On Saturday the 21st of September we headed into London early to take advantage of touring London from a bus top. It was cold but we braved the upper deck to see what we could see. We had a plan in place in which we’d hop off the bus if our tour guide was lousy and hop on the next one. Our guide was fabulous with an amazing store of knowledge and he could recite quotes and passages and entries from famous historical documents including the Bible. We stayed on the bus!

Fountains and statues and fabulous architecture, oh my.

The ballerina on top of the Victoria Palace Theater is Anna Pavlova this statue is not the original but a replica made in 2006. Here’s the story of the original…

From 1911, the year after its rebuilding to its present design by Frank Matcham, the Victoria Palace had a gilded statue of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova poised above it. This was owner Alfred Butt’s homage to the dancer he had spectacularly introduced to London.

The tribute was not appreciated by the superstitious ballerina, who would never look at her image as she passed the theatre, drawing the blinds in her car. The original statue was taken down for safety reasons in 1939 before the blitz and has completely disappeared. It is not known whether it is in someone’s garden or was turned to wartime military use, such as bullets.

Standing on Old Park Lane since June 14th 1971, this is the one that started it all. The brainchild of Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, the cafe attracted customers from day one with first-rate, but moderately priced, casual American fare (available no-where else in London or the UK at the time), warm service and ubiquitous Rock ‘n’ Roll music and sensibility – Hard Rock Cafe London became an instant classic.

The reason I’m including this in my Saturday London post is because Dear and I ate here with the members of our singing group and band in the summer of 1973. We were so ready for a good ole American meal after having so many salads and other interesting food touring England. We savored each bite of our hamburgers and cokes with ice in them!

This masterpiece by Adrian Jones (born 1848 – died 1935) named “Quadriga”, was commissioned by King Edward VII, and stands on the top of the Wellingtons Arch, Hyde Park Corner. Quadriga (from the Latin Quadri-, four, and jungere, to yoke) is a four-horse chariot, raced in the original Olympic Games and other sacred sports. The Statue was built in a garden in Old Church Street Chelsea by Adrian Jones. This iron work weighs 40 tons, and dates from 1912.

It was fun to read the different names of all the pubs you see around London.

There is so much to see and share from London. You could have ten posts just on statues on top of buildings. I haven’t even gotten to the very familiar landmarks yet. Only two more days that we were in London so the end is in sight. Glad you have hung in there. Next time we’ll hit some of the well known images of London…

Back to the good ole U.S.A. On Monday I had my hair looked after by my very efficient hairdresser and I let her know that I have come to peace with my “new do” and she could continue that cut for the time being. When I got home from that appointment I totally ruined my fresh cut and color by mowing the lawn for the last time this year. I’m happy to report that all the leaves have been swooped up and delivered to the yard waste bin. Can I hear some applause? You should have seen my drippy hair do after that task was completed! Now I’ll sit back and enjoy the cleaned up look around here.

How was your Monday? If you live in the U.S. are you hosting Thanksgiving or are you going somewhere else for a meal?