travels with ijits: Bird man of London

A quiet Christmas dinner with a goose, spanikopita, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes was on the agenda, with traditional Christmas pudding and pumpkin pie for dessert. But first a walk in the park near Alex’s house.

We had some moldy bread that Greg took to give the birds rather than throw away, and we got quite a show. One raven sat in the tree and called the others in when Greg tossed some crumbs into the grass. Interestingly enough, the bird that called the others never left his post, and got no dinner. He’s one of the birds in the tree on the left. Ravens are amazing birds. I caught some of it on video.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag

On Boxing Day (Thursday) we got a tour of Camden. That’s where Alex went to graduate school and where she used to live.

Street where most of her classes were held	University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies
Blue door is her old house, next to a great Japanese restaurant	Entrance to Russell Square where the pigeons nearly carried Greg away

And the bird man strikes again:

Off then to Camden Market, most of which looks like the junkier parts of NYC where tiny shops hawk crap made in China, but well worth the visit for the architecture was Horse Tunnel Market, aka The Stables Market, which used to house the city horse stables. It is mainly underground, with vaulted brick ceilings and the old iron stables still intact. Near the entrance to the market, we saw this:

Oh, thank god! It’s safe to go in.

Above the entrance	Turkish shop full of lamps and painted pottery
Carved wooden wall by the staircase	Alex’s “stop taking my damn picture” face

After the market we took the underground to Greenwich, mainly because I insisted we visit the meridian so that I could stand in both the eastern and western hemispheres at once. First we stopped at the Cutty Sark, which according to Alex, was the fastest clipper in the Royal Navy, and was therefore used to import tea. Priorities, man, priorities!

Then up the steep hill to the Royal Observatory, past the Naval Academy, all closed for Boxing Day, but still worth seeing, and we still had access to a segment of the line marking the meridian.

The Royal Naval Academy	The Royal Observatory
One foot in the eastern hemisphere, one in the western – and empress of it all bwahahaha	“Stay on your side of the line! … MOM!!!!”

One of the more bizarre and unpleasant establishments we’ve run across:

A quick pop into a pub, The Coach and Horses (it is a theme, after all), and then we headed to the south bank of the Thames. It’s really beautiful at night. It is also where the Globe Theater is.