A horizontal view of St. Pancras Station
Thursday was a railway station day. First we went to King's Cross Station to Platform 9 3/4, which is the point of departure for Harry to go to Hogwarts. He actually leaves from St. Pancras Station, which is right next door, but the platform is at King's cross. It even includes half a trolly going through the wall. We all posed for pictures. Then we walked down the street to the British Library, which holds such treasures as the Gutenberg Bible and a copy of the Magna Carta. There are also original manuscripts by Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, song lyrics written by the Beatles, and religious volumes from the Orient and Middle East.
After the library, we collected our suitcases and boarded the Eurostar for Paris. The Chunnel really offers nothing to see except blackness, but we enjoyed the beautiful French countryside once we had passed through. The train arrived in a little over two hours and ran as smoothly as butter. After stopping at our hotel to drop off our bags, we headed via metro to the Eiffel Tower. We got there while it was still light out, but it was growing dark before we came down, so we got to see the city begin to light up. We also had a bit of excitement along the way home. When we were approaching the tower, we encountered all sorts of souvenir sellers hawking mini versions of the tower for various prices. And while we were walking back, we saw several of these vendors running through the crowd. At first I thought they were lightheartedly cavorting because they were finally off duty from a thankless job, but then it became apparent that the police were chasing at least one of them. He pushed me out of his way once, then doubled back and pushed me again, then stood panting to my left, while to my right a police officer was beckoning him to come out of the crowd. He was arrested while we watched. There was actually quite a police presence around the tower. It didn't seem like a good place to commit a crime and get away with it. The rest of the trip back to our hotel was uneventful.
When we can get through on the Internet to post pictures, I will.
A vertical expression of the horizontal photo of St. Pancras
There really is a Platform 9 3/4
I didn't make it all the way to Hogwarts, but I did get to Paris
The Eiffel Tower is beautiful at night
It is not safe anywhere. Hoodlums in Poland and bandits in Paris. Maybe we just attact a criminal element. Hope he didn't push you too hard.
ReplyDeletePJS
No, he wasn't trying to rough me up, just get past me and away from the nice policeman. I just wish I'd been filming the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and photos Carolyn. Good to hear the police presence below the Eiffel Tower. The next time I am in London, I will sure try to crash in Hogwarts.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, I was reading about the night lights at Eiffel Tower. Apparently, the company which put up these shiny lights says any closeup photo taken of Eiffel Tower with these glitters is copyrighted by that company (Though its challenged in court).