Bad and scary news everywhere today, but not here. Only good news here. This is the Good News Blog!
On the way out, we had a full day in London, which is becoming my favourite city very quickly now. I had arranged 2 Strawberry tours for this day, which is the same organization I used for Jack the Ripper. Strawberry Tours uses what seem are young, under-employed actors and actresses, and there is no charge for these tours. You just leave a tip if you think it was worth it, and I have to say that the guides we had are about the best I’d ever experienced. Left good tips.
So today we went for a street art tour in the morning and a historic pub crawl tour later in the afternoon. Both were excellent and fun, and we met a lot of people, especially on the pub tour. The photos below are various street scenes and street art.
I asked a few young people in London and Aberdeen about Brexit and they were adamantly against it. Which proves that, as elsewhere, it’s mainly greedy, old men trying to fuck things up for the future generations.
Our last day… sigh… tomorrow, back to Toronto.
And that was our fabulous month in the UK and Ireland. Hope you enjoyed our story and hope you relaxed with a few moments of Good News.
[Click on any photo for the slideshow. Please leave comments at the bottom of the page]
Mathew – our Ripper tour guide
Contrasts
Some really good advice here
Olivia – our street art tour guide
Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! — gotta shop!
Is this a Banksy rat?
Patriotic toking
Kate, this one’s for you.
Our street art tour group
Tower Bridge
Old Spitalfields Market
Old Spitalfields Market
The Lamb and Flag Pub
Nell Gwyn Pub
Inside the Nell Gwyn Pub
July 17, 2018 at 2:59 pm
I can confirm that London is a fabulous place!
And I can see why you did the Street Art tour – looks like you were out with a bunch of art students!
Loved the Lennon, and the Bankys rat. The food and pub looked good too. A famous actor got murdered there in the late 1800s by a stage hand. Oh the good old days!
July 17, 2018 at 4:45 pm
And I forgot to mention “On the 19th December 1679 in the alley by the Lamb & Flag the poet John Dryden was nearly done to death by rogues hired by the Earl of Rochester.”
July 18, 2018 at 10:36 pm
Len, always a treat to read your blog and see your photos. ( I wish I could take photos like that – the composition, the correct exposure that I cant seem to master. Maybe when I get more time and focus I can practice more…
July 19, 2018 at 1:11 am
Nice compliment, John. Thanks. Yes, practice. I do that a lot.
July 19, 2018 at 5:28 pm
Hi Len, Enjoyed the stories and the pictures very much. Nice work!
July 22, 2018 at 8:24 pm
Hi Len,
Wow, you pick such interesting tours…loved the street art and no doubt the young folk kept you on your toes – glad you gave them a good tip! 🙂 The pub and food pics are cool too…people just doing ‘their thing’. You were making me hungry – I just went to get a glass of vino and some cheese! 🙂
Favourites….
– Barber shop – a random pic. with someone doing a necessary thing – getting a haircut, face shave, whatever! Do you ask permission when you take these types of pics?
– Banksy’s rat…sure looks like Banksy – does he sign his wall art?
– John Lennon and the toking…did you leave that toilet paper Len, LOL? On second thought, must be someone from ‘up north’ – I can relate to the humour (my mother was from the same city as Johnny)!
– Thanks for the shout out…still trying to figure out what the wall art means, but it is a true British home with the knickknacks on the window ledge.
July 23, 2018 at 1:16 am
Kate, you’ve got me busier answering your comments than actually doing the blog… but I love it! I like the way you really seem to “get” my work. That is the best compliment ever. Yes, just “doing their thing”.
Regarding asking permission, all I can say is it “depends”. But most of the time I just do the shot. I’m not really sneaking or creeping, but there are ways to get a shot and the person doesn’t even suspect. But I definitely do not try to steal personal moments.
The toilet paper was already there. This part of Whitechapel has a pretty busy night-life, so who can guess about the toilet paper. But my take is that John is so sad about the state of world affairs, especially south of here, that he needs to dry his tears. Kind of the opposite of “Imagine”.