We've just wrapped up a busy three-day weekend here (Monday was the "First May Bank Holiday", for those of you wondering.) We decided to spend the weekend checking out some attractions relatively close to home. On sunny Saturday, we drove 50 miles north of London to one of Europe's best aviation museums -- the Duxford Imperial War Museum.
As luck would have it, we arrived just in time for a fantastic end-to-end rehearsal of the Aerostars aerobatic display team. They did full formation aerobatics (including opposition passes, gyroscopic maneuvers and figures) in Russian Yak-50 aircraft.
After the impromptu air show, we toured the museum. There's a large interactive gallery, several huge hangars filled to capacity with British, American, and other historic military aircraft:
conservation hangars where you can watch mechanics and engineers restoring aircraft right in front of you:
and where we were shown this warning sign:
which will probably need to hang outside of my next office. There were also outdoor static displays of aircraft you could walk through:
and even a Land Warfare hall with tanks and artillery. Among the highlights for us was the opportunity to walk inside of a Concorde supersonic tranport:
and to stand above and beneath a Lockheed SR-71A reconnaissance plane:
Being a good corporate citizen, I did also enjoy seeing lots of Northrop and Grumman planes, including this WWII Grumman TBM-3 Avenger torpedo bomber, just like the one that George Bush Sr flew in the Pacific:
After a full day at the museum, we drove 8 miles further north to the town of Cambridge. Although
I had visited Cambridge with Maria in 2007, D had never been there before. We spent the early evening walking all around the University and the town. (It helps that we're already having very long days here; it's not dark until 9pm.)
We especially enjoyed watching the punt boaters manuevering their long boats using only a pole, while hecklers on the bridges added to their pressure by providing loud running commentary on each punter's form and finesse. Fun!
We drove home that night, then got up on Sunday morning and drove southwest to the coastal town of Portsmouth, the home of the Royal Navy.
We began at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Our first stop there was the Mary Rose museum and hull display. The Mary Rose was King Henry VIII's favorite ship.
Unfortunately for him, it sank in front of him as it departed Portsmouth harbour fully loaded with men and gear in 1545. In 1982, the ship's hull and it's inventory were raised from the harbour and are now on display in remarkably good condition. Here are three of the cannons recovered from the ship:
I don't have any photos of the ship's hull, as you could only peer through thick glass into the building where it is currently undergoing preservative treatment, but one half of it remains and gives a great idea of what the 500-year old war ship was like. From the Mary Rose we moved on to the HMS Victory, said to be the most famous warship in the world. This was Admiral Nelson's flagship during the British defeat of the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
This section of the ship with the large picture windows is where the captain and flag officer lived.
Their quarters, unlike anything else aboard ship, were spacious and luxurious:
The 200+ year-old ship was in incredibly good condition.
After touring the Victory, we took a harbour cruise, where we saw ships from Her Majesty's Royal Navy:
including the HMS Endurance arctic explorer ship:
as well as pleasure boats:
and the backside of the HMS Warrior:
The boat gave us a great perspective on the Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower.
We drove to the Old Town part of Portsmouth at the mouth of the harbour:
and watched the boats and ferries coming in.
On Monday we drove around southwest London, visiting some areas we've often wondered about or had previously seen only briefly. We finally made it to Wimbledon, where we were surprised to see how small the All England Lawn Tennis Club really is. (No wonder it is so difficult to get tickets to the Wimbledon Championship tournament!) We liked Richmond Park and the town of Richmond-on-Thames. While there, I jokingly told D to keep his eyes open for Mick Jagger, as I've been told he lives in one of Richmond's riverview mansions. But apparently D has better luck with Rolling Stones on his own! He
just called me from Heathrow -- he is headed out to Qatar today -- to tell me that he went all the way through security this morning immediately behind Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and his Russian girlfriend!
(D didn't take this photo -- it's from the Daily Mail newspaper earlier this year.) He said that Ronnie Wood was pleasant and even signed autographs for the security personnel at the checkpoint. Nice way to end the fun holiday weekend!
We've just wrapped up a busy three-day weekend here (Monday was the "First May Bank Holiday", for those of you wondering.) We decided to spend the weekend checking out some attractions relatively close to home. On sunny Saturday, we drove 50 miles north of London to one of Europe's best aviation museums -- the Duxford Imperial War Museum. As luck would have it, we arrived just in time for a fantastic end-to-end rehearsal of the Aerostars aerobatic display team. They did full formation aerobatics (including opposition passes, gyroscopic maneuvers and figures) in Russian Yak-50 aircraft. 
which will probably need to hang outside of my next office. There were also outdoor static displays of aircraft you could walk through:
and to stand above and beneath a Lockheed SR-71A reconnaissance plane: 
We especially enjoyed watching the punt boaters manuevering their long boats using only a pole, while hecklers on the bridges added to their pressure by providing loud running commentary on each punter's form and finesse. Fun!
We drove home that night, then got up on Sunday morning and drove southwest to the coastal town of Portsmouth, the home of the Royal Navy. 
We began at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Our first stop there was the Mary Rose museum and hull display. The Mary Rose was King Henry VIII's favorite ship. 
I don't have any photos of the ship's hull, as you could only peer through thick glass into the building where it is currently undergoing preservative treatment, but one half of it remains and gives a great idea of what the 500-year old war ship was like. From the Mary Rose we moved on to the HMS Victory, said to be the most famous warship in the world. This was Admiral Nelson's flagship during the British defeat of the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
The 200+ year-old ship was in incredibly good condition.
After touring the Victory, we took a harbour cruise, where we saw ships from Her Majesty's Royal Navy:
including the HMS Endurance arctic explorer ship:
and the backside of the HMS Warrior:
The boat gave us a great perspective on the Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower.
We drove to the Old Town part of Portsmouth at the mouth of the harbour:
and watched the boats and ferries coming in.
On Monday we drove around southwest London, visiting some areas we've often wondered about or had previously seen only briefly. We finally made it to Wimbledon, where we were surprised to see how small the All England Lawn Tennis Club really is. (No wonder it is so difficult to get tickets to the Wimbledon Championship tournament!) We liked Richmond Park and the town of Richmond-on-Thames. While there, I jokingly told D to keep his eyes open for Mick Jagger, as I've been told he lives in one of Richmond's riverview mansions. But apparently D has better luck with Rolling Stones on his own! He just called me from Heathrow -- he is headed out to Qatar today -- to tell me that he went all the way through security this morning immediately behind Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and his Russian girlfriend!
(D didn't take this photo -- it's from the Daily Mail newspaper earlier this year.) He said that Ronnie Wood was pleasant and even signed autographs for the security personnel at the checkpoint. Nice way to end the fun holiday weekend!
3 comments:
That's them! When I saw him he was wearing the same Ugg boots as in this photo. I didn't know they made them for men. His girlfriend looked to be his granddaughter. D
I don't think she's nearly old enough to be a granddaughter.
A: It didn't slip by that you will hang the sign outside your next "office". We were hopping for someless less standard when you return.
Also for A: You are looking very thin aside the Henry VIII statue. Cathy has decided her next diet plan is to feed me bacon every day.
d
Great pictures and post A!
Looks like some great side trips - Tell D to order Pepsi !!
-B
Post a Comment