Before We Left

Because these 5 students have absolutely no knowledge of the UK or London, I had been sending them bits of trivia and information as the week ticked down to our trip. I thought I would share those in the blog. 


Factoid 1:
Charles II, after a string of bad luck, insisted that the ravens of the Tower be protected and 6 remain at all times. It is said that the kingdom and the Tower of London will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. There are seven ravens at the Tower today--the required six, plus one spare! In recent news, babies have been born at the Tower this year. The first in 35 years!! 

On my first trip to London in the 90's, I hadn't learned of the superstition and was snacking on a croissant. I couldn't finish it and two ravens were following me around, so I tossed them a crum. After I had a tour with a Warder, I was horrified that I could have possibly killed one! :) Here's more info:The Tower Ravens

Factoid 2: 
Focused on how the UK using military time and writes the date different (Today is 9 June, 2019 or 9/12/19) than us (and actually more correct) Hoping to avoid any miscommunication, I found several links to help them with especially military time: This link explains quite a few linguistic differences in talking about time: 
Time in London

Factoid 3:
The issue with folks who drive on the OTHER side of the road. Not on the wrong side. 
Zebras, Puffins and Pelicans--all names of types of crosswalks and there are many more. 71 people have died in crosswalk accidents in the UK already this year, so paying close attention to crosswalks and knowing where cars are coming from is critical!! 

Your Complete Guide to Pedestrian crosses in the UK

Factoid 4: 
Since this group seems to know very little about London in general, I sent them this one about the differences between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. History says that the London Bridge was originally a 12th century bridge built after the Romans left London (then called Londonium),but it collapsed. Creating the cause for the London Bridge is Falling Down song. It was then rebuilt in 1896 as pedestrian bridge. That bridge was sold to an American who moved it piece by piece to Arizona. 

The bridge in this photo with Sam and I is the Tower Bridge. Called that because it is the closest bridge to the Tower of London. It is the iconic bridge that has been blown up in many a film. You can walk across it, drive across it or even walk along the glass floor --a vertiginous journey awaits those who like to walk across the glass pathway. You can watch the video here:

Walk the glass path 

Factoid 4:
The London Underground has an amazing array of myths and truths including that a Tardis sits outside Earls Court and that Jerry Springer was born at East Finchley as his mom was there sheltering from an air raid in World War II. 

Staying to the right on escalators on The Tube might be more dangerous than stepping off into THE GAP! If you stay to the left you will be plowed over. 

Factoid 5: The English and Tea
Talking to people who don't know very much about England isn't fun but I did try to give them some background including this link from an NPR story and talking about how much tea is consumed: 60,000,000,000 (that's billion!) cups of tea a year!!! The importance of bonding over a cuppa and how when things get tough, the English drink tea is important to understanding the culture.  I also talked about the difference between elevenses and high tea. I hope to take them to one of the many very fancy high teas in London. I also offered to play Mother. I owe my understanding of playing Mother to Gillian, my costume instructor back in college. She was from Wales and her husband was in the Royal Air Force and she made sure we all knew how to have a proper tea.  Check out the NPR story here:

English Tea for Dummies

And finally, 

Factoid 6: Piccadilly Circus and Eros
Of course the first name of this very famous traffic circle was the Shaftesbury Memorial Statue, but the statue portrays the archer, Eros and most people know him by the name Cupid. This very photographed part of London is filled with tourists all year but worth every new traveller's visit. 

And now they have all landed. More to come. And with all new pictures.

Toni, the girl who's been an Angliophile from a very young age. Just ask my mum!