A classic Routemaster London bus in Corfu Town

  The Routemaster doubledecker bus is one of the symbols of London. This type of bus was first introduced in 1956 and had been produced until 1968 but in 2005 the last ones had been drawn off and replaced by bendy buses. 

  A local english language school brought an original bendy bus in town for a week to advertise its english classes. The beautiful red bus was placed next to the old venetian fountain at the Esplanade. 

  From the very first day, our british visitor drew the attention of the passerbys who enjoyed their evening stroll.

  

  Do you think that Corfu's narrow streets and architecture could accomondate buses of this type?

The Corfu Heritage plaques - Have you already noticed them?

   Some years ago, the Corfu Heritage Foundation placed some bilingual blue and red plaques which indicate places in which some important corfiot personalities lived. It is a very good iniciative because it promotes tourism and commemorate famous places in which painters, writers and other prominent persons left their mark.

  Those plaques could be usually found on the buildings facades of the old Corfu Town. Obviously there were inspired by London's Blue Plaques which are scattered in the streets of the british capital.

Plaque in Arseniou street in Corfu

One of the two Mozart plaques in Frith street in Soho, London

 Below are some of the Corfu and London plaques.

 Corfiot plaques:

 Some famous London plaques:

                        

  I would like to see more of those plaques being placed in Corfu. Also a promotion should be done with the creation of a site in the internet in which there will be an index of the plaques with a small biography of each person commemorated. A more organized iniciative will help to boost educational tourism and preserve our heritage.

The "Bring Them Back" campaign for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures

  Since last month there is an online e-petition for the return of the Parthenon marbles. These fine pieces are hosted in the British Museum in London since the early 19th century when Lord Elgin literally stole them from Acropolis in Athens. Since then, there were various initiatives for the returning to Athens but the british denied claiming that there isn't a proper place in Greece to host them. Nowadays, with the brand new Acropolis Museum, there is a good reason to get them back. The museum is very modern and very close to Acropolis. There is a special place which was left unoccupied for the marbles.

  If you love Greece and its history and if you believe that the marbles belong to the greek people and not to the british, then vote for their return home. The site of the petition has a nice video, subtitled in five languages, presented by journalist Maria Houkli and famous greek presenter of the french "Star Academy" Nikos Aliagas. The initiative is supported by "Metaxa" drinks. If one million signs will be gathered, then we will be able to set the matter to the European Parliament.

  All you have to do is to follow the procedure described at the right side in the main page. Then a confirmation email will be sent to you, confirming that your vote had been registered.
  The site's url is: http://www.bringthemback.org/Default.aspx

Handel "Water Music" by English Concerto on the river Thames

This 19-minute long video is taken from a BBC documentary about the ambitious attempt of a team of historical experts to revive the 1717 premiere of Handel’s Water Music on the Thames. The result is the second-ever performance on the river, filmed in costume on a regal-style period barge against the backdrop of the present-day Thames from Whitehall to Chelsea. Includes performances by The English Concert of favourite movements from the F major and D major Suites.

Route followed: Westminster bridge upriver Thames to Chelsea bridge, London

NOTE: IF YOU LIKED THIS, I SUGGEST YOU BUYING THE WHOLE DVD AVAILABE FROM AMAZON.CO.UK. IT HAS THE WHOLE DOCUMENTARY, NARRATED BY THE FAMOUS LONDON BIOGRAPHER PETER ACKROYD

Amazon.co.uk link: www.amazon.co.uk/Handel-Water-Music-DVD/dp/B000BA8ED4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1265808584&sr=8-1

Copyright: BBC, 2003

Handel "Water Music" by English Concerto on the river Thames
από johnt_gr

Tired of waiting Google Streetview for London?

We have an alternative solution!

Some Londoners report that they have spotted Google-logo cars with big cameras on their tops cruising London streets these months. But if you logged in Google maps, you'll notice that there are no Streetview for London yet!

Don't worry, there's Seety.co.uk! A site offering exclusively street views for London with an interface similar to Google's. Just double click on the point of the map where you want to see a street level view and a small window will pop up offering you the requested street view.

A street-view from the middle of Westminster bridge:

http://www.seety.co.uk/

Madonna's House photographed by me!

Here it is! Madonna's official residence in 51 Great Cumberland Place, Marylebone - a beautiful townhouse not far from Marble Arch. There lives also her husband, Guy Ritchie with their children.

Madonna's block - her townhouse is right in the middle of the picture:

The townhouse:

Madonna's door - knock and see who is gonna open! :P :

The block looking north :

Notice: Do NOT trespass! It's a private property!

Greenwich dusk... with Canary Wharf!

Enjoy the series of today's dusk pictures shot at Cutty Shark in Greenwich. Tell me what you think!

This is London, September 2008

I was in London yesterday and as I had some free time from my room hunting (by the way, I found a room in Greenwich and I'm moving there this Sunday!), I took some pictures of the bustling capital of England. The weather was good, it was not sunny but there were some sunny spells.

Tomorrow I'm flying to England!

Yes! Finally the big day has come! Tomorrow morning I am flying with Easyjet from Corfu airport to London Gatwick. When in Gatwick, I will have to take the train to London Victoria and then the train to Faversham, Kent. I am going to stay at a friend's family for the first few days, until I find a place in London to move in. I will enrol at Goldsmiths on September the 22nd and my lessons will start one week after the enrollment day.

Some pictures from my London / Canterbury trip back in 2005:

Canterbury High street:

Canterbury Cathedral:

Panoramic view of Canterbury from the hill near Kent University:

Buckingham Palace:

Oxford street with Centrepoint tower in the background:

Rochester in Kent from the train to London:

Piccadilly Circus:

The London Eye and the County Hall from Westminster bridge:

A true London icon: The Big Ben!

Castle street in Canterbury:

Semi-detach dwelling in Canterbury - This is where I stayed:

Manolis greek taverna in Canterbury:

Trafalgar square with Nelson's Column and Big Ben in the background:

East London from the plane back to Greece:

Westmister Underground station:

That's all for now, I'm going to post some updates in the next few days with some pictures from Kent and London. So you will have a rough idea of how it is like and what the weather is up there.