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"

CARNAVAL IN NICE - FEBRUARY 1982

CARNAVAL, CARNIVAL, MARDI GRAS, FASCHING...

It is not Rio de Janeiro, but the Nice Carnival, the first international carnival celebration in France, is the top winter event on the French Riviera.










"CARNIVAL - The earliest mention of Carnival in Nice goes back to 1294. In the Middle Age, before Lent, excesses were made until Mardi Gras - though controlled by the «Abbés des Fous». Mocking everything and everybody, behind masks or protected by disguises, was common. Until the 18th century, there were masked balls in the streets; during the 18th century and under the influence of the Carnival of Venice, the Carnival went inside, to the Salons. By the end of the century, during the French Revolution and the First Empire, Carnival was suspended. In 1830, a new form was launched, again in the streets: a cortège of carriages paraded in front of the rulers of Piedmont-Sardinia, disguises were worn, eggs and confetti were thrown at each other. In 1873, Andriot Saëtone, responsable for the charity services in the city and consul of Greece and Argentina, founded the «Festival Committee» to organize the Carnival of Nice. On February 23, 1873, King Carnival, the First, entered the city: modern Carnival was born!"

CANNES - FEBRUARY 1982

MOVIES?, NOT IN WINTER TIME...

Cannes is known as one of the European Capitals of Cinema. Its Festival, together with the Venice and Berlin, is the showroom for what's new in the industry. In 2006, the International Film Festival will take place from May 17 through 28. However, in the Winter of 1982, it looked much more like a ghost city, with an average age for inhabitants of around 80! It was not even the old Cannes - an isolated land, in which farmers and fishermen experienced a difficult life.


"LA CROISETTE - Now there is a little train to tour the historic centre of Cannes; here the poor old folks seen on the right hand side of the picture had to walk..."


"CARLTON HOTEL - The legendary Hotel for stars, with the promenade for the photos of the starlettes, is there since 1911, and publicity says that «international stars meet royal dignitaries in a place that has become one of the most prestigious hotels in the world». Well, it's forgiven since it is now an Intercontinental Hotel..."


"VIEUX PORT - The Old Port and the adjoining Suquet district (up the hill) are the most picturesque parts of town, and take you back in time"


"BEACH - Desert!"

MONACO - FEBRUARY 1982

ONE DAY AT GRIMALDI LAND



"OCEANOGRAPHIC MUSEUM - TERRACE. The views from the terrace of this outstanding museum of marine sciences, inaugurated in 1910 by Prince Albert I, are exceptional, as the building rises majestically above the sea to a height of 279 feet"


"MARINA - Onassis yacht and others similar used to anchor there"


"PALACE ON THE ROCK(S) - On January 8, 1297 François Grimaldi, dressed as a Franciscan monk, seized the fortress protecting the famous rock of Monaco and the port of Hercules and started the longest reigning family in the world"


"STREETS"




"EXOTIC GARDENS - Opened in 1933, high above the cliff, with a magnificent view over the Principality and along the coast, the garden has some fabulous subtropical plants, which honour the microclimate of Monaco"



"THE FAMOUS ROCK"


"WALK BY THE SEA"


"CASINO GARDENS - You cannot avoid it - see the tourist buses..."

CÔTE D'AZUR - FEBRUARY 1982

THE FRENCH RIVIERA IN WINTER TIME, AT LEAST NOT CROWDED


"NICE - On the way to the Crand Corniche"


"ST. JEAN CAP FERRAT - Seen from the Grand Corniche"


"EZE - A nice village, with a beautiful view"


"LA TURBIE - Five hundred meters over the sea, with the Trophy of the Alps, aka Augustus Trophy"



"NICE - Place Massena (Marshall of France serving in the armies of Napoleon, lead the third and last French invasion to Portugal and was defeated as his predecessors Junot and Soult have also been) preparing for Carnival"




"NICE, CASTLE - Not much to be seen from the old castle itself; however, the view to the city and to the sea is gorgeous. From the port (east) to the Promenade des Anglais (west), everything can be seen from the platform, 90 meters over the city"



"NICE, CASTLE - The views to the North are also interesting"


"NICE - RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL. The Cathedral was built by Tsar Nicolas in 1912, and was the first to be designated a Russian Orthodox Cathedral outside Russia"




"BEACH - Don't go to Nice for the beach: you might get hurt in the gravel and rocks. Better try the Algarve! Besides that, it's amazing to stroll by the beach in winter with practically no one around..."

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!!!