london’s dlr and docklands

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Rama Arya

I once took the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to get back to the city. It took me through the Docklands area, and I was smitten for good!

The DLR and Docklands are archetypical expressions of new age, steel and glass, corporate, moneyed urban planning. The Docklands used to be part of the Port of London before, but containerisation, air cargo and the bombing during the World War II blitz led to massive job losses and the area eventually became derelict and unused. The ensuing redevelopment (1981-98) has transformed the docks into THE key economic hub in London, complete with its own airport. Warehouses, once for storage and packing, are now up-market restaurants and apartments. Gleaming edifices by the docks house over 2,500 offices. And the DLR, as its artery, slices through the buildings, running on lines towering above the streets.

It was grey and cloudy, today. Perfect for good pictures. 🙂 Traipsing with my umbrella, backpack and camera, I managed to take the below images. I quite like them. I hope you do too.

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brighton: sun, sea, pebbles and george IV

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Rama Arya

Brighton is the story of George IV (1762-1830), the king who liked to party, party AND party, and whose patronage subsequently, turned the once small fishing village into one of the most ‘happening’ places in the country.

As Prince of Wales, and later Prince Regent, his life revolved around lavish gatherings, heavy drinking and an indulgent lifestyle. The Royal Pavilion, his palace designed by John Nash in 1822, testifies to it. I stood in the music and dining rooms with my mouth open and had to blink once, twice, thrice. Continue reading →

the london underground—part 1

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Rama Arya

I wanted to do something different this afternoon. To see London a little more closely, a tad more me-ishly.

This is part 1 of a series of photo essays on the London Underground. I went mid-afternoon—the crowds are always lesser at that time—to explore the platforms and escalators on one of the architecturally acclaimed parts of the tube, the Jubilee Line. It was awesome! I knew the CCTVs were recording my every move as I clicked away. Even Security was keeping an eye. But they were really sweet about it. Guess my enthusiasm was contagious. 🙂

I love the tube. It is so lived in. Comfortable, and efficient. But the section of the Jubilee Line that I have here is the most spectacular part. Avant garde, monumental, sleek; scores of feet underground. Enjoy.

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stratford-upon-avon, the place shakespeare called home

Posted on July 4, 2009 by Rama Arya

The other day I went to Stratford-upon-Avon. It was like having tea with Shakespeare (1564-1616) and his family. Replete with gossip and a walk around the house to see the gardens. 🙂 I met his wife and his daughters, sons-in-law, and his last descendant Elizabeth, his granddaughter. I was shown the room where he was born, and the workroom where his father made and sold gloves through a window overlooking the street. I sat on the courting settle which according to legend is where William too used to sit when wooing Anne Hathaway, and peeked into the bedrooms of the Hathaway farmhouse with its lopsided floors, crooked roofs and minuscule beds. Apparently they used to sleep half-seated during Tudor times and that is why their beds were so tiny. Continue reading →

of verulamium, romans and saints

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Rama Arya

Once upon a time, a long time ago, 1959 years ago to be exact, there was a Roman town by the name of Verulamium. It was the third largest town in Roman Britain and had been granted the rank of municipium which meant that it could collect its own taxes and administer itself.

It was complete with all the trappings of Roman civilized life—a theatre, temples, an arch, roman baths, basilica, and a forum for its population of nearly 15,000. Trade flourished and its people lived in fine town houses equipped with underfloor heating systems. This town was my stop for today. Continue reading →

it is pronounced ‘greenich’, my dear

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Rama Arya

Greenwich has always been inexorably bound to the sea and all things maritime; right from King Henry VIII’s time when he lived in the Royal Palace of Placentia that used to stand here and oversaw his naval fleet from it. Came the 18th Century, and along with it Queen Mary and Christopher Wren. The Queen decided to build a naval almshouse at the site of the Old Palace. Known as the Royal Naval Hospital (1752), it provided lodging and meals to the disabled and retired seamen of the Napoleonic Wars. Wren’s grand edifices later became the Royal Naval College in 1873 and were finally leased to the University of Greenwich, in 1999, and the Trinity College of Music.

The connection with the sea doesn’t end there. Greenwich is home to the National Maritime Museum which pulsates with the trade, exploration and colonization ties that the seas have had with England. And then there’s what everyone comes to look at. The Royal Observatory where John Harrison invented his famous sea clocks, and THE Greenwich Meridian Line, Longitude 0 degrees 0’ 0”, home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Continue reading →

oxford, city of dreaming spires

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Rama Arya

On the steps of the Sheldonian Theatre where Oxford’s graduation ceremonies are to date conducted in Latin!

First let’s get the bigger picture in place. 🙂 Oxford University is not one campus. It is made of 38 independently founded colleges, each with its own history and administration. Originally there were no buildings as such. The university consisted of a group of students gathered around individual masters. And when did it all begin? The oldest college dates to the 13th Century. The university as a seat of learning goes back to the 10th Century. Continue reading →

cotswolds—minster lovell and burford

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Rama Arya

Today I hiked through a different part of the Cotswolds. In a village called Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire with its stone ruins of the manor house Minster Lovell Hall standing sentinel, three storeys high, amidst emerald-green fields, tumbling brooks and whispering trees. Built by Lord William Lovell in the 1430s and extended by his son Francis, the edifice is monumental.

I ended my day with Burford, at the 12th Century parish church of St. John. Restful graves and vivid stained glass windows greeted me as I wandered in with my camera. I will always be grateful that I can travel. Continue reading →

cotswolds—a sheep’s pen in the hill

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Rama Arya

At times words are just not needed … I went to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire today. Visited little villages which were as old-world as their names: Chipping Campden, Upper Slaughter, Lower Slaughter, and did some hiking. It was beautiful. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. 🙂 Continue reading →

bloomsbury, fitzrovia, and my favourite place in london

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Rama Arya

My favourite place in London has got to be the BM—read British Museum. I know, I’m a nerd. 😀 But see it from my eyes and the BM is all of life under one roof.

I’ve been here 10 months and soon I’ll be gone. I figure it is time to unravel the traveller within me and start exploring, both London and England. And how better else to start than with the vicinity around the institution that echoes all I hold dear—Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia. The weather is beautiful. The days long and lazy. Tough to resist so many temptations!

One of London’s most attractive charms is undoubtedly its little nooks and corners which somehow seem to get completely sidelined by tourists. My walk today started with the Sicilian Avenue which dates back to 1905. It has to be the quaintest pedestrian walkway I have ever come across, hemmed in as it is with ionic columns topped with urns, brimming over with Roman ambience and street cafes.

And then starts Bloomsbury’s other prime attraction. Its squares. There’s Bloomsbury Square (the oldest square in London, 1661), Russell Square (centrepiece for London University’s various departments), Tavistock Square (with its effigy of Mahatma Gandhi) and Bedford Square with its picture perfect Georgian houses. Continue reading →