GOODBYE IRELAND - AUGUST 1985

SOMEWHERE IN IRELAND, THE WETLAND!

By the end of our tour the weather improved a little bit; a way to try to bring us back one day...



"ENNISKILLEN CASTLE, located by the River Erne in County Fermanagh, was built in the fifteenth century by Gaelic Maguires. It was strategically important throughout its history, as it was the guard of one of the few passes into Ulster. In the 17th century it became an English garrison fort and later served as part of a military barracks"


"DERRAGARRA INN - According to the publicity in the Internet, «The main bar & restaurant will cater for 70 people in comfort and style. The Auld Bar is a separate function room for private parties, so why not have your birthday, christening or any other celebration here. Outside, there is a beautiful wooden decked area overlooking the River Annaly, where you can eat & drink with only the geese to disturb you». Impressed?"


"RIVER ANNALY - As the picture was next to the Inn, I believe this is the Annaly River. Correct me if I'm wrong..."


"TOURIST GROUP arriving at Newgrange"


"NEWGRANGE - The Megalithic Passage Tomb at Newgrange in County Meath was built about 3200 BC, thus being more than 500 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and predating Stonehenge by about 1,000 years. It's the most famous of all Irish prehistoric sites and one of the most famous in the world"


"ENTRANCE STONE - Named «one of the most famous stones in the entire repertory of megalithic art», the entrance stone includes a triple spiral motif found only at Newgrange and repeated along the passage and again inside the chamber"


"ROOFSTONE - According to Wikipedia this motif «is reminiscent of the triskelion motif of the Isle of Man, of ancient Sicily and of several passage tombs on the island of Anglesey in North Wales»"


"WINTER SOLESTICE - The passage and chamber of Newgrange are illuminated for some 17 minutes at sunrise on the Winter Solstice and for a few minutes in the mornings either side of the Winter Solstice. A shaft of sunlight shines through a specially contrived opening, known as a roofbox, which is directly above the main entrance, and penetrates the passage to light up the chamber. Nowadays, the phenomenon occurs four minutes after sunrise, but calculations show that when it was built, the event would have occurred right at sunrise"


"CARROUSSEL - Always loved merry-go-rounds..."




"CHURCHES - Somewhere in Ireland. Maybe some Irish expert will identify the temples..."



"NICE COTTAGES"

***

LONDON STOPOVER

On the way out from Ireland, we made a stopover in London. St. James Park was at its best!


"ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELDS and the wonderful concerts of the Academy conducted by Neville Marriner; try Vivaldi's Four Seasons..."



"ST. JAMES PARK, probably my favourite park in London..."

LONGITUDE ZERO - MAY 1982

GREENWICH


"DEJEUNER SUR L'HERBE - 1982 Version"


"FLAMSTEED HOUSE and the TIME BALL - The red ball on top of Flamsteed House rises half way up its mast each day at 12.55; at 12.58, it rises all the way up. At 13.00, the ball falls. It was first used in 1833 and still distributes time to ships on the Thames and to Londoners"


"PRIME MERIDIAN OF THE WORLD since 1884. The line divides the eastern and western hemispheres and every place on Earth is measured east or west from this line"


"CUTTY SARK, aka FERREIRA or MARIA DO AMPARO - The most famous tea clipper"


"TOWER BRIDGE - Stands over the Thames since 1894!"


"BACK TO WESTMINSTER - End of cruise!"

LONDON AGAIN - MAY 1982

REVISITING LONDON, WITH PARENTS!


"RUSSEL SQUARE GARDENS - Near the Hotel, and the British Museum, it is a haven of peace in the busy town. However, on July 10, 2005, a bomb attack killed 26 people in an tube train travelling between King's Cross and Russell Square stations"


"GOOD EVENING, SIR ALFRED! - Madame Tussaud's unavoidable visit"


"KENSINGTON GARDENS POND - The Round Pond was created in 1728!"


"SPEAKER'S CORNER - John again?"


"OXFORD STREET - Taxis were all black, minis were running on the streets, pavement was in very bad shape, but Selfridges was as ever"


"HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT - Again"


"WESTMINSTER BRIDGE - Don't they look great?"


"COUNTY HALL - When the building was still the home to London's government, and there was no London Eye... Now, amid galleries, concert halls and theatres, one can find the London Marriott Hotel County Hall"


"VICTORIA TOWER - The square tower at the south end of the Palace of Westminster. When it was built, at 102m, it was the tallest square tower in the world when it was built"


"BIG BEN - The other tower, however much more famous. The clock tower at the north end of the Palace is 96m high"


"CHURCHILL - Hardly seen"


"10 DOWNING STREET - Difficult access"


"ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELS - In the 13th century, there was a church on this site, then «in the fields» between the City and Westminster. The present church was built in 1721, and is one hundred years older than Trafalgar Square"


"TRAFALGAR SQUARE - Pigeons do not fear bird flu!"


"COVENT GARDEN - Many years after Eliza Doolittle..."


"THE TOWER OF LONDON was founded more than nine hundred years ago. Actually, it was begun by William of Normandy, named William the Conqueror after the Hastings battle on October 14, 1066. In 1078, he ordered a stone fortress to be built to serve for his defence, as well as a prison for his enemies. The square building with turrets on each corner - the White Tower - gave its name to the site"


"THE BELL TOWER was built in the 13th century, and when the bell was rung, drawbridges were raised and gates shut. Nowadays the bell rings but just to warn visitors that it is time to leave. There were many famous prisoners in the Bell Tower, including Sir Thomas More"


"INNER WARD - Prepare to see the Crown Jewels and the ravens. There are seven ravens at the Tower today, with one of their wings clipped to prevent them flying away. Because of bird flu fears, the ravens at the Tower have been moved indoors in February 2006"

SNOW IN LONDON - DECEMBER 1981

THERE ARE NEITHER PHOTOS NOR VIDEOS FROM THIS TRIP.

However, there is a strong memory of a snow fall in London. The story is the following: From December 5th through 10th, 1981, I was in London for a meeting. The first memory is from the Hotel. I was booked at the Kenilworth, and when I got there - by 9:30 p.m. on a winter night - I was given the smallest room I've ever seen in my life: I had to open the bathroom door in order to enter the room, get into the bathroom, and close the room door... That was too much! As there were no more rooms available, next morning I was moving to another Hotel, which with the currency restrictions then in force in Portugal was not an easy task. I found the Grand, which was a nice place to stay, and where I was given the best room in the Hotel as they were working on the lift and it was not running. Compared with the Kenilworth, it looked like the Savoy… Two large window-doors, a big veranda, king size bed...
One of these days - probably December 8, 1981 -, it snowed a little bit. OK, a little bit, and it was chaos in London. The TV was telling everybody to stay at home, schools were immediately closed, trains not running, a mess...
By 4 p.m. I decided to see how things were, and took the last sightseeing bus departing from Piccadilly by that time. At 4:30 p.m. it was dark, but this 2H30 bus trip gave me an idea of the dimension of the disaster. On the streets, snow was completely melted… By Hyde Park there was a thin - probably three centimetres dick - cover of snow on the grass. This was all! And that was the disaster… What an experience!!!

LONDON AND SUBURBIA - AUGUST 1980

BACK TO LONDON, AND AMAZINGLY TO THE SUN

After more than two weeks touring Scotland and the Lake District in the company of Messrs. Fog, Mist and Clouds, it was nice to rediscover the bright colours of a sunny day"


"LAW SOCIETY/COURTS - Professional Deformation, as well as picture deformation"


"WESTMINSTER ABBEY - Look how dark it was before the cleaning"


"BIG BEN - 12h27 p.m. GMT"


"CHURCHILL: blood, toil, tears, and sweat! Easily: blood, sweat and tears"


"HYDE PARK, and the Sheraton Park Tower, Knightsbridge. Nice views"


"WINDSOR - Alexandrina Victoria - Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India - the last monarch of the House of Hanover. Her reign lasted more than sixty-three years"


"WINDSOR CASTLE is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years"


"MARKET CROSS HOUSE - Queen Charlotte Street is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest street in Britain at just 51 feet 10 inches. To the right of Queen Charlotte Street is Market Cross House, thought to have been built in 1687. Its leaning appearance was caused by the use of unseasoned timber and structural changes that have happened over the years"


"THE RIVER THAMES AT WINDSOR"


"HAMPTON COURT - wrought-iron gate"


"HAMPTON COURT GARDENS - a subtle mix of 500 years of royal gardening history. It was Cardinal Wolsey (c1475-1530) who created the earliest garden at Hampton Court, But it was Henry VIII (1509-47) who, in 1529, began to establish the structure of the gardens, very much as they remain today"


"HAMPTON COURT PALACE - Last one close the door"


"THAMES, everywhere"