Europe2018

The Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich. I only went to Greenwich as ‘filler’ after visiting the Thames Barrier, but the Naval College, the Royal Observatory, and the town itself, all looked more interesting than I expected. A little more on that in photos to be posted later, but I’ll need to go back. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Wandering around the Chelsea area looking to get near the Thames, I came much closer than I was expecting to that symptom of modern excess, the redevelopment of areas into housing for the luxury-car wealthy (lots of Porsche Cayennes, a smattering of Bentleys). The area is Chelsea Harbour, which at one point was power plants, a coaling dock, and other industrial facilities. The tower is the 37 story Chelsea Waterfront West Tower, a plan for easily affordable housing with views on a clear day from France to Ireland…. (not really, but see the picture on the website linked below). Prices purportedly from £1,400,000 - £8,380,000 (roughly $10.6million). I should, though, note that the developer is committed to having 39% of homes in the development (not necessarily in this tower) at below market rates (see the FT.com link). The waterway visible in the photo is Chelsea Creek, which empties into the Thames just around the corner. The building on the left (more pictures later) is referred to in some places as the Metropolitan Building, but in other places simply as the Lots Road power station. It’s much larger than visible here, was built in 1904, and was a coal-fired station providing power for the Tube. It’s being converted into 193 apartments, with a ground floor of retail space. Links: Chelsea Waterfront West Tower: www.chelseawaterfront.com/website/index.html Metropolitan Building: search.savills.com/property-detail/gblhrdlad151070 and www.ft.com/content/c6126042-ffd0-11e4-bc30-00144feabdc0 (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Somehow I had completely missed seeing the Albert Bridge until this trip. The plaque on it describes it as opened in 1874, but that version of it was unsound and so it was modified to be a suspension bridge in 1884-87; it was subsequently modified in 1973 with central piers, and extensively refurbished in 2010-11. The color scheme was added it 1992 to make it more visible to river traffic, though it also gives it a rather whimsical appearance. The boats around the north tower (on the left) are at a commercial dock, Cadogan Pier. The Albert Bridge is famous for how it is lit at night, though I haven’t seen that. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

After a long break from Ipernity, I'm back to posting here. Rather than finish out an album that I was working on, I'm posting for a new album -- I'll finish that older one later. Holiday tree at Covent Garden. Off to Europe again in November/December, this time hoping to get some understanding of Brexit and of nationalistic/populist movements in Europe. Admittedly, holiday shopping/celebrations in very cosmopolitan London aren’t exactly the best source, but it’s okay to have a little bit of ‘fun’ in the process! (And they provide a stark reminder of wealth differences) Due to heavy time demands this year, this photo-essay is going to be posted differently. My first posting, over the next week or so, are just going to be an overview of places visited and some very initial thoughts, I’ll then provide exploration and narrative of specific locations as I have time. A note about cameras… many more photos on this trip (like this photo) were taken with what I call my ‘pocket’ camera, a small Nikon S7000. That was mainly due to many rainy situations and its easier to keep both the camera and the lens dry on the small camera that fits in my coat pocket, but also due to situations where I didn’t want to be juggling the larger camera in a crowd – it’s also often better in night photography. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

A key goal for me on this trip, to see the Thames Barrier which is on the east side of London. Opened in 1984 to control storm surges which historically flooded from the North Sea up the Thames to London. There will be much more on this later…. Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Barrier www.gov.uk/guidance/the-thames-barrier (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Piccadilly Line train at the Earl’s Court Underground/Tube station. As I’ve done just about every time I’ve been in London since the mid 1970’s, I stayed in Earl’s Court. You can fairly easily find a reasonably priced hotel room there, there’s a good selection of affordable restaurants (particularly Indian), and it’s regularly been a good location for making quick Underground connections to wherever I’m going. I suspect, though, that I like Earl’s Court just because it’s on the Piccadilly Line, a name which always sounds somehow special. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Another important goal on this trip, seeing more of the historic English lock structures. This is the Teddington Locks on the Thames, at the tidal limit of the Thames and thus the lowest of the locks on the Thames. Much more on these locks with later pictures. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddington_Lock (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Leas Lift, a funicular originally installed in 1885 to carry passengers from the promenade (the top of the cliff) to the shore; it uses water and gravity for the lifting. It was closed when I was there and has apparently operated only intermittently since 2009 due to various safety concerns. I was touring Folkestone at the invitation of a fellow Flickr member - it was a wonderful afternoon exploration/discussion of history, development, globalism, perspectives on the wars (from Napoleonic onward), Brexit and more. More photos forthcoming. Sources: www.leaslift.co.uk en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leas_Lift (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

When people ask “where did you go in Europe” and I mention Folkestone I get a completely blank stare. One of the things I enjoy doing is visiting the places no one ever thinks of, and discovering that there is more of interest than most tourists would expect. This is the ‘high street’, the shopping area of probably centuries back and still active – and now actually named “The Old High Street”. The street’s quite steep and narrows quite a bit after the “Epic Shop” sign. Not only is it interesting in its own right, but it is also a good illustration of efforts to preserve the past without making it some sort of sterile ‘museum’. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

While this may not be a particularly impressive picture, it shows something that always amazed me – how the country side in Europe (and the UK) looks so much more orderly and less trashed than does rural America. Throughout much of the U.S. the agricultural areas have plenty of abandoned farm equipment and vehicles around the central home, and often multiple vacant homes – and the roads in between farms are littered with signs. The UK and the parts of western Europe that I’ve seen seem to keep the country side much more tidy looking. I mentioned this to one fellow on a train and he said something suggesting that part of the tidiness is due to specific land use policy, but that wasn’t entirely clear to me. This was taken from a train from London to Edinburgh, about 12 minutes south of Darlington in North East England. I was headed to Edinburgh to get at least some initial sense of Scotland. More to come in future phots. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Based on what I see in various places, this is the same picture taken by 1000’s of tourists – though in weather that wasn’t quite so gray (American spelling). In the foreground is the monument to the Royal Scots Greys, in the background, Edinburgh Castle. Having never been to Edinburgh, I did a superficial following of Rick Steves general guide including going up to the castle and then walking the Royal Mile. Since I’m not terribly fond of the interiors of Castles, I didn’t pay the £17.00 ($22) to go in the castle – and I found most of the Royal Mile to be both too commercial and too gimmicky. Once I began to find my way off the tourist loop, though, I found Edinburgh interesting. Since I’d like to see more of Scotland, I expect I’ll get back to use it as a base. Re the monument to the Royal Scot Greys, it’s to their loses in the Boer War. I was somewhat surprised by the amount of monuments in Edinburgh to involvement in wars, but then I’ve been generally surprised when in Europe about the amount of memorialization of wars. For a continent that we Americans very often consider to be a standard-bearer for civilization, it’s surprising how many periods of aggressive fights over territory have occurred and are memorialized. Of course we Americans have been in plenty of wars (and subterfuges), and we are quite zealous about displaying patriotism, but we talk much less about specific wars. …. The other gray mentioned in the title – I was warned that Edinburgh in the winter would have relatively short days, but that didn’t bother me. There was quite a bit of rain while I was there, and I had to buy a second umbrella due to wind damage, but I’d rather be there at a time when it isn’t flooded with tourists – the only problem with the rainy grayness was taking photographs (and my camera lens fogging). (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

I wanted to see what I could of historic harbour areas near Edinburgh, so took a bus out to near the HMS Britannia at the Port of Leith. One shock as I was exploring around was what appeared, from a distance, to be a man standing almost naked (in cold weather) at a seemingly impossible location on the end of an abandoned and severely deteriorating wharf – considering the cold and grayness, I was concerned he might be depressed and debating the value of life…. But then I realized there was a seabird standing on his head, which made me wonder about my initial hypothesis. In my pictures from further away, which would justify my concerns, it was very difficult to pick out the figure – this much closer picture, during a brief period of sun, displays the statue much better. Surprisingly, there is nothing near the site describing the statue or why it is there, but an Internet search did lead me to the link below describing this as one of six statues erected by Anthony Gormley along the Leith (I’ll have to find the rest) -- Gormely also created the Angel of the North that I saw from the train, and hope to get back to see. Gormely: photosofedinburgh.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/photography-location-guide-the-gormley-at-ocean-terminal (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

One of my main objectives on visiting Edinburgh was to see the fascinating Forth rail bridge. Unfortunately, like too many other things there, trying to get to see it I kept running into information on commercial tours (which weren’t offered in the winter), but had trouble finding out to get to it on public transit – though I eventually found that (more with the later pictures on it). To me the bridge is a magnificent piece of engineering, but most amazing is that it opened in 1890 and is still very much in use. The Wikipedia link below has some pictures of its original construction; the railway-technology link has good detail on its design. More photos and detail about it in the future. Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Bridge www.railway-technology.com/projects/forth-rail-bridge-firth-scotland (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Bridges over the river Tyne in central Newcastle. The photo is taken from the “High Level Bridge” of the “Swing Bridge” (apparently also called the Red Bridge), the Tyne Bridge, and in the distance the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. More details on the bridges and the quayside walk with later pictures. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

I was in Newcastle for only about 3 hours as I was waiting to board a ferry across the North Sea to Amsterdam (more on that later). I had previously seen pictures of the bridges in Newcastle (nearby picture) which I found fascinating, but didn’t realize I was also going to be seeing the remains of the 15th century Town Wall. It was only happenstance that I saw the wall – I was headed down to the river but had gone out the wrong side of the station. More about the wall in later photos of Newcastle. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

On the North Sea ferry in Newcastle, waiting to depart for Amsterdam. My experience last year using an overnight ferry to get from the UK to the continent was interesting, so thought I’d try it again this year. This was a longer trip in terms of time, which meant I had a good opportunity to chat for awhile with lorry drivers in the bar (it sounded like being a truck driver in the EU is much saner than in the U.S.). Didn’t sleep, though, as well as on the ferry last year – very noisy engine. It’s actually a little cheaper than a hotel room and the train tickets and saves time, so I’ll try it again next year, but with more focus on finding a quiet cabin. (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

From the ferry I took a bus into Amsterdam Centraal Station to catch a train to Cologne. Having a couple of hours to spare, of course I took the free ferry rides... (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)

Hohenzollernbrucke (Hohenzollern Bridge) in Cologne, Germany, named after the rulers of Prussia. It was first completed in 1911 and served the Germans as a significant route during WWII – the Germans destroyed the bridge in 1945 to prevent the Allies from using it. After the war it was reconstructed in a form similar to the original bridge. When I was planning my trip, Cologne was just going to be a base for seeing a couple of nearby sites in the central Rhine area. However, by time I got to Cologne I was tired from an intense week of exploring in the UK, and decided to instead use Cologne primarily as a place to relax. Cologne turned out to be far more interesting than I expected – many more pictures in later postings. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenzollern_Bridge (Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)