Ah, another lazy morning on vacation. Coffee, scrambled eggs for breakfast at the flat, watch a little BBC-TV, and a simple lunch/snack of brochettes, olives and fruit.
Early this week, using my logical mind, I figured that since Friday the 13th was fast approaching, we should go visit a cemetery. But in the daytime, not at night. I'm not a madman.
Highgate Cemetery, in north London, is divided into two parts: East and West. It is one of the original seven cemeteries built in a ring around London.
They charge 7 GBP for the West portion, and it is only viewable by tour. Only one tour per day weekdays; several times on the weekends. The East portion costs only 3 GBP and you can roam freely, but it's no charge if you've taken the West tour.
We had to book tickets in advance online, as touring cemeteries appears to be a pretty popular pastime round hyar.
I had plotted a course using the TfL website, and it didn't appear to be all that hard, so we caught the Marylebone eastbound, exited Baker Street, and then walked along Marylebone Road until we found Albany Street, on which we could catch a bus northbound. Only, we couldn't find Albany Street.
When it became apparent that we had gone too far and the clock was ticking, we hailed a London Black Cab to take us directly to the cemetery gate. Good thing too, as we discovered that where the bus would have left us out, we would have had a long hike up a rather steep hill to the cemetery. This way, the taxi took us right to the gate. Was it worth 20 GBP? Hell yeah.
They take only 16 people at a time on the tour which lasts about an hour. It was very interesting, and quiet. Far away from the honking cars and rumbling trucks, it was very peaceful at Highgate.
Some people take the afterlife rather seriously. Like this Julius Beer fellow. Spent over 5000 GBP in the 1880's, which equals 2 or 3 million pounds in todays dollars.
This is a piece on the outside of the Beer Mausoleum.
There is some fabulous work in this cemetery. They closed it for 17 years around 1975 and when they reopened it, the foliage had claimed almost everything. They are still digging it out.
After the tour we walked across the road to the East portion of the cemetery and made a beeline to Douglas Adams' grave.
Karl Marx' grave is quite popular here.
Lots of freethinkers and communists here in the cemetery. They die too.
There were some sweet memorials here and there.
Haven't seen so many crosses since, well, ever.
It's rather funny to think about how earlier people used to think about what happens after we die. The ancient Egyptians. The Romans. The Greeks. The Hindus. The Scientologists. The Mormons. The Catholics.
Life can be so short, and so brutal, surely there must be something better? No, fraid not. Enjoy it while you can, kids, because this is it. Only one ride per customer.
We wandered around the cemetery for awhile and it rained on and off.
We were both pretty hungry by now. Nothing like dead people to work up an appetite, so we walked to the very top of the hill on Swain's Lane to Highgate Village. There, we found a nice-looking Italian-food restaurant with some outdoor seating: Strada.
We split a Margherita pizza between us and had a couple of Peroni beers apiece. A little bit of heaven.
I suppose we could have caught a bus back down Highgate Road, but we walked instead, and by the time we reached the Archway Underground Tube stop, our calves were screaming! Walking downhill is harder than I remember!
Back to the Marylebone area and we stopped into Tesco again for some dinner. It's Friday, so the wife, being an ex-Catholic, thought she'd like to cook a steak. So we bought the best cut of meat we could find in Tesco (not top of the line), some broccoli and green beans, and she whipped up a delicious dinner with the rudimentary tools back at the flat.
So we tripped the smoke alarm. Big deal. If you can't take a little smoke, stay out of the kitchen.
Geez, we got the flat so we could cook breakfast and maybe lunch, but now she's cooking dinner too! And I am NOT complaining!
Another great day in London, even with all the rain. And ghosts, which I do not believe in.
Highgate Cemetery, in north London, is divided into two parts: East and West. It is one of the original seven cemeteries built in a ring around London.
They charge 7 GBP for the West portion, and it is only viewable by tour. Only one tour per day weekdays; several times on the weekends. The East portion costs only 3 GBP and you can roam freely, but it's no charge if you've taken the West tour.
We had to book tickets in advance online, as touring cemeteries appears to be a pretty popular pastime round hyar.
I had plotted a course using the TfL website, and it didn't appear to be all that hard, so we caught the Marylebone eastbound, exited Baker Street, and then walked along Marylebone Road until we found Albany Street, on which we could catch a bus northbound. Only, we couldn't find Albany Street.
When it became apparent that we had gone too far and the clock was ticking, we hailed a London Black Cab to take us directly to the cemetery gate. Good thing too, as we discovered that where the bus would have left us out, we would have had a long hike up a rather steep hill to the cemetery. This way, the taxi took us right to the gate. Was it worth 20 GBP? Hell yeah.
They take only 16 people at a time on the tour which lasts about an hour. It was very interesting, and quiet. Far away from the honking cars and rumbling trucks, it was very peaceful at Highgate.
 |
| Peter Knight was our Tour Guide |
Some people take the afterlife rather seriously. Like this Julius Beer fellow. Spent over 5000 GBP in the 1880's, which equals 2 or 3 million pounds in todays dollars.
This is a piece on the outside of the Beer Mausoleum.
An Angel Raising up a Young Girl (Ada Beer), by Henry Hugh Armstead (1828-1905). c.1878. Carrarra marble. The Beer Mausoleum, Highgate (Western) Cemetery, Swain's Lane, Highgate, London N6.
The centrepiece of Julius Beer's unusual and impressive family mausoleum, located high up in a key position in the Western Cemetery, is a moving relief by Armstead showing a little girl being raised up by an angel. The child represented here was Beer's daughter Ada, who had died in 1875 at the age of eight. This sculptor's work is often seen as heralding the New Sculpture, and this is a lovely example of his graceful style and evocative touch. A sketch for the monument in the Royal Academy suggests that at first he had the child's mother in mind as a model for the angel ("Henry Hugh Armstead").
There is some fabulous work in this cemetery. They closed it for 17 years around 1975 and when they reopened it, the foliage had claimed almost everything. They are still digging it out.
After the tour we walked across the road to the East portion of the cemetery and made a beeline to Douglas Adams' grave.
Lots of freethinkers and communists here in the cemetery. They die too.
There were some sweet memorials here and there.
Haven't seen so many crosses since, well, ever.
It's rather funny to think about how earlier people used to think about what happens after we die. The ancient Egyptians. The Romans. The Greeks. The Hindus. The Scientologists. The Mormons. The Catholics.
Life can be so short, and so brutal, surely there must be something better? No, fraid not. Enjoy it while you can, kids, because this is it. Only one ride per customer.
We wandered around the cemetery for awhile and it rained on and off.
We were both pretty hungry by now. Nothing like dead people to work up an appetite, so we walked to the very top of the hill on Swain's Lane to Highgate Village. There, we found a nice-looking Italian-food restaurant with some outdoor seating: Strada.
We split a Margherita pizza between us and had a couple of Peroni beers apiece. A little bit of heaven.
I suppose we could have caught a bus back down Highgate Road, but we walked instead, and by the time we reached the Archway Underground Tube stop, our calves were screaming! Walking downhill is harder than I remember!
Back to the Marylebone area and we stopped into Tesco again for some dinner. It's Friday, so the wife, being an ex-Catholic, thought she'd like to cook a steak. So we bought the best cut of meat we could find in Tesco (not top of the line), some broccoli and green beans, and she whipped up a delicious dinner with the rudimentary tools back at the flat.
So we tripped the smoke alarm. Big deal. If you can't take a little smoke, stay out of the kitchen.
Geez, we got the flat so we could cook breakfast and maybe lunch, but now she's cooking dinner too! And I am NOT complaining!
Another great day in London, even with all the rain. And ghosts, which I do not believe in.
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