Madrid - Day 1

Left and Below: The Manzanares is a river in central Spain.
 
This river, runs entirely by the Community of Madrid.

The river hosts different ecosystems and areas of high environmental value, which have received different levels of protection. Overall,  the only stretch of river that is not protected is running through the town of Madrid.

Its source is formed by different springs and snow fields or glaciers, snow drifts that remain well into spring. It is located in the municipality of Manzanares el Real , municipality of which the river takes its name.   


Left: The Glorieta de San Vicente is a roundabout in Madrid.

La Puerta de San Vicente is a monumental door in the Glorieta de San Vicente.
In the 1990s the city of Madrid built this replica, plated granite and limestone concrete. 





Left: A photo that show a contrast between Madrid's city sprawl and a large park.

Left: Flowers that my Tia Ester made out of scraps of material laying around the house, and old clothes.

England to Spain

 

This Post will be brief for now as we have so much stuff to do and not much time at the moment to do this. 

But I will say that we did make it to Madrid and we are well accommodated with the family.

Future Blogs will be grouped days unless there are days that are particularly exciting. 

Today we are off to sus out the procedures of renewing my DNI. 

Over and Out

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Imperial College and Kew

The day consisted of a morning visit to the Imperial College of London and a brief afternoon trip to Kew Gardens.

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Kew Gardens:

It dates from 1759, comprises 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses, four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures, all set in an internationally significant landscape.It is one of London's top tourist attractions. 

 

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is the world's largest collection of living plants. Its living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. 

 

The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants.

The Palm House  between 1844 and 1848, and was the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron. 

It is considered " the world's most important surviving Victorian glass and iron structure." The structure's panes of glass are all hand-blown.

In July 2003, the gardens were put on the list of World Heritage Sites

FUN FACTS:

From November 1959 until August 2007 Kew Gardens had a flagpole, the tallest in Britain. The flagpole was removed after damage by weather and woodpeckers.

Kew is important as a seedbank

Kew provides advice and guidance to police forces around the world where plant material may provide important clues or evidence in cases.

Kew has one of the largest compost heaps in Europe, and the compost is mainly used in the gardens, but on occasion has been auctioned as part of a fundraising event for the gardens.

 

More still to be added...when i am more awake ... it was a big day!

Adventure to Cambridge

The purpose of our adventure to Cambridge was in order to see our nephew and to discover Cambridge.

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The Touring was started by going punting down the river Cam which contributes to the name of the town Cambridge after the Romans built a bridge over it. 

Cambridge 
There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area during the Bronze Age and Roman times; under Viking rule Cambridge became an important trading center.
 
Cambridge is most widely known as the home of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209 and consistently ranked one of the top five universities in the world.

Cambridge does not have a cathedral,which traditionally is a prerequisite for city status.




Punting
The word ‘punt’ refers to a vessel that is typically characterised by a flat bottom without a Keel and is usually propelled by a 5m pole known as a ‘Quant’.  

Traditionally the only method of propulsion relies on the pole. The act of propelling the punt with the pole is referred to as ‘punting’

Originally punts were used for negotiating shallow marshland areas such as the Fens area situated just north-east of Cambridge.

The flat-bottomed design also facilitates the carrying of big loads without the boat sitting too far down into the water which makes the punt useful for transporting cargo across the marshlands and along riversides. 
(http://www.thecambridgepuntingcompany.co.uk/a-brief-history-of-punting/)
Below: Kings College

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Formally named The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge.

King's was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, soon after he had founded its sister college in Eton. However, the King's plans for the college were disrupted by the Wars of the Roses and resultant scarcity of funds, and his eventual deposition. Little progress was made on the project until in 1508 Henry VII began to take an interest in the college.

The building of the college's chapel, begun in 1446, was finally finished in 1544 during the reign of Henry VIII.


King's College Chapel is regarded as one of the greatest examples of late Gothic English architecture. It has the world's largest fan-vault, and the chapel's stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era.

On 1 September 1939, the day of the German invasion of Poland and the cause of the UK's entrance into World War II, permission was sought from the College Council to remove the stained glass from the east window of the chapel. By the end of 1941, all the ancient glass had been removed to various cellars in Cambridge for safe keeping.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_College,_Cambridge) 

 Above: Cambridge General Market in Market square







Above : One of the displays in the Market Square







 
Above: Corpus Clock
It was officially unveiled to the public on 19 September 2008 by Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking.

This clock tells two types of time. 

For more information on the Corpus clock see link below.
http://youtu.be/pHO1JTNPPOU




 
Left: Finally a visit to see my little nephew and his two massive guinea pigs, fluffy and spike.

Left: A proper English Sunburn, as evidence of how hot and sunny it is here at the moment. 

Right: Today's Journey

A Casual Saturday around London

Saturday means time to stop doing the touring thing and spend time with the family, so there were no set plans for the day, rather we went with the flow. 

Above: A late morning adventure to Maltby St market to find some form of food. http://www.maltby.st/




Left: Moored boat on the Thames now used as dwellings.



Below: We settled for a lunch at Browns on the banks of the Thames. 
The food was over priced but good. 



















Left: St Saviour's Dock tucked away between buildings.
The River Neckinger is a subterranean river that rises in Southwark and flows through London to St Saviour's Dock where it enters the River Thames. The river is now totally enclosed and runs underground.



Where the Neckinger meets the Thames at St Saviour's Dock, it separates Shad Thames to the west and the area historically known as Jacob's Island to the east. Shad Thames was developed in Victorian times into the largest warehouse complex in London, and then converted in the late 20th century into expensive flats, restaurants, bars, shops, etc. 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Neckinger)



Left: Horsleydown old stairs that were used by water man who would taxi people across the rive in the 1400's. 

These types of stairs were ofter built next to pubs, these ones are located next to the Anchor Brewery.


Below: The Mornings adventures

The afternoon brought a casual bike ride around London.
Images you see are things that we encountered along the way.








Right: The Long Water is a recreational lake in Hyde Park, London, England, created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline. The Long Water refers to the long and narrow western half of the lake that is known as the Serpentine. Serpentine Bridge, which marks the boundary between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

Above: Buckingham Palace

Right:  Albert Memorial in the fore ground and the Prince Albert hall in the Back ground. 

The memorial was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861.
The memorial is 176 feet (54 m) tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000 (the equivalent of about £10,000,000 in 2010). The cost was met by public subscription. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Memorial)

The Hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone, as a dedication to her deceased husband . 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert_Hall)

Above: The afternoons adventures.

Exploring Oxford

The above photo was taken in Oxford while laying on the grass after lunch.

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The purpose of the days adventures was to head out to Oxford in order for Kyran to meet with fellow robot enthusiasts and for him to see around their labs.

LONDON
Above: Paddington station, first opened in 1854 the station is currently undergoing a £35million project to fully restore platforms 9 to 12 and the Edwardian roof above them, known as span four.

Left: Paddington station featuring the British Rail class 43 trains that run on diesel and can reach top speeds of 238 km/h. These trains were manufactured between 1975 and 1982.







 


Left: Baker Street under ground train station. 221b Baker Street - the Official Home of Sherlock Holmes!










OXFORD

Left: Compilation of flower gardens and displays that are a common sight in Oxford at this time of the year.

Below: A panorama from the center of Oxford where the town has grown around the cemetery leaving a contrast between the old Oxford and the new.

Left: Lunch in the grass area of saint Giles Church Oxford,dedicated to St Giles, the gentle saint.
The church dates back to A.D. 1086, originally its situation was outside Oxford’s city boundaries.






 Left: By late afternoon there were pigeons perched all over the grave yard. These two photogenic pigeons were particularly contented and drew the attention of my camera.

Above:View of Oxford from St. Georges tower in the Oxford castle.

Right: Kyran standing on the top floor of the tower. 

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The oxford castle was originally built as Saxon tower at the west corner the wall. 

When invaded by the Normans the walls were pulled down and a motte and bailey fort was built next to the town which remained.

The original motte and bailey that was originally built in wood was later upgraded to stone. 

Most of the castle was destroyed during the English civil war and by the 18th century the remaining buildings had become Oxford's local prison. A new prison complex was built on the site from 1785 onwards and expanded in 1876; this became HM Prison Oxford, the prison finally closed in 1996.

Left: View of Oxford through the arrow slot in the top of St. Georges tower 













Left: 101stairs leading to the top of St. Georges tower.
The stairs were purposely designed and built to be different sizes, this was in order trip people up in the case of an attack. 
The stair also spiral in a direction the allows a right handed swordsman to strike down at the attacker.









Left: This is the crypt of St George's Chapel which is believed to be the earliest secular institution in the UK.

It is famous as the home of the tales of King Arthur  which were penned in this very college in the 1100's AD by Geoffry Monmouth.

  











Above: Me in the stocks outside Oxford castle
 
Right: Kyran regretful after being imprisoned in one of the cells in the Oxford castle.

The day concluded with rail way strikes which caused the cancellation of trains back into London. In an attempt to get back before the 10:30ish sun down we headed to Banbury and then in to London from that direction. A total delay of 3 hours.