For some reason, I feel like every National Park or National Monument we visit requires us to navigate through some backwoods, country, 2-lane road with iffy signs, spotty cell signal, and few inhabitants.  Not surprisingly, Crater Lake is no different.  We exited the actual highway (5) at Canyonville, Oregon, a lovely town with a Native American reservation, casino, gas station and truck stop, and old town area all along main street that is quaint and, in theory, a visitor’s information center (although we never actually found it).  Although I drove the entire way, I’m not sure I can accurately tell you how we got to Highway 62, about 50 miles from Crater Lake, in Shady Cove at Roque Elk campground, where we stopped for the night.  We passed through the village of Tiller, there were a lot of windy roads in various states of repair and reconstruction, some houses, lots of red barns, and a plethora of extremely tall trees and farmland as far as the eye could see.  We drove way up into the mountains, climbing higher and higher as the road twisted and turned.  The turns were unlike any I have ever driven – they never seemed to end – I felt as though we nearly made a full circle before we started another endless turn in the opposite direction.  To spare the brakes, for the first time in a long time, I relied on the manual gears using the engine to help slow us down.  The heaviness of the RV and the steep 8% downhill grades made for a tricky combination.  After an eternity of Mom worrying we were going the wrong way, Allita making random comments about farm animals, and me just trying to keep us all alive on these teeny, twisty roads with the occasional “abrupt shoulder” and “loose gravel” signs and random gusts of wind, somehow we magically popped up on Highway 62.  We saw a sign for the campground and nabbed a spot overlooking the rushing Rogue river.  Toby slept the entire time because he has complete trust in my driving skills and has adapted to life on the road.  Also, I medicate him for his allergies every morning. 

Crater Lake National Park is located at the peak of the Cascades in one of the most snowy places we have visited in a very long time – even now, only one road into the park is open and the rest are literally buried under feet of snow.  According to the park rangers, the roads will hopefully be uncovered and open for travel by July 4th, if they are fortunate.  This past winter, they got between 42 and 50 feet of the stuff, with the deepest at the park village where we stopped for the day to view the lake and have a warm snack.  It was 49 degrees at 1pm – a toasty day for end of May.  Yikes!

The rangers told us lots of interesting facts:

Crater Lake is nearly 1,950 feet deep – the deepest lake in the United States and the deepest in the world formed by volcanic activity.  It holds very close to 5 TRILLION GALLONS of water!

Most of the water in the lake comes from snow and rain directly on the lake and the rest comes from runoff.  Interestingly, the water is so clean and clear that you can see as far as 130 feet below the surface.  Supposedly even cleaner than the water from your own home faucet!

The lake formed when Mount Mazama, a currently dormant volcano, erupted by implosion nearly 8,000 years ago.  They believe it was the most powerful eruption on this continent in the last 640,000 years.  The small island in the center, Wizard Island, formed as a result of smaller eruptions following the big one and it emerged from the lake around 7,000 years ago.  

Mount Mazama is only one of the many nearby volcanoes in the Cascades. Mount Thielsen stands at an impressive 9,182 feet, and when it erupted, 250,000 years ago, the resulting peak was more impressively pointed. Thankfully this shield volcano is now extinct.

One thing we observed on our own is the awesome beauty of the lake and surrounding park area.  The water is so blue, it provides a startling contrast to the snow-covered shores and hills surrounding the lake.  I absolutely and with complete conviction, 100% recommend a visit to this amazing National Park – it is tricky to get here but well worth the drive.  

On the way to visit Linfield University, our next college on this whirlwind tour, we stayed the night in Westfir at a lovely, award-winning, campground, Casey’s Riverside RV Resort.  They had an ice cream social that Mom and Allita visited while I did the laundry at their facilities.  We all enjoyed lovely showers and fast-ish wifi.  The Middle Fork Willamette River runs beside the campground (as does the Amtrak) and it is lovely to view.  I can see why Good Sam likes this place. Just down the road from the campground is the Lowell covered bridge.  We stopped there the next morning and checked out the history of the Willamette river, flooding and dams in the area, and bridges, such as Lowell.  Then we zipped through Eugene and north to McMinnville.  

Ok, so this is the point where I admit that I expected McMinnville to be a small town and Linfield to be a small, liberal arts college.  Ha!  Not so much.  Yes, Linfield University is a small, liberal arts college (by population) but the campus sprawls across nearly 200 acres of property loaded with massive trees and impressive brick buildings that have clearly been in place since the 1850s. 1,400 students attend Linfield and they offer 50 majors and 45 minors.  The school also boasts a NCAA DIII athletic program (23 teams) and claims to be the #1 Liberal Arts college in Oregon.  Allita and I took a walking tour of campus from 3:00-4:30pm led by someone from the admissions administration and we were both really impressed.  They offer educational opportunities in 14 countries at 25 different sites.  Furthermore, every January (except freshman year), they allow students to travel abroad with university-organized groups as part of an international education program called “JanTerm” where you travel to some foreign country, take a compressed course for credit, and work under the guidance of a professor.  Naturally, we thought that was amazing and absolutely unique in terms of the schools we have visited.  

This morning, Allita expressed frustration that she keeps visiting college campuses she really likes, which means making the final decision will be difficult.  Mom and I both laughed.  All-in-all, we are enjoying ourselves and the trip has been worth any hardships encountered.  Tomorrow, we head to Portland to stay with friends who winter in Tucson, and then, we head north to Washington!

P.S. At the very top west corner of California is a town called Crescent City.  There is a lighthouse there called Battery Point that Mom wanted to visit.  We stopped there for lunch on our way out of the “official” redwood forest (which never seems to actually end) and toured the grounds until the incoming tide and a nasty fog pushed us back on our way north.  Here are some of the photos of that lovely morning:

Allita has an early class on Fridays, so Mom and I spent most of the morning relaxing and puttering around doing this and that at the campsite.  Around 1pm, we left for San Jose, about a half hour north, to visit the Winchester Mystery House, once the residence of Sarah Pardee Winchester, widow of William Winchester and sole beneficiary of the Winchester (the rifle company) family fortune.  You might remember the horror flick with Helen Mirren titled Winchester.  Well, according to our tour guide, all evidence available indicates that she was a very smart, kind and generous, well-educated, financially savvy woman and not some delirious, rich whacko with a deep superstitious, evil streak.  In fact, she spoke a number of languages and could play a variety of musical instruments.  She has been recognized for her philanthropy – in one case, donating over a million dollars to the William Winchester Hospital that eventually became part of the Yale School of Medicine.  Sadly, what makes Sarah Winchester so famous is not goodness and charity – but her home, Llanada Villa, now a tourist attraction, which she believed would help drive away the evil spirits plaguing her.

Something to know – at that time in our history (early 1900s), it was quite common to believe in spirits and seek the guidance of a medium.  All kinds of wealthy, intelligent, talented and famous Americans were known to have participated in seances, had readings of palms, cards, or orbs, sought guidance from those who supposedly spoke to the spirits, and wholeheartedly believed in the supernatural.  Remember, this was also around the same time as “leach mania” – when people believed leaches could cure you of diseases by consuming your blood.  Don’t even get me started on carpetbaggers. There was science, and there was science.

Anyway, Sarah had a rough early start to her adult life.  She lost one of her sisters when she was young.  She married her childhood neighbor and good friend, William.  Together, they had a baby girl, Annie, who died from marasmus before she was one month old.  Three years later, Sarah’s father died.  Then, over a one year period in 1880, she lost her mother, her father-in-law, and literally two months later, her beloved husband.  Finally, in 1884, Sarah’s oldest sister, Mary, died from cancer.  The end result of all this terrible loss and perpetual grief was, she took guidance from a medium who told her to leave the east coast and move to the west coast and buy a house.  Supposedly, she was to never stop adding rooms to that house as the sound of constant construction (hammering, sawing, etc.) would keep the evil spirits at bay.  Thus, the story of the Winchester Mystery House.

Here are the basic facts we learned:  

Sarah bought the house in 1886 for $12,570, and started construction immediately and constantly (off and on) until 1922.  The house was located on a 40-acre fruit ranch, which she continued farming until her death.  At it’s peak, the property was a total of 140 acres.

The original farmhouse was 8-rooms and is now 24,000 square feet with 160 rooms, 47 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and something like 2,000 doors.  The last time the house was bought and sold was in 1923 for 5 million dollars, which is 71 million dollars today. 

The windows in the house are believed to be made by Tiffany and Company. Also, the house is believed to contain the largest private collection of stained glass in the U.S.  

The house is a construction marvel. There are doors that open into nothing (often a vast nothingness that would lead to a considerable drop from one floor to the next or even the ground!), cabinets doors that open to expose bricks or the hallway behind them, staircases that lead to ceilings, windows that only provide a view of a wall, and a variety of other interesting, architectural mysteries. 

All-in-all, it took us about 2 hours to tour the house and grounds and we were absolutely delighted with the experience.  

Saturday morning early, we left our luxury resort and drove back into the city to visit the San Jose Flea Market, which claims to be the biggest in the state of California!  You know I have that eBay business, right?  So, I wanted to stop here and see if there was anything that I might find useful for my store.  Another reason I wanted to stop at this Flea Market is simply nostalgic. Don’t get me wrong, I have never been here before now, but as a kid, we would frequently drive into the big city of Raleigh to the state fairgrounds where, on weekends, the largest flea market I had ever seen would appear.  Tents, tables, shelves, boxes, and even truck beds full of wares would spread out all over the grounds – even inside the permanent fair buildings!  On Saturday mornings, we would wander among musicians, craftsmen, collectors, artists, entertainers, and vendors of all kinds watching people haggle over bits and bobs, sample sweets, admire and enjoy all of the sounds and smells of the market.  I used to imagine how this might have appeared in medieval times, where instead of the truck rally, there might have been a joust or archery competition.  I love these types of venues and anyone who has followed our travels over the years knows that we rarely miss an opportunity to visit a market wherever we go.  San Jose is no exception.

Saturday afternoon, we traveled north leaving San Jose behind us and headed towards San Francisco.  Actually, staying near San Francisco was our original plan, but we have all visited San Fran in the past and Allita has a school friend who lives in Oakland, so instead, we were invited to stay overnight with them so the girls could have some together time.  I won’t say much more about that except that it was an incredible experience and we all enjoyed it very much.  They are delightful people.

We started off our Wednesday in King City, CA.  Never heard of it?  Me neither.  It’s a town on the 101 headed North from Paso Robles.  We couldn’t continue on CA 1 northbound from San Simeon, because it is closed at Lucia due to previously mentioned construction repairs from flooding and land slides.  So we back-tracked to Cambria, caught the 101 again in Paso Robles and headed north after our tour of the Hearst residence.  The wind is fierce in this area.  There are endless acres of farmland – some dedicated to the grape, others to lettuce, strawberries, etc.  The rare vineyard properties are lovely and inspiring only because of their stark contrast to the unremarkable landscape.  After some hours, I decided it was time to call it a day.  Mom saw a sign for an RV park called Whitehorse and they had one remaining site right next to a lovely rose garden area.  We decided it was perfect, so we raided the general store for some highly nutritious processed food, and made camp for the night.  

Earlier in our trip, just after we got gas in Lompoc, the truck started having issues – we assume related to the braking system or possibly the ABS.  I was able to resolve the issue with some profanity and fiddling with the brake release and engine so we all decided to forget about it.  Much to my chagrin, just after we topped off Wednesday morning and hit the road again, the same “issue” restarted.  The repeat offense made the issue more of a problem and we decided to keep to the main highway, instead of venturing off through the country as planned.  I do not regret this decision.

We traveled the 101 to Salinas and then headed toward Monterey to catch the PCH (CA 1).  In Monterey, we drove the 17 mile loop and saw Pebble Beach and all the extravagant homes overlooking golf courses and the pacific coast.  

We exited the loop before the very end (irritating Allita who likes to finish what she starts) and headed to Carmel.  We drove down Ocean Blvd in Carmel, always a pleasure in the RV, saw the traffic and lovely downtown Carmel area (which reminded us greatly of York, England), and then caught CA 1 northbound again.  This time, we headed for Santa Cruz.  

Allita found us a lovely CA state campground at New Brighton Beach near Capitola and Live Oak.  You’ve probably never heard of those places.  Me either.  Such is the way of CA 1.  You end up discovering all these little, funky places hanging desperately on the California coast and crammed full of residents and tourists alike.  

Tomorrow, we will continue up the (still under construction) CA 1 until we reach Santa Cruz and then we will take Highway 17 into San Jose.

I am excited to visit San Jose as it is the home of a massive Flea Market I have wanted to visit for a long time.  Allita is excited for the Winchester Mystery House also located there.  Mom is looking forward to having the Chevrolet dealership service department check out the mysterious brake issue we are having with the RV.  Should be an exciting day for all of us.  Toby is ambivalent.  He really doesn’t want to leave this campground now that he is awake and has rediscovered the joy of camping in the woods.  He has been an absolute champion traveler on this trip (so far) and I am hopeful that things with our furry guy continue to go as smoothly as they have for as long as we are on the road.  Not sure how we are going to manage him while we are having the vehicle serviced but that is a “tomorrow me” problem. 

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“Tomorrow me” here – we are at the Capitol Chevrolet service center (I am using their wifi) and Toby is napping quietly in his little carry case that looks like an RV. Allita has her various electronic devices and a power source. Mom has coffee and her book. So far, so good.

Before we vacated our camping spot this morning, Allita and I enjoyed a short hike through the trees down to China Beach. It was quite lovely and we had a lot of fun watching pelicans fish, finding interesting rocks, and strolling along the sandy shore.

Our Monday started with a tour of California Lutheran University, a small liberal arts college located near Simi Valley in Thousand Oaks, CA.  I admit I had preconceived mental images of this school and they were all completely WRONG!  The only thing small about Cal Lu is the student body –  currently a whopping 2,200 students.  The campus itself is enormous but well-organized and connected efficiently so that students can easily move around on foot, by bike, scooter or roller skate  – no motorized vehicles needed.  Further, the school, similar to Cal Arts, is nearby town but not inside it, so traffic is limited only to those drivers with purpose and is surrounded by suburbia sufficiently that it gives the appearance of an exclusive residential neighborhood rather than an institution for advanced education.  The property is beautiful with massive trees, sweeping lawns, blooming gardens, and a large number of outdoor recreational areas – some for eating, some for relaxing, and some for sport.  They even have a small creek running near the student union where a brace of mallards was snoozing on the sunny bank, empty hammock chairs and picnic tables were dotted around, and a lovely wind chime tinkled a melody in the breeze. Unlike any other university we have visited to date, Cal Lutheran boasts enough on-campus housing for their entire student body and strongly encourages its use; even during the summer months, if you have a job, are taking a class, or just don’t want to relocate home for those few months (as is true for international students).  Allita and I were both absolutely enchanted by California Lutheran University and she announced that it had “moved up” on her list of schools of choice.  Also, she was happy to observe that the city of Thousand Oaks, second largest in Ventura County, is aptly named.  For a trio of Arizonans (Toby slept most of the time – I’m not sure he even looked out the window), the immensity and quantity of timber in this area was quite impressive.  

We have long discussed the merits of traveling along the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) from California to Washington.  Sections of this road, well known around the world, are notoriously out of commission due to flooding, fires, landslides, etc. that plague (particularly) California and this year is no exception.  There is a 10-mile section just south of Big Sur that is closed, so we decided to enjoy all that we could from Thousand Oaks to San Simeon, our destination for Monday night.  The PCH is a scenic drive – similar to our drive along the Costa Brava actually – with views of the pacific coast, rocky cliffs, some beaches, state parks, and a plethora of tiny coastal towns through which the road twists and turns.  My mother would like it known for posterity that in her opinion, the best entrance is Santa Maria.  If the road is open beyond Lucia, she has no idea what you might see but everything south of Santa Maria was not worth it (except for the affordable gasoline we got in Lompoc).  My only comment is this: kindly remember that the coast has wind.  The taller the vehicle you are driving, the more exciting the drive will be.  

We camped at Hearst San Simeon State Park, a California State Park located on property that was once part of the William Randolph Hearst collection, and is, therefore, approximately 5 miles from the famous estate.  Tuesday morning, we enjoyed a relaxing and slow-paced start to our day and allowed Toby some time to communicate with nature.  He darted from window to window watching the fearless, corpulent, campground squirrels as they frolicked in the grass and raced up trees chattering noisily to one another.  Allita and I took a stroll around the area making use of a well-maintained foot trail that connected all three camping areas at this park.  Our campsite had a minuscule view of the ocean through the trees, but other spots on the hilltop and nearer the bathhouse were more open and from those, the vistas were enchanting.  Later, we learned that Hearst himself called his residence “La Cuesta Encantada”, meaning the enchanted hill, which suits the region completely and accurately.  Another item of note regarding this campground: they provide HOT water in the showers and sinks.  Come prepared for a lovely bath (even if the showers are made for short people) and the ability to wash dishes easily.  

Later Tuesday afternoon, we tootled up the road for our 1pm “Grand Rooms” tour of Hearst Castle.  I don’t know what you know about William Randolph Hearst or Hearst Castle, as this property is called, but if you don’t know him, you are missing out on some interesting American history.  The Hearst family was like the Vanderbilts, the Rockerfellers, the Astors, the Morgans, etc.  Surely some of these names are recognizable?  How about from Orson Welles’ film Citizen Kane?  Even today, the family remains one of the richest in the world.  Patty Hearst made history when she was kidnapped.  Ok.  Yes.  Those Hearsts.  Anyway, the property is enormous.  Hearst inherited it from his parents, George and Phoebe.  George was the son of pig farmers who made his wealth in silver mines (ever heard of the Comstock Lode?) and later in cattle ranching.  Over time, the family wealth grew and grew from George’s investments in mining, ranching and properties.  William has an interesting life as the only child of an incredibly wealthy, driven man and an educated, sophisticated mother.  Eventually, he asks his father for a newspaper George won in a poker tournament, the San Francisco Chronicle.  From there, William Randolph Hearst created a media empire and amassed even more wealth, fame and fortune.  You should read about him – seriously. 

Anyway, this property in San Simeon, purchased originally by George and used by the family for ranching and camping, became the very heart of William Randolph Hearst.  He loved this place more than any other in the world, and he would know, as he visited most of the civilized global community in his lifetime.  For this reason, he built his massive residence on a hill near his childhood campsite overlooking the pacific coast and the Santa Lucia mountains.  Like Simba’s dad said, everything you could see from their home was the property of Hearst. 

Really, the most interesting and, often overlooked, person in the history of Hearst castle is the architect, Julia Morgan.  She has a fascinating history of her own and partnered with the fickle Hearst in the design and construction of the castle and all its grounds over the 28 years it was under construction.  Julia Morgan was such a talented and passionate architect, did you know she designed and constructed nearly 200 more builds than Frank Lloyd Wright, who is undoubtedly more well-known? When we get back to Tucson, I am going to see if the Pima County Library system has anything I can read about her as, even though I know about Hearst and some of his family story, I know nearly nothing of Morgan, who is arguably a more interesting person.  But then, I am something of a fan of historical female figures.  As you probably already know. 

The four of us left Tucson early on a chilly Friday morning and started the long drive to Los Angeles, CA.  Toby took refuge in Allita’s lap in the passenger seat for most of the journey – he’s such a champion traveler.  Aside from some unexpected delays due to traffic, the trip west was mostly uneventful.  We arrived at Bonelli Bluffs RV park that evening after a 9-hour drive.  

Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort and Campground is an L.A. County park attached to the nearly 2,000 acre Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in lovely San Dimas, California.  By my count, based on the handy map you are provided at check-in, there are just over 500 RV campsites (510?) and around 15+ tent campsites.  This place is massive.  Furthermore, you can bring your horse and ride the trails – they have a large arena area and plenty of covered stalls in sprawling ranch-style, open horse barns. You can enjoy the lake in a variety of ways – including fishing! You can hike, bike ride, picnic, bicycle and even play a round of golf at the park course.  The RV resort has playgrounds, swimming pools, a fishing beach, sand volleyball courts, a general store, and is a lush and green area that is perfect for relaxing and enjoying the lovely breeze.  It definitely qualifies as a “resort”. The day we stayed was ideal with a high daily temperature just below 70 so we had no need for air conditioning.  

The next day, we left San Dimas and drove directly to UCLA with Allita navigating.  What an adventure!  The greater Los Angeles area is approximately 19 times more populated than all of Tucson.  Yes indeed – they have between 18-19 million residents, many of whom drive their own vehicles – and that does not include the volume of tourists that visit year-round. To say that we had to navigate traffic would be an understatement.  Even on a non-holiday weekend, the L.A. area is busy.  In order to handle the volume of vehicles zipping around the area, California has constructed a plethora of highways, freeways, parkways, boulevards, overpasses, underpasses, etc. that connect willy-nilly (left and right exits, HOV lanes, etc.) like varicose veins splayed everywhere across the area.  There is also a well-developed public transit system tucked into the whole mess.  It took us over an hour to reach the university campus from our campsite in San Dimas.  We considered ourselves fortunate to arrive safely, but, after we found an actual on-street parking space that could accommodate the RV, we nearly said a prayer.  

Allita and I left Mom and Toby in the RV while we schlepped all over the UCLA campus.  All told, we walked for nearly 2 hours. The campus is a massive, sprawling affair riddled with ornate brick buildings dotted among a variety of gigantic, old trees, lush, blooming gardens, and winding trails that grace the sloping landscape.  It is quite possibly the most beautiful campus I have ever visited.  The entire time I was comparing the brick construction to my alma matter and Allita was comparing it to ASU.  We were gobsmacked by the differences and, for the first time, I could finally understand why someone would choose a school located in downtown L.A. as their advanced educational destination.  Just wow.  

From UCLA, we rejoined the motorized shoal and made our way to USC, another university on our list to visit.  Wait, did I tell you why we are making this trip?  Right.  Sorry.  So, Allita is a senior in the fall.  Can you believe it?  That means, she is looking for places to attend school after she gets her high school diploma.  You know she’s an artist, so the schools that made her list are those that specialize in the arts.  In addition to ASU in Phoenix, there are four schools in California, one in Oregon, two in Washington (state) and one in Georgia.  We will visit them all this summer.  The west coast locations are our destinations this road trip.  The east coast is later in July and won’t really be blog-worthy.  While we are on the road again, we decided to drive the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) a little, visit Hearst Castle, see the Winchester Mystery mansion, drive through Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterrey and possibly Big Sur, tour a few museums along the way, say hello to friends in San Fransisco, Portland and Tacoma, take a ferry into Canada, see some redwoods, hike in Crater Lake National Park and Glacier National Park, and eventually make our way back to Tucson.  One giant loop – a whirlwind tour of the pacific west coast – in the RV, with the cat, and all before my birthday in June.  Hopefully.  

Anyway, we made it to USC just in time to watch graduates and their families exiting the campus in all their finery.  The two schools are located in vastly different neighborhoods still within Los Angeles, yet they appear relatively similar in design.  Beautiful brick buildings, lots of green spaces, an easily accessible train stop nearby, etc.  USC is a considerably smaller campus, which Allita immediately noticed and appreciated.  Apparently, she isn’t a big fan of having to walk an hour to get from one side of campus to another – go figure.  She also got excited about the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum right across the street.  Regardless how old she gets, some things never change.  

As is our way, somehow, we found an absolute gem of an RV park located perfectly in North Hollywood.  Private, secluded, full hook-ups, wifi, flat paved spaces, gated, etc.  The owner, Rafael, is fantastic – professional and easy to contact, flexible and very helpful.  One hundred percent, I want to leave a glowing Google review, but if lots of people discover this place, I may not be able to book it next time.  Quite the quandary. Also, there is a swimming pool but currently, it’s not quite warm enough to use it, so it’s empty from winter still.  I understand that – the high today is 72.  We are sitting in the shade outside the RV enjoying the lovely breeze and some fresh cool water. It’s perfect.  

This morning, we drove about 30 minutes up the freeway to CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), a small, exclusive art college renown for excellence in animation (Allita’s chosen field) and honestly, her #1 choice of schools.  The campus, located in Santa Clarita, is gorgeous.  The security guard generously allowed us a drive-through tour which took all of 15 minutes only because I had to go 10 mph.  Graduation was Friday and the campus is vacant currently.  There are only a handful of buildings on the grounds – almost none of which are brick construction – and the remainder of the campus is rolling, green, grassy hills, trees, gardens, and wide-open spaces.  We finished our “tour” and drove into Santa Clarita to find the closest stores and check out the apartments where students can live.  CalArts has an acceptance rate of 25%.  Naturally, Allita will apply here, but she isn’t putting all her eggs in – even though it is a very lovely basket.  You know?

For today, we are done with university-ing.  We are taking a much-needed travel break.  The cat is grateful.  We are enjoying the hospitality of Rafael and actually camping a little bit.  Tomorrow morning, we have a guided tour of California Lutheran University located in Thousand Oaks, CA.  We plan to leave North Hollywood extremely early.  I have already decided it will be a two-cup-of-coffee kind of day as it is Monday and we have about 2 hours to drive through LA traffic. Wish us luck! 

Cologne (spelled Köln in German – pronounced Kern) is the fourth largest city in Germany with about a million residents inside the city limits but a little over 3 million in the entire urban area.  In fact, the Rhein-Ruhr region, where Cologne is located, is the most populated region in Germany, and the second largest economically (based on GDP) in the entire European Union.  That said, we were surprised and delighted to discover that Cologne has retained a great deal of “small town” charm even after post-WWII reconstruction and modern era industrial growth periods.  

The city of Cologne was decimated in World War II.  By 1945, the city was absolutely ruined from aerial bombing by the allies.  An estimated 260+ air raids dumped more than 34,000 long tons of bombs over the five year period between 1940-1945.  (A long ton is exactly 2,240 pounds) In excess of 20,000 German civilians were killed by the bombing.  The most famous of the aerial attacks on Cologne happened one night in May 1942, when the British Royal Air Force (RAF) launched a raid of 1,050 bombers to Cologne in history’s first ever “bomber stream”.  The German Luftwaffe and ground troops diligently defended the city and launched a counter offensive while the fire brigade worked furiously to control the 2,500 fires the bombs ignited in the city. Somewhere between 43-44 RAF fighters were downed in the attack, but the devastation to the city was phenomenal.  Now, before we start feeling sorry for Cologne, let’s not forget the Blitz, ok?  

To me, the interesting thing about Cologne is that even after all those years of war – all those tons of bombs that were dumped over the city again and again – the Cologne Cathedral remained standing.  Allied pilots later admitted that the twin spires of the cathedral were a navigational landmark for them – maybe they left it alone so they could recognize their location at night?  Allied pilots also were officers in the Air Force, most with college and university degrees, who may have placed value on buildings with historical and religious significance, so perhaps it survived out of respect?  Who knows?  The building was hit by bombs a little over 10 times (mostly nearby and not on the actual structure) but the damage was largely minor and the building remained integral.  There are countless photographs of the devastation of Cologne after the war and all show this massive cathedral standing tall among ruined, flattened buildings and blackened homes.  The Cologne Cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Germany.  Construction started in the 1400s and ended in 1880, with obvious repairs made following WWII and even as recent as 2005.  As far as gothic structures go, it is absolutely a fascinating architectural masterpiece with an almost sinister, dark design that lends itself to more of a “Dracula lives here” than a “place of worship” feeling. The cathedral is literally right beside the train station and was our very first location to visit when we arrived in Cologne. Just south of the cathedral is the Römish-Germanischs Museum (Romano-German Museum), which is an archaeological museum primarily focused on the Roman era but also covering the last 100,000 years of life in the region with some local artifacts over 8,000 years old. 

While in the lovely city of Cologne, we visited the Skulpturenpark Köln (sculpture park with massive trees), Severinstorburg (12th century gatehouse with portcullis!), old town Cologne where we did some shopping, eating and general exploring on foot, and Ulrepforte (13th century stone watchtower and gate).  We also spent several hours touring the Chocolate Museum of Cologne and even had a private tasting!  While at the Chocolate museum, we rode the ferris wheel and had fantastic views of the area while enjoying a fun ride.  Lucky us, the Cologne Gourmet Festival was being held at the same time as our visit and was just outside the Chocolate Museum – so we also explored that, naturally!  Finally, we enjoyed a lovely cruise along the Rhine river from where we were able to see so much of the city and learn a variety of interesting facts about Cologne’s history and rebirth post-WWII.  Cologne is absolutely a city you can explore easily by foot, however, if you are in the area and time allows, we highly recommend a Rhine river cruise.  In addition to some fantastic views, we were able to just slow down, relax, watch all around as interesting things slowly passed us by and share some tasty snacks and drinks from a comfortable seat in the sporadic sunshine.  It was quite lovely. 

We only spent two days in Cologne and would happily return to that city for a future visit as we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there and are certain there are fun and interesting local sites left to explore.  For example, the city hosts over 30 different museums and we only saw ONE!  Also, Cologne has thousands of historic buildings; although we did make an effort to visit or see most of the remaining city gates and towers.  From Cologne, we spent the weekend with family friends who live nearby and then returned, once again, to Frankfurt am Main.  We departed Germany and brought an end to our month-long European adventure on Monday, July 29.  We arrived back in Tucson just after midnight on Allita’s 16th birthday.  I admit it is strange to time-travel and I’m not sure how well I would manage it if it were more than just a few hours.  Good thing I’m not John Titor.

Ok – so I have to mention our London departure just really quickly.  We finished our late night tour of London on a double decker bus (remember?) and got back to the flat around 10pm.  At 4am, we woke to start preparing for a 5:15 bus departure to St. Pancreas station to catch the 7:50am “chunnel” (tunnel under the English Channel) train to Cologne.  Only we discovered our Eurostar train was CANCELLED!  With literally minutes to spare, I booked us on the 7am “chunnel” to Brussels and prayed we would make it on time and I would figure out a way to get to Cologne once we got to Belgium.  We were so stressed out from the last-minute schedule change, very little sleep, and earlier-than-expected departure that we slept almost the entire ride and missed the Channel Tunnel entirely. Luckily however, we did find a Deutsche Bahn train that took us very quickly from Midi to Cologne and we only lost a couple hours on our itinerary.  That said, this is not the first time on our trip when a train was cancelled and we had to do some quick tap dance to find ways to keep our timeline.  For future reference: either allow for more downtime in the itinerary and/or plan to have cancellations in transit bookings so that connections are more flexible and you are prepared for any necessary rescheduling.  This is particularly true in the spring and summer when the weather is finally good enough for scheduled track maintenance that can’t be performed in the colder fall and winter months.  Also, yes, it did rain on us in Cologne and the following weekend as well – but you don’t get all that lovely flora without water and by then, we were used to it, so we weren’t too bothered. However, I am already shopping for travel galoshes from Amazon for our next trip. Until then!

Some of our favorite things about visiting London involve British humor – in particular, the ads we saw in the Tube and on city busses.

But fun can be found just about anywhere you look in London.

We also learned a few items of interest during our visit. First, Diana’s presence is still very much alive in the city. Nearly every day we saw a photo or likeness of her. As much as I still have a tender place in my heart for the Princess, I can only imagine how difficult this constant visual reminder is for her children, William and Harry. Probably another reason why Harry doesn’t mind leaving home and living in the U.S. for a while.

The Tube is absolutely massive. I studied maps of transit systems in Berlin, Hamburg and Stockholm before our visits. Once I saw how complicated the Tube is in London, I just downloaded an app. It’s more than I could mentally handle. Thank goodness for smart phones.

Finally, you are constantly being instructed to “Mind the Gap” at every train stop – because, well obviously, there is a gap between the train and the station platform just at the door – particularly if there is a bend in the track or you are in the lead or tail cars. Over and over again, we were told “Mind the Gap” until finally, Allita looked at me and said “Well, that explains ‘nevermind’.” At age 53, I had a lightbulb moment in the Tube in London shortly after my daughter had her own similar moment. If you “mind” the gap, then when you don’t need to “mind” it any more – it’s “nevermind”. Not to be confused with never mind. You should probably Google that.

On the fourth day in London, my daughter gave to me…..(did you sing it?)… a full day of walking, museums, and shopping!

We started our adventures at Madam Tussauds where we ran into quite a number of celebrities and also took a brief and somewhat creepy tour of London history in wax. An interesting note about this museum is that it is the original Madam Tussauds wax museum and was established by the artist herself in 1835 where she showcased her famous “Chamber of Horrors” (a name she originated, which has since been used by entertainers all over the world). 

From there, we made our way to Baker Street.

Yes, THAT Baker Street.  

221b to be precise.

To the home of the Great Detective himself, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson too, of course.  Interestingly enough, their building shares a common wall with a Beatlemania museum.  Go figure.  

For a completely fictitious literary character, Mr. Holmes certainly has a well-stocked residence.

While we waited for our appointment at the residence of the great detective, we shared hot beverages and healthy sweets (somehow that sounds like an oxymoron) at a yoga salon cafe on the corner.  Thankfully there were no chia harmed in this process.  

Here’s a fun fact about the home of Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Mr. Sherlock Holmes: in 1932, the addresses 219-229 Baker Street were owned by the Abbey National Building Society.  Almost immediately after taking possession of this block, Abbey National had to hire a “Secretary to Sherlock Holmes” (that was literally their job title!!) to manage the volumes of mail regularly received from his fans.  In honor of their history with the famous detective, Abbey National (who has since vacated that particular address as it now houses the “residence” a.k.a. museum) commissioned a bronze statue of Mr. Holmes that stands near the entrance to the Baker Street Underground station.  

After our visit and some shopping, we wandered through the lovely Covent Garden district meandering along the famous market square and surrounding streets until we finally made our way to the traditional Victorian-style tavern voted “most quirky pub in London” in 2022, Mr. Fogg’s. Sticking with the theme of the day – reproductions and fictional characters – this delightful tavern is conceptualized around Mr Phileas Fogg, the world renowned explorer who traveled the world in 80 days in the book of same name by Jules Verne.  Mr. Fogg’s wife, Gertrude, supposedly left her home to her housekeeper, Fanny McGee, who converted the place into a theater-goers dream establishment complete with a Cockney-style sing-a-long and an eccentric collection of memorabilia taken from Mr. Fogg’s supposed travels decorating literally every surface in the place (even hanging from the ceiling!).  On the front of the tavern, just above the entry doorway, is mounted a massive theater poster advertising the Taming of the Shrew starting Gertrude Fogg and claiming nightly showings!  We were simultaneously charmed and enchanted by the tavern’s costumed staff and whacky decor – and, best of all, the food was delicious! 

*****

What can I tell you about our fifth day in London?  We began extremely early with breakfast in the flat and then a nice uphill walk over the river Thames to the Monument to the Great Fire of London where we started a self-guided audio walking tour with a destination of the Tower.  What Great Fire, you ask? Well, from Sunday, September 2 until Thursday, September 6, 1666 (perfect year for it), a massive and incredibly destructive fire swept across central London destroying almost all of the medieval city and St. Paul’s cathedral.  Really, the fire was a comedy of errors that was only stopped thanks to a change in the wind and some well-placed firebreaks created by soldiers at the Tower of London. 

The impact to London was colossal and is so important in British history that in the 1670s, they constructed a massive monument to the “Great Fire”.  If you lay the monument down, it is long enough to reach the actual starting point of the Great Fire (the royal baker’s house on Pudding Lane).  From there, we followed the tour along the Thames, down the Queen’s (Elizabeth II, of course) Silver Jubilee walkway, past the HMS Belfast (Royal Navy cruiser turned into a museum ship and operated by the Imperial War Museum), down to and across Tower Bridge and eventually around the Tower completely.  

The Tower, officially know as “His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London” (what a mouthful), is basically a castle that sits on the river Thames.  The White Tower, sitting in the center of the whole mess, was built by William the Conqueror (remember him from York?) in 1078. 

Since then, multiple other buildings have been added and the Tower has been used as a residence, a prison, an armory, a place for executions (even as recently as WWII), a treasury, a menagerie, and, is currently, the home of the crown jewels of England.  

The Tower is currently guarded by the Yoemen Warders, also known as Beefeaters (because they were given meat to eat from the tables in the Royal halls), who act as greeters, guides and all-around problem-solvers, among other things, for the hoards of daily visitors. One of the other duties of the Yoemen Warders is that of Ravenmaster (isn’t THAT a cool job title?!), who releases the captive birds and makes their breakfast at dawn every day.  The ravens at the Tower are as well-known a feature as the Beefeaters and the Warders joke that the birds are the actual “beef eaters” on site.  Ha!  

After spending nearly an entire day at the Tower of London, we hopped on the Tube and headed, once again, to the Covent Garden district, but this time to Seven Dials.  Seven Dials is a place where seven streets converge into one tiny circle at the center of which is a column containing six sundials with the column itself acting as gnomon for the seventh.  The area is fantastic and has been mentioned in literature across the ages (Dickens, H.G. Wells, Agatha Christie, Anne Perry, etc.) but, to me, the most interesting fact about Seven Dials is: it is exactly 0° 07′ geographical degrees to the west of Greenwich (where Greenwich Mean Time is counted).  I mean, how cool is that?!  Ok. Ok.  So, what, other than these interesting facts, brought us to the Seven Dials Marketplace?  Well, cheese, of course.  

Pick and Cheese is a cheese bar that offers gourmet cheeses paired with condiments all neatly arranged on little colorful plates with clear domed lids that travel down a conveyor belt encircling the kitchen in the center of the restaurant.  Read that one more time and look at the photos again – in this case, a picture really does say a thousand words.  It claims to be the world’s first conveyor-belt cheese restaurant but I am not 100% sure how accurate that claim is.  Still, the experience was very fun and better than even I (the consummate food skeptic) anticipated.  As you can imagine, they also offer a variety of beverages to accompany the cheese dishes and provide a very detailed, numbered, and color-coded menu to help you make educated choices as the cheeses parade past you.  After an hour of lactose-laden consumption, we decided to wander the streets of the Covent Garden district and explore the little shops and venues tucked here and there.  We may also have made a few purchases – just a few! – one has to acquire souvenirs, after all.  

*****

We were extremely busy on our final full day in London.  We hustled through breakfast, made our way via underground back to Trafalgar Square and then down the mall to secure a good viewing location for the changing of the royal guard ceremony (Guard Mounting).  So, there a few things you have to know about how the royal guard changes in London.  First: the ceremony involves three parts and they happen at three different locations.  So, you are never going to “see it all” from one vantage point.  Second: the ceremony is viewed by a zillion people so if you are planning to watch it from Buckingham Palace, you better get a good spot on the birthday cake so you can peer over everyone’s heads.  (The birthday cake is the affectionate nickname for the Victoria Memorial located at the end of the mall)  Third: the ceremony lasts 45 minutes, which feels like eternity even for an avid fan, and is only held on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. 

We selected a spot just up the mall from the memorial where we could easily see the Blues and Royals arriving on their stunning black horses and listen to the Royal Guard band with their fancy red uniforms and shiny instruments, and watch in delight as they stomped down the mall accompanying the new Foot Guard soldiers leaving St. James’ Palace. 

From there, we wandered leisurely through the lovely St. James’ Park enjoying some ice cream in the sunshine and listening to the continued pomp and circumstance of the ongoing ceremony nearby.  We made our way up Horse Guards Road past the Churchill War Rooms (more on that later) and 10 Downing Street (Prime Minister’s house) and eventually to Horse Guards, the home of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, where another part of the mounting ceremony was ongoing: a squadron of the Life Guards (red coats) and a squadron of the Blues and Royals (blue coats) all equipped with horse mounts were on attention and actively exchanging guard post duties while the crowds were managed by mounted London police.  It was indeed a morning full of professional equines.  

We lunched at the Old Shades Pub on Whitehall (a family tradition) around noon and from there walked down past Great Scotland Yard to Parliament Street and back to the Churchill War rooms. 

Yes, the Churchill War Rooms! Remember part of this trip is about World War II?  Well, here we are.  The Cabinet War Rooms (more commonly known as the Churchill War Rooms after the Great Winston Churchill) are a maze of tunnels, rooms, offices, kitchens, sleeping quarters, radio communication centers, etc. all completely hidden underground and used by British government officials, specifically the War Cabinet, during World War II.  Actually, the rooms were finished literally one week before Britain declared war on Germany in 1939 and remained in operation until Japan surrendered in 1945.  Today, the Imperial War Museum maintains these same rooms as a museum with many of the original contents still in place and the addition of a section specifically dedicated to the life and history of Winston Churchill.

Of particular importance in these rooms was the Map Room (Allita’s favorite room) manned around the clock by British military officers who produced regular intelligence summaries for the King, Prime Minister and the military Chiefs of Staff, and the Cabinet Room, which Churchill famously declared “is the room from which I will direct the war” (and he did!).  Did you know that Churchill had a SIGSALY (encrypted telephone) installed in the Cabinet War Rooms that was directly connected to the Pentagon so that he could speak to President Roosevelt securely?  It’s still there too.  Also, Churchill made four broadcasts on the BBC from his office-bedroom giving the British people a direct update on the status of the war from his underground bunker.  That entire radio equipment array is still set-up in the room and you can just imagine the man himself sitting there with his fat cigar barking out his news to the listening public.  The most unusual fact about the War Rooms (to me) is that on the day after Japan surrendered, the lights were literally turned off and people just walked away from their desks – leaving them as-is – so that they could be preserved for historic purposes.  

From the war rooms, we wandered down to Westminster to see Elizabeth Tower and hear Big Ben (that’s the name of the bell, not the clock).  We saw Oliver Cromwell’s statue, Saint Margaret’s and Westminster Abbey all on foot and from a distance. 

Then we took the Tube to Green Park in Piccadilly and hopped onto a double decker bus for a night tour of London.  If you ever find yourself in London, I recommend a night tour at either the 7:30 or 8pm start times so that it is still dusk and you can see both the lights and the buildings they decorate.  We saw some places we had already visited but many places we had not and we learned several interesting new facts about London and British history.  A great way to wrap up our visit to this massive metropolis – it only rained a little bit on our open-top seating and going through tunnels and under bridges was quite the sensory experience! 

We arrived in London on a Friday.  That morning dawned quite early in York and, as with most of the days we have spent primarily on a train or indoors, brought with plenty of sunshine and cool temperatures.  We rode the LNER (London North Eastern Railway) from York to King’s Cross, wishing one final time that we could have ridden the Scotsman for this leg of our journey, but enjoying ourselves nonetheless.  Upon arrival in King’s Cross, we made our way via Tube (nickname for London’s underground metro system) to the Natural History Museum.  This museum is one of the many national museums in Britain and therefore is free to enter; however, it is recommended that you book a ticket online (still no cost) so that you can be assured entry on the day you desire.  There is always a vast number of people visiting the museum – lines can be quite lengthy with tourists, pickpockets, and school children – but only ticket holders are actually guaranteed entry.  It’s a common way to manage popular locations – particularly those in a city the size of London – in order to control crowds.  We later learned that the entire city of London is closed down on New Year’s Eve – no cars, no trains, no busses, no shops open, etc. – and the streets are completely opened to pedestrians.  The area where citizens can easily see the firework show (down on the banks of the Thames) has become so popular that the city has started issuing free tickets to limit the crowds.  They only issue 100,000 tickets for visitors to that particular area on the holiday evening.  Wow.  

Now is when I feel I should take a moment and talk about London just a little. You can skip this bit if you like. As you probably know, London is the biggest city and capital of England (and the United Kingdom). Before Brexit, it was the biggest metropolitan area in all Europe – but the English decided to leave the European Union so I don’t think it gets to have that title any longer. That said, it’s still a massive place that has been around for thousands of years and is now home to somewhere between 10 – 15 million people depending on who you ask. For Allita, who thinks Phoenix is large, London was like a NASCAR race – fascinating, exciting, disgusting, thrilling and a little bit horrifying all at the same time. London is made up of 32 different “boroughs” and each one is basically a district, village, neighborhood, suburb or town. There is, in short, nothing small about this place but it is fairly well-organized, all things considered. That said, if you do decide to visit London, I suggest you spend a little bit of time studying the transit system and familiarizing yourself with the layout of the city. The good news is there are plenty of very popular and famous landmarks you can use for orientation and, everyone does speak some form of English (for the most part). London is located on the Thames River, which runs almost entirely across the lower half of England from east to west, so it has lots of bridges and plenty of water-based activities. Because it’s so old, populated and important, London has lots of history and, honestly, if you want to know more about it, I suggest you read Peter Ackroyd’s London: the biography, which was so well written that the BBC made a documentary about it (I’m not kidding – google it). MOVING ON!

The Natural History Museum is a British tribute to all earthly things – those dead, those alive, and even those that never really lived.  We checked our luggage in the clock room then toured the museum in its entirety over a five hour period, stopping only once for a quick break and bite to eat.  The halls are filled with dinosaur skeletons and pre-historic exhibits, plant specimens and creatures from various biomes – such as marine, desert, savannah, rainforest, and plains, incredibly informative displays about the formation and behavior of the earth’s crust and atmosphere, and finally, an awesome and colorful array of stones, gems, and other minerals.  All her life, Allita has been an enthusiastic admirer of history in almost all forms: natural, world, ancient, imperial, mythological, aeronautical, etc.  To say that she enjoyed her visit to this London museum would be a gross understatement.

For our week-long stay in London, we reserved a one-bedroom flat in one of the new high-rise skyscrapers in the Docklands of Southwark, London, very near Elephant and Castle.  While I did a fair amount of research, including a cost-benefit analysis, on where best to stay, even I was surprised at just how fantastic this particularly location suited us.  We had easy access to TWO different Tube lines (Northern and Bakerloo), the network (commuter) rail line, the Thames link rail, and a plethora of busses.  In addition, the Thames was extremely close so many of the places we visited were only a quick walk down the road and over the river. Right around the corner was a market where we could purchase all our groceries and supplies and the building had a 24-hour concierge and keyless security system.  One point I will make is that this particular area of London remains in the process of being redeveloped (especially Canary Wharf) so it is not uncommon to find a beautiful new building next door to an absolute dive and a number of lots under various stages of ongoing construction.  Thankfully we were on the 12th floor, so none of the street or construction noise ever bothered us, and we had phenomenal views of the city skyline from our glass-paneled walls. 

DAY 2

To say “meet you at Victoria Station” is a tad inadequate.

Our second day in London took us completely out of London to Wiltshire, England and Stonehenge (prehistoric megalith about which I am certain you already know) for an all-day adventure hosted by Evan Evans Tours.  Sticking with the whirlwind pace of this trip, we chose the “express” visit.  We left Victoria Coach Station at 9am on a direct bus, stopped only at the site and had about 2 hours to visit the place, which was more than enough time really (even with listening to the entire audio guide, reading all the signs, taking a zillion photographs, and poking around the gift shop).  We returned to Victoria Train Station at 4pm and spent some time figuring out where we were and exploring the area a little before returning to our flat for a late dinner.  Allita and I are especially interested in British pubs – not for the purpose of eating or drinking as much as the entire idea of pubs, their age, unique history and decor, their significance in society, and, of course, their names.  Therefore, on this trip to London, we made a special effort to see as many pubs as possible and even toured inside a few of them. 

DAY 3

The last day I will tell you about in this post is also the last of our “least busy” days. We woke up a little later than normal – enjoying a British lie-in (a term I fully intend to add to my every day lingo) – and then walked about a mile from the flat to the London Eye Pier.  Do you know what the London Eye is?  It’s that relatively new and massive construction on the river Thames that is basically a modern ferris wheel with glass and steel pods for cars so that you share a confined space with around 12-15 strangers as you rotate in a vertical circle, snapping photos and pointing out the things you recognize in the distance.  Fun fact: the British Ministry of Defense is located immediately across the waterway from the London Eye and initially strongly opposed the construction of this attraction.  In court, the Ministry presented the strategic location of the wheel and the glass construction with clear views would allow some foreign intelligence member or potentially nefarious individuals to spy on the Ministry from across the water.  Supposedly, the judge threw the case out of court with a “you’re the ($%&@#!) Ministry of Defense – put up some curtains!” type of response.  We used binoculars provided as part of our London Eye fast-pass tickets but we weren’t even able to see the curtains, so I guess the judge had a point.  

That day, we took a cruise on the river Thames starting at the pier and drifting down and under Tower bridge so that we got a good look at Westminster (Parliament) and Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben), many of the museums along the Thames and the waterfront, Saint Pauls dome, almost all of the new financial district, Waterloo bridge (built entirely by women), Golden Jubilee walkways (pedestrian bridges built by Queen Elizabeth in honor of her golden jubilee and to promote walking in that area), London Bridge (the new one – as the old one is at Lake Havasu City, AZ and we’ve already seen it), the Tower of London, and the Tower bridge, of course.  From there, we had our London Eye experience – it was fun but not particularly exciting and honestly, not something I would recommend unless you have young children. Then we ate some fish and chips at a dockside restaurant, and toured Sea Life Aquarium, which is a large marine museum and zoological experience.  We don’t visit aquariums everywhere we go, although we both appreciate such experiences as a general rule.  However, there are a number of sharks – including rare freshwater sharks – that dwell in the River Thames and other U.K. waters, and are available for viewing at this particular aquarium, which necessitated our visit.  We were inundated with families – as anticipated and much like our trip to the Natural History Museum – but we had fun navigating the waters (so to speak) with everyone and learning about so many new and different fish and marine animals (including penguins!) on exhibit there. Afterwards, we made our way back under ground for a much-anticipated tour.  

The Leake Street Arches are a unique and grossly-overlooked London experience that Allita discovered quite by accident while researching the history of graffiti and urban art in her spare time. So, what are they?  Basically, there are eight pedestrian arches (subway entrances) connected to an old railway tunnel beneath the Waterloo station that have been turned into an ever-changing underground urban art canvas and gallery also known as London’s longest legal graffiti wall. The long “Banksy” (Leake Street) Tunnel now connects to the pedestrian walkway leading to Westminster bridge to create the entirety of the Leake Street Arches. The entrance is clearly marked and quite visible if you know what to look for and are aware of your surroundings.  We caught a faint whiff of spray paint on the breeze and knew we were in the right place.  The passageway is used by businessmen as an underground shortcut between offices, by pedestrian and bike tour guides as an easily accessible example of local London flair, by artists composing work or admiring the efforts of others, by entertainers demonstrating their musical or vocal skills with a vibrant backdrop, and even a couple pubs (of course!) that offer traditional British and American “light fare” such as: salads, sandwiches, burgers, and a good selection of beverages.  More importantly, this collection of old pedestrian tunnels is a place for freedom of artistic expression unlike any other we have previously seen. 

Most of you know that Tucson is home to a wide variety of incredibly beautiful urban art – just about everywhere you look in the city, you can see different sizes of colorful, fantasical, graffiti-style, spray-painted art gleaming in the sunshine.  However, there is nothing in Tucson that even comes close to what you can see at Leake Street Arches.  Furthermore, during the daytime, this area is perfectly safe to visit and every visit will be unique since the walls of the tunnels are forever changing as more and more art is layered on them.  I was also happy to discover that regular air movement through these tunnels helps keep them constantly circulating so the fumes aren’t unsafe or overwhelming (although the faint smell of paint is unavoidable).  For my budding artist, this was an inspiring and encouraging experience, and for myself, a humbling one.  It is amazing to see what someone can create with a few cans of paint and their hands.  I marveled quite a bit watching an artist spray a portrait on the walls with such unbelievable skill and precision.  As someone who generally struggles to intentionally spray paint onto surfaces other than my hands, face, or the ground, I was heartily impressed.  But then, art has a way of doing that to you, doesn’t it?