A quick note to say I landed a half hour early. So did the rest of the plane, so that was all right.
I'm at the President on Guilford Street, a few steps from Russell Square. I'm going to be heading out soon.
It's about about quarter to two in the afternoon here, so quarter to nine a.m. at home.
I have a 6 p.m. reservation at a place Larry recommended, St. John. It's in Spitalfields a newly trendy part of town that was a slum 100 years ago. It's right next to Whitechapel, so I plan to visit a few of the Ripper murder sites and possibly take a pint at the 10 Bells pub where the victims all were known to hang out.
A quick stop at the British Museum first, though.
Harry meets the mummy.
All this history, all this old stuff, all this beer. And this is my first opportunity to play with the international adaptor plugs on my Mac. Boy, am I psyched.
May 20, 6:12 a.m.
Dispatch update: Harry has not solved the mystery, but here he is, on the track of Jack the Ripper.
The 10 Bells is a pub where all the victims used to hang out. I think it has been redecorated. The walls are tiles and contain two murals. One is based on an old painting and shows a lord and his wife visiting a fawning cloth merchant. That's called something like "Spitalfields in Old Times." The other, "Spitalfields in Modern Times," shows the outside of the pub with a drag queen in wig hat and leotard about to step in. (Possibly circa 1970 or ’80.)
I didn't find everything I wanted to see and got some of the commentary wrong, so I'm heading back there now to reshoot. Then I'm going to prowl the old city. It's the financial district, but also contains lots of stuff, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Then I'm going to a pub to the west called the White Horse, on Parson's Green. Charlie used to work in that neighborhood and recommended it to me.
I found a pub called the Queen’s Larder on a narrow street (Queen Square) near the hotel. I stayed there till they rang the closing bell--I think sometime around the ungodly early hour of 11.
[Editor’s note: Harry was unaware of it at the time, but the proprietors say there is a story behind the name. According to the pub’s website, the name is connected to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. This is the king of the American Revolution. He spoke his last words in 1800, “I am in pain,” and lived 20 more years in a state of madness. According to the website, the king was treated at a doctor’s house in Russell Square. The queen cooked for him and rented a small cellar under the pub, where she kept special foods that she would serve to the king.]
After they rang the closing bell at the Queen's Larder I came back to the hotel to close the bar there. I ran into a couple, Ian and Jan, from Newcastle. I sat at a table with them and an Australian from Perth who was in town with his "auntie." That was interesting. Jan likes the monarchy. Ian is so-so. The Australian was leaning toward the side that thinks the queen's visits down under just cost too much for what they're worth.
American anglophilia also came up as a topic. Too bad, someone said, that I hadn't been in London for the big wedding. No, I said, it isn't.
Jan works for a charity that raises money for breast cancer research and was in London because her organization is being recognized by the government in a ceremony at Westminster. I think Ian and Jan have been to more places in the U.S. than I have. At least, they mentioned several, including Seattle, that I've yet to see.
Another cool thing is that they live at a place called Wall's End. It's the eastern end of Hadrian's wall. Their town has the remains of a Roman fort and bath house. What a cool thing to have in your backyard, right?
May 20, 7:09 p.m.
Think I have my Ripper coverage done. If I'm missing anything, I'll go to Newark and shoot that as a stand-in and just make stuff up.
It is easy to get lost here. Imagine Paterson—everything going one way in the wrong direction—on steroids. Amsterdam is easy because it is built on a grid of canals. It's as easy to navigate as midtown Manhattan.
London, like most other old cities, is still using thoroughfares that were carved out when the place was just a random collection of huts and barns. Later, the blocks of attached houses were built to conform to the scattered streets.
I got to see Covent Garden. It is the first that I’ve been there when it was open. It's like an upscale boardwalk. All kinds of shops selling just about anything from baked to luxury goods. I saw the tail end of a magician's act in which he put something into his hat and made it disappear. Then he lifted three cups one by one to discover an orange under each one. Then he lifted the cups again to find more oranges, under the first and second cups, anyway. The third cup was empty but there was a grapefruit in his hat.
A soprano was singing in a restaurant on a lower level. I stopped and watched, and it was beautiful in its own right, but it brought back memories that broke my heart. I also recorded much of the act of an escape artist, involving handcuffs, chains, a ladder, and some other props, but the memory card in my camera failed and I lost all that. Which is just as well because watching a video of a half-hour performance is not quite as compelling as watching the real thing.
Getting lost in Ripper country took so much time that I didn't get back to the British Museum today. I did spend an hour and a half browsing the Renaissance galleries in the National Museum. Classic oil paintings are my favorite things to see in museums.
Something new has been added to Trafalgar Square—a five-ton model of Nelson's flag ship in a bottle.
Tonight for dinner, I got to stand at the bar in a pub around the corner from the hotel and eat steak and ale pie. They even served a green vegetable with it. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was very satisfying. The mashed potatoes helped with that. So good that I may try it another day if I ever get hungry again.
The 10 Bells is a pub where all the victims used to hang out. I think it has been redecorated. The walls are tiles and contain two murals. One is based on an old painting and shows a lord and his wife visiting a fawning cloth merchant. That's called something like "Spitalfields in Old Times." The other, "Spitalfields in Modern Times," shows the outside of the pub with a drag queen in wig hat and leotard about to step in. (Possibly circa 1970 or ’80.)
I didn't find everything I wanted to see and got some of the commentary wrong, so I'm heading back there now to reshoot. Then I'm going to prowl the old city. It's the financial district, but also contains lots of stuff, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Then I'm going to a pub to the west called the White Horse, on Parson's Green. Charlie used to work in that neighborhood and recommended it to me.
I found a pub called the Queen’s Larder on a narrow street (Queen Square) near the hotel. I stayed there till they rang the closing bell--I think sometime around the ungodly early hour of 11.
[Editor’s note: Harry was unaware of it at the time, but the proprietors say there is a story behind the name. According to the pub’s website, the name is connected to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. This is the king of the American Revolution. He spoke his last words in 1800, “I am in pain,” and lived 20 more years in a state of madness. According to the website, the king was treated at a doctor’s house in Russell Square. The queen cooked for him and rented a small cellar under the pub, where she kept special foods that she would serve to the king.]
After they rang the closing bell at the Queen's Larder I came back to the hotel to close the bar there. I ran into a couple, Ian and Jan, from Newcastle. I sat at a table with them and an Australian from Perth who was in town with his "auntie." That was interesting. Jan likes the monarchy. Ian is so-so. The Australian was leaning toward the side that thinks the queen's visits down under just cost too much for what they're worth.
American anglophilia also came up as a topic. Too bad, someone said, that I hadn't been in London for the big wedding. No, I said, it isn't.
Jan works for a charity that raises money for breast cancer research and was in London because her organization is being recognized by the government in a ceremony at Westminster. I think Ian and Jan have been to more places in the U.S. than I have. At least, they mentioned several, including Seattle, that I've yet to see.
Another cool thing is that they live at a place called Wall's End. It's the eastern end of Hadrian's wall. Their town has the remains of a Roman fort and bath house. What a cool thing to have in your backyard, right?
May 20, 7:09 p.m.
Think I have my Ripper coverage done. If I'm missing anything, I'll go to Newark and shoot that as a stand-in and just make stuff up.
It is easy to get lost here. Imagine Paterson—everything going one way in the wrong direction—on steroids. Amsterdam is easy because it is built on a grid of canals. It's as easy to navigate as midtown Manhattan.
London, like most other old cities, is still using thoroughfares that were carved out when the place was just a random collection of huts and barns. Later, the blocks of attached houses were built to conform to the scattered streets.
I got to see Covent Garden. It is the first that I’ve been there when it was open. It's like an upscale boardwalk. All kinds of shops selling just about anything from baked to luxury goods. I saw the tail end of a magician's act in which he put something into his hat and made it disappear. Then he lifted three cups one by one to discover an orange under each one. Then he lifted the cups again to find more oranges, under the first and second cups, anyway. The third cup was empty but there was a grapefruit in his hat.
A soprano was singing in a restaurant on a lower level. I stopped and watched, and it was beautiful in its own right, but it brought back memories that broke my heart. I also recorded much of the act of an escape artist, involving handcuffs, chains, a ladder, and some other props, but the memory card in my camera failed and I lost all that. Which is just as well because watching a video of a half-hour performance is not quite as compelling as watching the real thing.
Getting lost in Ripper country took so much time that I didn't get back to the British Museum today. I did spend an hour and a half browsing the Renaissance galleries in the National Museum. Classic oil paintings are my favorite things to see in museums.
Something new has been added to Trafalgar Square—a five-ton model of Nelson's flag ship in a bottle.
Tonight for dinner, I got to stand at the bar in a pub around the corner from the hotel and eat steak and ale pie. They even served a green vegetable with it. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was very satisfying. The mashed potatoes helped with that. So good that I may try it another day if I ever get hungry again.
I think the place is called the Friend in Hand. It's maybe 100 yards from the hotel, right near the horse hospital. A great location.
I went for a stroll in the City of London tonight. Walked around St. Paul's lit up. The cathedral was lit up. I was only three sheets to the wind. Went down one street to see if I could find St. Swithin's Lane, which leads to the London Stone. No luck with that, but I did find a pub on the way called the Viaduct that used to be a prison. More good ale.
Also there was a small warren of narrow streets closed to vehicles below St. Paul's. It reminded me of the Red Light District of Amsterdam, only there were no red lights or girls in windows. Here the girls advertise themselves by putting flyers in phone booths.
Tomorrow I hope to get to the Temple Church, Westminster Abbey, and Southwark, where the Globe and the Clink are. That's a lot but it may be all doable without rushing too much.
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