorvik isn’t really prehistoric, the Vikings constructed it on a prehistoric site that’s still being excavated. Displays here show manikins of the archaeologists themselves working on the site and examining finds in a fake laboratory. Somebody associated with these discoveries is obsessed with manikins.

In the same city, just beyond the great York Minster and the medieval street called the Shambles, lies another institution called York Museum and Gardens. Entering by a broad well-planted area populated with seabirds, you first enter a busy bookshop, then move into a museum that starts with the dinosaurs and then moves toward the present through the history of York-Roman, then Viking, then Norman, then Medieval. (In this city, it seems, you must move either backward in time or forward; you’re not permitted to stand still). The museum is built on so many levels that viewing even a small part of it requires a lot of step-climbing.

At this York Museum, swarming with kids scribbling on pads of paper (probably finding answers for teacher’s quiz), I noticed that the Vikings amused themselves with musical panpipes made of the hollow wing bones of geese, a pipe that(according to some musician) offered notes from Middle E to high A, or by playing boardgames with stones fashioned from antler horn, or by sliding around on bone skates (they pushed themselves along the ice with a long pole). Sounds a lot less adventurous than raiding the Irish coast.

Ludlow Man

admin — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:43:03 +0000

Once inside, visitors could marvel over "Ludlow Man," the body of a Kelt ritually murdered and preserved in a bog, a man whose stomach was found to contain mistletoe pollen from the drink administered, probably by Druids (to whom mistletoe was sacred), before his death. He was stunned by blows to the head, then garroted, and his throat was cut. Great exhibit for Halloween.

Later I visited the town of Ludlow, where this unfortunate victim was found. It’s a pleasant market town with nobody seemingly more bloodthirsty than thehunters who shot the six ducks hanging outside the butcher shop on the square.

Gold abounds in the British Museum’s prehistoric galleries, in the form of ancient money, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and carved objects like flagons. Silver, amber, and bronze objects, fine pottery, swords, even ancient costumes elicited "Oohs" and"Ahhs." One gold body-chain designed to circle a woman’s breasts and neck, then to adorn her back as well, could have come from the catalog of Victoria’s Secret.

The Museum is still free to everyone, but plenty of shillings were being spent on colorful books and souvenirs in its Forecourt Shop right off the lobby, despite the strong English pound that makes the American dollar and other European currency seem like play money. Another extremely elegant Museum shop just around the corner carried more expensive goods, like software and gorgeous silk scarves. The only time it was empty was during its closed period.

Ludlow Castle

London Underground (Tube) Myths

admin — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:59:02 +0000

Our helpful guide explodes some of the more bizarre and disturbing stories about the tube. Each story gets a plausibility rating of between 1 and 10 (1 being extremely implausible and 10 being highly probable).

1. If London suffered a month’s rain in one day, the Thames would overflow and flood the tube network.

Plausibility rating: 2

The Underground network already pumps out thousands of gallons of water a day, the chances of there being so much rain and flooding without anyone deciding to evacuate the tube makes such a nightmare scenario incredibly unlikely.

2. Independent scientific tests were done on a sample of 100 seat covers from different tube carriages. Traces of urine, faeces, sweat, semen, rat hair, rat urine and the fungi flammulina velutipes were found on 60 percent of the seats.

Plausibility rating: 3

Although no one would suggest London Underground’s tasteful upholstery is particularly clean the chances of semen having made its way on to 6 out of every 10 seats is somewhat improbable. After all, Londoners barely talk to each other on the tube let alone have sex.

3. A ghost haunts Aldgate station. According to legend, a frail, white-haired woman was seen stroking the neck of a worker on the tracks, seconds before he was killed in a freak accident by a misdirected train.

Plausibility rating: 3

London Underground confirmed that a track repairman was tragically killed at Aldgate station as a result of an errant train but whether there was a ghost involved is another matter entirely.

4. A secret underground line is currently under construction between Westminster and RAF Northholt to facilitate the quick evacuation of government ministers and senior civil servants in the event of a surprise chemical or biological terrorist attack.

Plausibility rating: 2

There is about as much chance of Tony Blair blowing $10 billion pounds on a project so completely useless as there is of him leaving his wife to shack up with Sadam Hussein. (Then again there was the Dome.)

5. A London Underground night shift worker was savaged to death by a pack of cat-sized rats in the tunnel connecting Covent Garden and Leicester Square stations.

Plausibility rating: 2

Although there are plenty of rats on the underground network it is unlikely they have ever grown to the size of cats, and even more unlikely that they would attack a human. (Rats usually take particular care to avoid contact with mankind.)

6. There is a small community of German dwarves who live in a network of tunnels accessed via secret lifts at Russell Square station.

Plausibility rating: 1

Whoever made up this story must be having a laugh. (After all, everyone knows they’re Swiss dwarfs not German.)

Busking Licence

admin — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:49:01 +0000

Some find them irritating; others are soothed by them on their rush hour commute. Whatever your opinion, buskers are an integral part of the London Underground experience. A new scheme aims to license the guerrilla musicians in a move to regulate the music.

Until recently, buskers hopped from station to station, and played for the crowds until they were moved on. Now London Underground has been working on a scheme to license busking and will be holding auditions for a place in one of 11 allotted stations: Bank, Canary Wharf, Chancery Lane, Charing Cross, Green Park, Leicester Square, London Bridge, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, South Kensington, and Westminster.

If the scheme is successful, “moves will be made to license pitches at other stations across the network, building on the lesson learned from the trial,” according to London Underground officials. Feedback will be gathered from buskers and passengers with the transport authority having the final say whether to give the scheme the go-ahead.

Those who do not find themselves jumping with delight at the thought of more buskers filling the stations can find some comfort in the fact that “musicians will be chosen based on musical competence and good character,” according to the man behind the plan, Martin Penney, customer programme implementation manager at London Underground.

The auditions, dubbed as ‘Tube Idols’ by many, are expected to attract hundreds of people performing all kinds of music. A team of judges from the music industry who will be in charge of the auditions, have yet to be chosen. The panel could include representatives from London Underground and passengers.

“[The] majority of the buskers are excited about the scheme,” Penney said. “They will have to sign the terms and conditions but will not have to pay for their license.” Once chosen, buskers will have to adhere to a schedule, which will be drawn up a week in advance.

Another piece of good news for the sceptics is that actively soliciting money can lead to licences being revoked, allowing for only passive collections where performers do not actively solicit. Busking on trains will be prohibited.

Impact tests currently taking place check the effects performances have on customers, whether performers drown out the PA system and ensure that sites, known as pitches, are safe.

Joe Evans has been a busker for 10 years and is taking part in the impact tests. “I had reservations to begin with, but then the people organising it have included us in the negotiations, and when the licenses are issued they are going to give those of us who have been busking for a while the first choice in which pitches we want,” he said.

The 16-week trial was expected to start at some point during the first half of 2002 but has been delayed by concerns of crowd control and the closure of the Central Line. “There should be a big press announcement by the end of April to get the scheme going,” said Penney.

London could soon join Paris as one of the European cities known for a thriving busking scene. So unless further delays occur, watch out for buskers appearing at a station near you soon. Pay attention because you may be listening to the next Bob Dylan.

BBC – h2g2 – Buskers and Busking

Busking | Transport for London

How to Make Money Busking (Street Performing)

Busking in London

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:33:14 +0000

I always give some spare change to buskers on the tube or on the street–that is, if they’re any good. My colleagues are a bit surprised by this, but fortunately they don’t ask me why. You see, it’s because I used to be a busker too.

When I came to London, I discovered that a junior’s salary wouldn’t pay for both food and lodgings. It was either eat or keep a roof over your head–not both. Fortunately, I had a sax-playing friend who was helping out his mum with a contribution from busking at Tottenham Court Road. He also knew I was a recorder player, and invited me to come along.

It wasn’t easy to get started. Buskers have their own systems and ceremonies. For instance, the underpass at Charing Cross is a great place to busk–good passing traffic, well-lit, no hassle from the Underground Police. So there is a list kept of who gets to busk there, and when. Maximum ration: one hour. But getting on the list doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a spot, either, as the list has a strange habit of getting lost or stolen.

Even so, there were regular acts. One of the players from the English National Opera orchestra used to turn up after his day job for an extra hour’s playing. I remember, after I’d been busking there a month, he finally admitted "You know, that’s beginning to sound like a proper musical instrument." Then there was a regular band, a five piece combo that played jazz and blues at Oxford Street. They probably should have been at Ronnie Scott’s place; instead, they were underneath it.

The rewards are variable. Some days, you could get twenty-two pounds in an hour’s playing. A few fifty pence coins and you were doing well. On the other hand, some days you could play forever and get almost nothing–and then you would get moved on by the Underground Police.

I’ve never understood the London Underground’s attitude towards buskers. In New York, they license them; in London they regard them as criminals. They even had a poster campaign suggesting that buskers threaten women on their own–something I found patronising (as a woman), and libelous (as a busker). On the other hand, Covent Garden has made a definite fashion statement about busking; the problem, though, is that it’s comedy, juggling, magic tricks and audience participation that they’re after, leaving blues bands and classical musicians alike wondering where they can play.

It’s a pity London lacks good street music. Everywhere else I’ve been–Vienna, with its wandering song-schools and amateur choirs who just start up in the street; Berlin with its string quartets and brass bands outside the opera houses; Barcelona with its hurdy gurdy players and the "living statues" in the Ramblas–street music is an enjoyable and spontaneous part of life. Maybe London can blame its narrow medieval streets, which offer few pedestrian areas with enough space for buskers to share…. but I’m afraid I rather think it’s because someone in a gray suit, tucked away in a corridor in Westminster Council offices or the Ministry of If-it-tastes-bad-it-must-be-good-for-you, doesn’t really approve of us enjoying ourselves unless we pay money for it.

Incidentally, kudos to British Airways

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:25:28 +0000

Incidentally, kudos to British Airways: on the flight home, I absent-mindedly left in the overhead rack two Japanese paper lampshades I had purchased at Spitalfields. The following morning I called the airline in Boston. A human voice responded, the lampshades were there in baggage, and safely delivered to me the next day.

London has come a long way since the Romans first invaded it in 80 B.C. What has survived over many centuries is the history and tradition of an island that was invaded by the Romans, at times locked horns with the Continent, in time became an Empire, and lost it. But Britain still remains both a power and an extraordinary display of many cultures. And it’s a leader in chic new fashions.

Back to pop culture: the tales of Princess Diane as related by her butler Burrell, continue to be a focus of attention of ladies at tea and other parlour speakers. What a reverse fairy tale for a princess! But London has always been chock-full, as they say, of tales of rich and poor, of queens and yellow submarines. It’s a lovely town.

London has its grand underview, too

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:21:44 +0000

London has its grand underview, too. At Spitalfields great public weekend market, the hundreds of individual stalls offered everything from furniture, antiques, clothes, ethnic arts & crafts, small appliances, Scot wools & Cotswold wools, to nuts and bolts, and all at prices you couldn’t afford not to buy. The Sunday morning Columbia Road Flower Market is a true delight to the eye and the nose. Masses of bulbs on sale for tuppence’a pity we can’t bring them into the U.S.

Our group ended up on the most impressive overview of them all: British Airways London Eye, the huge wheel built for the millennium celebrations, and billed as the world’s highest observation wheel. Technically, it is not a Ferris wheel, as its carriages are hitched to the wheel on the outside rather than the inside of the frame. Each oval-shaped capsule easily houses a children’s birthday party or a 25-person adult cocktail gathering. The nine of our group on the 30-minute ride fitted nicely into its outer end’no, it does not tip. Through its steel-and-glass windows, on a clear day one can see across seven counties. On the whole, the trip was the "rottenest," London’s chic new word replacing "baddest" for what is the best at the moment.