More London

A few more jam-packed days, complicated by difficult internet connections, results in this mostly pictoral view of this amazing city...




We awaken to an admittedly hideous view from our window...



...but it does mean that we are spared the noise from Oxford Street and the nearby pubs.










Heading out, we hit the Underground, and...







travelling through many a tube tunnel...









...on and off a few trains....













leads us to find a few secrets of the city.






We got to visit the ravens at the Tower (not as big as the ones we have at home, but lovely all the same),











as well as the lads who guard the ravens (and other denizens of the Tower of London).








Today, we peered through the window of this cheese shop in Marylebone...




en route to a Farmer's Market with the most astonishing variety of meat being sold (unrefrigerated!) from the stalls...










And on to the breath-taking Great Hall of the British Museum.











It was a brief visit, due to an injured traveller, but we had a moment to enjoy the sight of at least one individual on the premises who didn't have sore feet.













And a final ride back to the hotel on the tube, accompanied by someone who seemed to have lost his Death Star...














More soon -- tomorrow it's out of the City to seek out the secrets Salisbury and the wyrdness of Wiltshire.

~kc

London, 2009 Day One

As you may have noticed, this week I popped into my Tardis,





and made my way across an extremely large land mass, followed by a rather broad body of water,


only to find myself in the land of...







chimney pots against the sky,













brilliant and buxom statuary,













and very tight spiral staircases.





















London has welcomed me (and my boy) back with open arms and traffic jams.











Today, I witnessed an anti-Chinese Falun Gong protest (tiny), a celebration of the new governmental acknowledgement of the rights of Gurkha soldiers (much larger), and an anti-Sri Lankan demonstration right in the road that was traffic-stopping in its intensity.

Also, the fine workers of the London Underground struck today, with the principle victim being the Victoria tube line, ultimately shut down for the day.

Nonetheless, we managed to take in great whacks of the City, and I have worn my poor boy ragged with my high-speed delerium at being back in this wonderful place.

My favourite jaunt of the day? Here is a hint:



Can you guess? A bit hard to tell from this picture...but,

this wonderful sculpture can be found suspended from the ceiling of the teeny Operating Theatre Museum near Guy's Hospital. My favourite museum in the city, without a doubt.

It's very late here now, but I will put up a link to my flickr account and will post more pictures tomorrow.

Ta, mates.

~kc

London Live!

This post will be brief and picture-less, as I refuse to pay the wifi robbery rates my hotel is charging. Will try to log on tomorrow with a few shots of this amazing city. Right now am typing this on a half-Farsi keyboard in a little Internet Cafe off Oxford Street, seated beside a zombie-ish, but good natured son after flying all night.

Am delighted to report that I did manage to arrange a private visit to Stonehenge next week, so will hopefully have lots to share after that event. Tomorrow, I think it will be Castles and derring-do in this remarkable centre of Western civilization. I love London!

~kc

The latest...

So much to report!

Had a great visit last week at Macdonald Elementary school in Vancouver and a fun Creative Writing for Children class on the weekend . My new postcards are finally printed, so I had some to share!

Lots going on in the planning department for SiWC 2009 in October, and other upcoming events -- the FALL INTO FANTASY tour with authors James McCann and Lee Edward Fodi happening this year, and before that Raise-A-Reader in Penticton this July, followed by Summer Dream in August. More details soon.

But first -- a trip for r& r (research & running around) is in the offing. I'm off with my boy for a couple of weeks to the UK. Will report back here with pictoral evidence as time permits.

This...


...is what he looked like the last time he was in Scotland. (In the clutches of his sister inside the guard house of Tioram Castle in the West Highlands). He's grown a bit, and is far less likely to allow me to photograph him, but I'll do my best.

Will report in as absconded wi-fi allows. I'll be tweeting, too -- you can follow me at @kcdyer, if you are so inclined.

And lastly, today I mail out all the remaining winner's books from the various Darby competitions. Darby has just interviewed Kendra Kandelstar, and has a couple of really amazing characters to interview soon, but she'll be taking a break while we are over in the UK. If you have won a book and not yet contacted me -- or haven't received it, please drop me a line and I will rectify immediately.

And now -- ta-ta, mates. Next chat to you will come from the Jolly Olde Sode (and no -- that is NOT my secret nickname....!)



~kc