What can you see in the UK flag?

 

The UK flag.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Why United? Because Elizabeth I died without marrying nor having children. She had executed her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, but left the throne of England after Elizabeth's death to pass to King James % of Scotland who became King James 1 of England.

A large number of citizens in both England and Scotland did not want to be united. Arguments continued, as we see from documents of the time, abut the wording.

The British Isles

The British Isles are all the islands which form part of Brain, some inhabited and some empty. The biggest one we all recognize is Great Britain.

What is Great Britain? A physical or geographical entity, the big island. What is Northern Ireland. The northern part of Ireland. 

The bigger Southern part is predominantly Roman Catholic and is now known as Eire, the nationality.

What does British mean? English means living in England, and speaking English. But Britain includes living in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Over the years it has meant having a British parent or ancestry or two, or living in parts of the Commonwealth. 

Church of England and Anglicans - what's the difference?

The Church of England is physically in England. The Church of Scotland is in Scotland. Anglican means English style churches are around the world but run along the same lines, and/or deferring to the head of the Church.

The UK Flag

The UK flag includes the flags of Stoland and England.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare

About the Author

More later

Planning a trip to Vietnam, north or south or both?

Fascinating country. Just as the UK had Boadicea fighting the Romans, and Elizabeth I, Vietnam has its female military heroines, including two sisters.

In modern times the country was split between the communists backed by the Russians in the North, and the American-backed regime in the South.

The Chinese influenced the language before the Roman alphabet was adopted. Also expect to see noodle soup. China is the northern neighbour, which explains the past influence and invasions, as well as the modern business influence and incoming tourists.

The French left behind their breakfast habits of coffee and bread.

The temperature varies from north to south.
Christmas is a good time to go if you don't want the weather too hot, too cold or too wet.

Problems
A What will it cost?
B How long need I go?
C Which sights should be on my list?
D Which ones should be my priority?
E Can I combine my trip with the capital of Cambodia, or Laos?

A One price quotation I saw was for 10 days, about US$1000, per person, sharing, with dinners, not flights from the USA, but includes internal flights. Various extras such airport /country taxes and evening dinners - might be some museum entry fees. Extras for single person room or upgrade of hotel.
B
C The capital, Hanoi. In the North. to east to the coast.
Fly south to
The old capital, Hue.
See the city of lanterns.
Ho Chi Minh City. See the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, big, solid, square; you might see only the outside depending on the time of year.)
The tiny tunnels with narrow entrances, used by the ultra-slim communists invading the South.

The famous rocks in the water -

D Choose your favourites. Mine are:
Crazy House
Bottle Temple

Sources
tripadvisor
vietnam tourist board
wikitravel
wikivoyage

Author
Angela Lansbury

Henry VIII, his wives, and Elizabeth I on Charing Cross Station

Charing Cross murals remind me of Henry IVIII and his unlucky wives. Henry doesn't look too pleased. Nor does Ann Boleyn. Cardinal Wolsey doesn't look terribly happy either. Elizabeth I is not exactly delighted either. Why do I like these portraits when they look so grim? I refuse to buy pictures to hang in my house which show glowering people. Same goes for miserable looking Teddy Bears and toys. But rather than looking at a blank wall, I'd always rather look at portraits of important people, and be inspired to learn a little more history.

Many kings and queens of England had dramatic lives, or made memorials of events in their lives. I love these murals. Charing Cross is associated with Eleanor, whose loss was

Problems
How do you know when it's your stop?

Answers
On most London trains you get a recorded announcement:
The next station is ....

Stories
I once missed my stop. What was worse, my stop was the point at which everybody got off. The train diverted off down into a dark siding. I alerted the driver and he took the train and me back to the station. I did feel foolish.

I expect when I arrived home late, somebody said to me, "What took you so long?"

The answer was, "A train driver accidentally took me into a siding. But when I pointed out that the train was not empty, he brought me back."

Tips
1 If you get off at Charing Cross Station, as the signs tell you, you can visit Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, or The National Portrait Gallery.
2 If you are simply passing through, sit by the window and keep a look out for the murals.
3 Get to know what your usual stations look like.
4 Some people aim for an exact train time.
5 Some people can plan which end of the train to sit at to be near the exit stairs.
6 Note the time of your last train.

Breakfast On The Go
Others who change trains at a big station allow time to dash to a kiosk for a breakfast croissant before returning to make their connection. One girl had a regular morning order. She would arrive and wave. The cafe owner would grab her wrapped croissant from the counter and hand it over. She would hand over the exact money, race back down the stairs and onto the train to arrive at work exactly on time.

Keep a tube map in your pocket for every journey. Then if the trains are delayed you can plan an alternative route.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross_tube_station

Author
Photos by Angela Lansbury.
See my other posts on London stations and stations in Singapore.

Richard III to be buried in Leicester Cathedral - ending "the winter of our discontent"

Next week (March 2015) Richard III will be buried in Leicester Cathedral. The lead-lined coffin has been carved by one of his descendants, named not Richard but Michael. It was Richard's closest descendant's DNA which enabled Richard III to be identified when his skeleton was dug up from a Leicester car park.

   Richard III should be buried in York, many people protest, because he is from the House of York. (He lost to the Lancastrians, from Lancaster, Tudor dynasty, a line of kings all confusingly named Henry who led to Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.)

   However, York already has many attractions and does not need another. Also visitors to York might find so many other things to do that they neglect Richard III.

   Leicester, however, has almost no major attractions. I recall the highlight of my stay with my good friend Lynda was a trip to the Dunelm Mill store. Leicester is also nearer if you are going north from London, where large numbers of tourists arrive.

   Yes, Leicester, specifically Leicester Cathedral, is a great place for Richard III to be buried, near where he died in the battle of Bosworth Field, ending The Wars of The Roses ((White rose of York versus Red Rose symbol of Lancaster on their heraldic badges). He lived from 2 October 1452 to 22 August 1485, dying in his early thirties.

   How do you get to Leicester? Drive up the motorway from London. As Richard III said, according to William Shakespeare, at the end of the play, Richard III, written about 1592, more than a century later, "A horse! A horse - my kingdom for a horse!"

   Did Richard kill, or order to be killed, his nephews, the two princes in the tower (of London). He had just cancelled the coronation of the eldest brother, declaring them both to be illegitimate, so that he could be crowned.

   You may recall the opening line of the Shakespeare's play, given to Richard III, "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York."
   If you want to know more about Richard III, you can read three books about him. Two of the biographies were reviewed in a recent edition of the Sunday Times, by the author of the third book.

Photo of Richard III of England from Wikipedia in public domain

Harrow School And The Straw Hat

Harrow School at Harrow on the hill is where Winston Churchill went to school, plus a number of other famous people. You can book a tour of the school. I've driven up the hill many times to visit friends who live there, or go to restaurants. On my most recent visit I was lucky enough to see a boy wearing a straw hat, famously part of the school's summer uniform and sold in a local shop. I would have called it a boater. The wikipedia entry for the school says that the hat is erroneously called a boater. But when I went to the article on boaters it mentioned hats worn at Harrow school. 

If you are not lucky enough to time your visit to take a tour or see a boy wearing a boater hat, at least you can be sure of seeing this statue on the wall, day and night, all seasons.

This statue is of Elizabeth I on the south tower. The photo is taken by me.

If you don't wish to stop at a restaurant another option is one of several pubs. The walk or drive downhill through impressively large the trees is very pleasant.

The spire of the hilltop church can be seen from the train to Harrow, even if you are not getting out at Harrow so look out for it.