Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Permanent Londoners


It has been estimated that as many as two in every five people “seen” on a busy London Street
are “Permanent Londoners”: the undead doomed to spend eternity among the living…

 This is the claim made by London Ghost Walks.


 Last night under a glowing full moon we met up with some friends at St. Paul's Station.
There we joined one of London Walk's ghostologist
to hear the stories of the "Permanent Londoners" that haunt the
narrow streets of the old City of London. 


We met him in the shadows of St. Paul's Cathedral to explore this ancient section of London.  The original walled city built by the Romans was in this area and the rest of London grew up around it. 
It is about one square mile and contains some of the most interesting historical sites in London.
And it is reportedly one of the most haunted.  

This area includes St. Bartholemew's Hospital which was founded in 1123.  

It is also the original site of the notorious Newgate Prison 
which was called by William Defoe "...an emblem of hell itself."

We also stopped outside of St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate were you can see the original hand bell that announced the executions at Newgate.  

Hospitals, prisons and churches... places of life and death and untold stories.


 
We stopped at the bombed out ruins of the Christ Church Greyfriars
to hear about the She-Wolf of France, Queen Isabella who is said to still roam the gardens.


We spent the next few hours walking along dark, cobbled streets, through courtyards and churchyards stopping every so often to hear another story.  




Is she being followed by an orb of light?



 
London is even more beautiful at night.  It's so hard to capture the atmosphere with a camera.
Our guide was a wonderful storyteller and really brought the history to life.



This is the only exterior statue of Henry VIII found in London at the entrance to St. Barts.
We are definitely going to explore this area again in daylight. 

 

Our guide shared many fantastic tales of hauntings including the stories of the
Cock Lane Ghost and the Baby Farmer executed at Newgate Prison. 
If you have some free time, you really should click on some of the links in this post.
So much good stuff out there.




It was the perfect way to celebrate Halloween in London.
We really appreciated that the focus was on the stories and the history.
It wasn't cheesy and silly with people in white sheets jumping out at us for a cheap fright. 


The temperature was quickly dropping so we popped into a local restaurant
to get warm with some squash soup with roasted pumpkin seeds.
After a late dinner with good friends, we headed home.  

 I would highly recommend London Walks.
They have ghost walks all over London, seven days a week, 
year round (excluding Dec 24th & 25th).

They also have a full schedule of other interesting walks:
Jack the Ripper, Harry Potter, Pub Walks and more.

It's a terrific way to experience and learn about London.
We will definitely be joining them for some more walks.

Happy Halloween, my friends!

What about you?  Do you have a good ghost story to share?

xoxo
Selena 

This is NOT a sponsored post.  We paid the full £9 each for the walk and all opinion are my own.  All photos are by me.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The Banqueting House

Over the Summer, I visited the Banqueting House
in London with Mela from Pincushion Treats.
I'm just getting around to posting the photos but had to share.

The Banqueting House is the only remaining portion of  
Whitehall Palace that was destroyed by fire in 1698.
It was designed by Inigo Jones and completed in 1622.
The hall was used by the British Royalty for entertaining and Masques. 

The audio-tour was informative and it only took about an hour to get through.
The definite highlight of the space is the ceiling painted by Rubens in 1635. 
It is spectacular and is the only ceiling done by the famous painter
that is still in its original location. 

 The Banqueting House is also famously
the location of the execution of Charles I in 1649. 

Take a look...








 



Hope you are having a terrific weekend. 

xoxo
Selena



Friday, October 26, 2012

I Spy Friday Autumn Edition


Autumn is in full swing.  I still call it Fall, but you know what I mean.
We haven't had to crank on the heat just yet, but today is pretty cold. 
I'm chillaxin' under my wooby. 
(I can't believe I just typed that.  I need to get a job.)

The biggest adjustment is how short the daylight hours are getting.
It's dark until almost 8 am and dark again before 6pm.
We're seeing less sunshine and more grey skies.
It definitely makes you want to hibernate.


We are trying to stay busy.  TE knows how bored I am at home all day,
so we are keeping the calendar full.  Unfortunately, TE has been sick all week. 

Monday, as you know, is Ironing Day. ::insert eye roll here::


The only good thing about it is that I use the time to get caught up on my American TV shows.
Glee, Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, etc.
A few months ago, I was contacted by UnoTelly and they were nice enough
to give me a subscription to their proxy service.
Now I can use my Netflix, Hulu and Pandora accounts.
I can access all of US websites that were blocked once we moved to the UK.
Makes me very happy! 
They have an 8-day free trial, if you are interested.

Monday I went to see
comedian Sarah Millican.  
It was just a small venue and she was
trying out
material for her new series and Christmas Special.  
She is hysterical! 
One of my new UK favorite things.
You can check her out on 
YouTube here and here and here.

 Last night, I went to the
Hammersmith Apollo to 
see another of my new favorites,
Irish comedian Dara O'Briain.
You can see him here and here and here.

(Fair warning, they can be a bit naughty... 
don't follow the links
if you're easily offended.)






I was getting so excited about "the holidays" coming up, but then I
realized they don't really do Halloween here and the Brits certainly don't do Thanksgiving.
That would be silly.  So that just leaves Christmas.


 I managed to get a pumpkin at the market and we're planning a
London Ghost Tour next week for Halloween.  So excited!
We also have fun plans for Thanksgiving.
So, we will be celebrating the full range of holidays over the next few months.

I've also been working on the cutest cross stitch project lately.





Isn't it pretty?  I love the colors and the large canvas makes it easy to do.
They have some really cute stuff.

Oh, and I saw this yesterday while we were out.


Short and sweet.  I like it.

Art class, drivers license and job search are all ongoing.
Hopefully, I'll have some updates soon.

Tonight we have a wine tasting and tomorrow we're going to a wedding.
Perfect excuse for a new dress!

I hope you each have a great weekend.
Thanks for stopping by for I Spy Friday!

What did you spy this week?

xoxo
Selena

This is not a sponsored post, but UnoTelly was nice enough to give me a subscription to their service to try out.  I paid full price for the cross stitch kit and the tickets for the shows.  All opinions are just mine. 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Favo(u)rite Things... Guest Post

When I posted my first Favo(u)rite Things post a few weeks ago,
I was contacted by a fellow American blogger who offered to do a guest post. 
She wanted to share one of her Favo(u)rite Things
that she has discovered since moving to the UK.

To be honest, I was a little reluctant to let her do this guest post,
because you see I've never even seen this show.  Ever.
But to each their own, right? 

So, here is my friend... Felena to share with you one of her Favo(u)rite Things.  



Hiya.  I'm Felena and I'm so happy to be guest blogging at Oh, The Places We Will Go.
I'm just dying to share with you one of my (not Selena's) very Favo(u)rite Things.  



I grew up watching some of the best US Soap Operas...
Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, All My Children.

But, because I was usually at work during the day it's been years since I've watched soaps.

We moved over here in January and were staying with the in-laws
(just like Selena... what a coincidence?) and each evening at 7pm,
we gathered in the front room around the television
for 30 drama-packed minutes of Emmerdale!

I was instantly sucked into the stories and I've been watching it faithfully since. 


Drama...


drama...


and more drama!!

It runs every weeknight at 7pm and on Thursday you get a bonus episode at 8pm, too.
I love Thursdays.  

Emmerdale started as Emmerdale Farm in 1972.
It's set in a fictional village in Yorkshire
and follows the ups and downs of working class people just trying to get by.

Last week they celebrated their 40th Anniversary with a live show and a murder!

Let me tell you, you haven't seen drama until you've seen Dingle Drama!!
(The Dingles are one of the central families on the show.)

So, there you have it.
One of my (not Selena's) Favo(u)rite Things.

Emmerdale.  

xoxo
Felena


Well, there you have it.  Thanks so much, Felena.
Apparently evening soaps are quite big here.
Who knew?  I certainly didn't.

Like I said... never seen it.

xoxo
Selena

PS.  I just noticed the pics Felena provided seem awfully similar to pictures I've taken in our apartment.  We must have similar taste in TV and curtains.  Total coincidence.