For all the impact of "globalization" noted earlier today, there are absolutely parts of Jolly Olde that have "Rule Brittania" written all over them. From the classic London red bus & tube station ...
To the view down toward Westminster with Big Ben looming on the horizon ...
... to Piccadilly Circus, for all it's tourists ...
... still a center of it all in many ways.
After wandering a bit through the National Gallery ...
... and sharing the view with the Pidgeons of Trafalgar Square ...
... I wandered down to check out the details of the monuments in the center of that memorial to war and empire.
You probably can't read the inscription here but at the bottom it says, "ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY." Why does that remind me of the time when every woman's "duty" -- according the gospel attribued to Queen Victoria, was to "close your eyes and think of England." .
Would be interesting to know if +Rowan spent much time in Trafalgar Square as a wee laddy, wouldn't it? And I'm wondering today if "close your eyes and think of the Empire" and "close your eyes and think of the Communion" are really all that different if the end result is the same.
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So, back to the travelogue:
Then there were the lions ...
... and the fountains ...
... and the overview of the whole darned imperial lot of it as viewed from the National Gallery steps ....
... by myownself personally this Day One In London Towne.
... and the fountains ...
... and the overview of the whole darned imperial lot of it as viewed from the National Gallery steps ....
... by myownself personally this Day One In London Towne..
So after a nice English supper of tempura prawns, followed by Chicken Marsala w/an Australian Shiraz I'm thinking the British Empire is actually "changed, not ended ..." and it's time to take my Yankee self (who has NO idea what timezone I'm in!) to bed and call it a day.
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More tomorrow.
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14 comments:
Most excellent pictures!
And by Big Ben we do mean the bell in the clock in St. Stephen's Tower don't we?
Steve
I'd be surprised if Trafalgar Square was central to +++Rowan's consciousness as a wee lad, given that he's Welsh and not English. To this day I can't quite describe the intensity, velocity, and temperature of the steam that came out the ears of my Scots friends when they were described as "English," and my Welsh friends had similar feelingsabout the phenomenon to which they were also subject as being part of a antion and province entirely distinct from England and the C of E, yet nearly always subsumed entirely by it in popiular consciousness. It's a point of commonality that many of us Anglicans have with respect to being identified as an ecclesial product of historical English imperialism.
James VI of Scotland had no idea what he was getting into when he moved south, eh?
Blessings,
Dylan
Rowan is WELSH??????????? Oh my Gawd, that expalins it all!
Seriously, having been married to a Brit for nearly 20 years I really do know better than to lump everyone "over the pond" together -- but the ethos of "duty to England and Empire" seems to me a dominant influence in Anglcian Communion Land no matter what the ethnicity of the ABoC ...
You probably can't read the inscription here but at the bottom it says, "ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY." Why does that remind me of the time when every woman's "duty" -- according the gospel attribued to Queen Victoria, was to "close your eyes and think of England."
Probably because you have to trivialize the sacrifice of hundreds or thousands of men's lives to protect their homeland against invasion by a dictator in order to make it somehow fit your worldview.
... And I'm wondering today if "close your eyes and think of the Empire" and "close your eyes and think of the Communion" are really all that different if the end result is the same.
I suggest you give it quite a bit of thought.
You sure do get around and that is a good thing. I sure hope you get some rest, find time for yourself, reflection etc.
You deserve it. Thanks for sharing these great pictures.
Joe
Oh, Susan, Susan, Susan . . .the pictures are lovely, really, and no one deserves a wee bit of entertainment more than you, but I can just hear The Bullies screaming "gay junket" and whinning about how they have to pass the hat just to afford to take their Executive Committee to NOLA for the HOB meeting.
Just put on your best asbestos pumps, darling, and brace yourself for the heat.
Actually, I'm hoping there's a Right Wing version of "Follow the Money." It would lead them right to the poor box. You know. The one with Integrity's name on it.
Relax. Enjoy. And, for God's sake, stay away from the Welchmen.
Oh, and mind the gap.
I love England in general and London in particular. Your photos brought a smile to my face (you look great, too -- no jet lag?!). I've been dozens of times and never once have I had a disappointing experience. In particular the people have been wonderful to me (whether English or Scot or Welsh or Irish or etc.).
One thing is disconcerting to me though -- among my gay friends in London, I have never met a single person who believed in God, attended church, or felt even the remotest connection to Anglicanism.
Sadly, that includes a gay Anglican priest I met.
-J
P.S. Ronf: What is it like to live in a world without gentle humor? Oh, right, it's called fundamentalism. Blech.
we lived in the uk many years ago when i was on a professor exchange. the real england is outside of london........:)
on an unrelated note, has anyone read the transcript of +jensen's interview on the bbc? i couldn't understand what he was saying. maybe i'm just dense but his 'fudge' factor was off the scale.
can anyone help me out here?
Actually, Jake, it's the left that I have found humorless for the most part. Susan's comment struck me as political commentary, not humor.
Jack:
One thing is disconcerting to me though -- among my gay friends in London, I have never met a single person who believed in God, attended church, or felt even the remotest connection to Anglicanism.
Sadly, that includes a gay Anglican priest I met.
Then, literally for God's sake, what is he doing as a priest? I should think that if he had any integrity he would quit. And what a horror for any believer whose spiritual health and guidance are influenced by him.
Ron ... actually it was intended as political humor.
How nice it is of Ron to take time out from his busy schedule to share his commentary and perspective with those whose “manner of life” makes him so uncomfortable.
Sorry, Susan; it looked like social commentary to me - I guess I didn't see what it had to do with politics.
Ah, well, you can't bat 1.000. Even Manny Ramirez strikes out once in a while.
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