Monday, April 13, 2015

The Sites of London, Cambridge,Warwick, Jaguar, and Morgans....

Dear Family & Friends,

I recently spent 10 days in England with my niece, Leah Krumholz doing an action packed tour to show her as many sites as possible in ten days. Leah is 19 and had never been out of the country so England is such a great place to visit and learn about culture, history, shopping, and cars.
While we were there we also visited the Jaguar factory, by invitation from them to me! We discussed the future of classic Jaguars and some very interesting opportunities.. more to follow there.
We visited my good friend, Melvyn Rutter, owner of the premier Morgan car specialist in the world. Not only is he an expert in everything Morgan his facility is a work of art in itself.
We also visited my very oldest, dearest friend in England, Aubrey Finburgh and his family. Aubrey owns Classic Auto, one of the few amazing specialists that can make an alloy car body from nothing but a photograph. See my blog for an example of his work.
We saw as many sites as possible in London as we could, we visited the beautiful Warwick Castle. IF you like Downton Abbey you will love the interior of this castle.
We went to Cambridge and explored the town and university via a River Cam tour in a traditional punt boat. The punter (our guide) Leah enjoyed. A good looking English college student. Leah referred to him as "eye candy".. Wow, no one has ever referred to me as eye candy!!
We also got a visit in to the Tate Museum of modern art. I will be the first to admit I am not educated in the finer aspects of art but take a look at the photos and tell me what I am missing. It doesn't look like art to me!
We also ate at the same pub as Steven Hawkings used to hang out at... Felt smarter just sitting there.
In London we went to the usual sites, The Eye, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminter Abbey,Victoria & Albert Museum, etc.  One evening we went to a traditional London west end theater seeing Wicked, and went shopping as some very trendy shops.  At Harrods we met a very kind shopping clerk who allowed Leah to try on a $10,000,000 diamond ring.. (There is no decimal mistake there). He did say if we bought it we would get back $1,600,000  in VAT tax when we left England..... what a deal. Unfortunately the charge would not quite clear on my credit card..
Having been traveling to England for almost 40 years one of the best parts of any visit is seeing all the great friends I have made there.
England and London are some of the most photographic places on earth so please look below.

Hope you enjoy seeing England as much as I did.

Jason
At LAX ready to take of to London!

Flying first class! I get a special deal on these tickets, free. I could never afford to buy them. I told Leah enjoy first class to London, because you are never going to do it again...

Our first night in London and what else can we do other than go to a traditional Jewish Sader for Passover...

Happy smile here,,, our first day in London.

Enjoying an afternoon on top of an open top London tour bus.. COLD!! but no rain.

Leah had a compulsion to kiss a British soldier but since they were strictly off limits she settled for a photo..
Happy to be a tourist in London,,, who wouldn't be!

The perfect photo of London...Has it all, traffic, a red bus, and Big ben..








One of the most famous addresses in the world, where the Prime Minister of England lives!

Parliament Square and Big Ben..

Any visit to London has to include a ride on the Eye. Constructed in 2000 it was supposed to only be there for one year but  do to it's popularity it is still going strong 15 years later!

Great views of London from the top..



No trip to London is complete without some shopping. Here we are in the Lotus store on Regents St.

Time to try on some OUTRAGEOUS shoes!!!


IT was a major accomplishment just to stand up...




Time for some general sight seeing. That building is the National Portrait Museum.

Trafalger Square withAdmiral Nelson overlooking the city.

Entrance to the park leading to Buckingham Palace.







Always wanted to see George Canning.....

Now it was time for some culture at the Victoria & Albert Museum
These photos are part of the History of Clothes display at the V&A.





The original "Puffy" shirt..


I could see Bonnie and I dressed in these clothes... but where to wear them??


Now wait a minute.!!! How can clothes from the 1960s be considered old enough to be in a museum?? I remember these all to well..


Now for a bit of real culture at the V&A!



I think this was a statue of me a few years go before I let myself go... :(

Amazing to think they went to the Moon in this contraption. This was when our country had big positive dreams!




I hope I am giving Leah a good educational experience..



Now to my favorite part, the science museum!


Finally a bit of car culture..

The "Funky" car display..

An early mechanical calculator.. Humans have come a long way technologically. Now we need to grow up  emotionally..
Time for the Holy Grail of shopping!
A shopping smile....


Harrods has an amazing food display..



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This very kind sales clerk allowed Leah to try on a ring....
This is what a $10,000,000 diamond ring looks like... That is the price, there is no decimal point error here.
I had to give Leah some car culture so we made a quick visit to Hexagons Classic Cars. A very high end classic car dealership just down the road from Harrods...






We did do a bit of business while in England. When I started my business I wanted to be a world famous Jaguar restorer and expert.. I guess I have made it since the Jaguar factory invited me to come to the factory to discuss the classic Jaguar business and what relationship the factory could have with my business, XKs Unlimited! www.xks.com


 Remember I told you about my friend Aubrey's business Classic Auto? This is a recreation he built of a 1937 Alfa Romeo show car. It was one of one. The original body was destroyed but the owner had the chassis. Classic Auto built the entire body and trim from a photograph! Every bit of trim, windshield, grill, etc all hand made. The body had rolled out of aluminum

Now back to site seeing. Here we go to Warwick Castle.. A beautifully preserved castle that was original built around 1050 AD but they kept adding on to it up until the late 1800s. In fact the first time I visited here in the 1970 the Duke of Warwick was still living here!




This is where you go if you don't behave..






Leah has a compulsion to kiss... some man will be very lucky some day... AFTER she graduates from college hopefully??

The inside of the main part of the castle looks like something from Downton Abbey...




The castle banker.

The hight of 14th century eye wear..

Quite the library..








Next stop on our tour was a visit to the city of Cambridge and the University there. What a beautiful city with so much history. Some of the most famous people in the world all graduated from here. From Sir Issac Newton and Steven Hawkings to Sasha Baron Cohen..





The River Cam

We make friends wherever we go.




This boat belongs to Duchess Catherine!



This bridge was original designed and built by Sir Issac Newton. IT was assembled with no nails or bolts but just it's own weight held it together..



 A local swan.. Every swan in England is property of the Queen and thus illegal to kill or capture..



This is called the Bridge or Doom. Original named and styled after a bridge in Italy that was used by prisoners to go to their execution. In Cambridge it supposedly leads to the area where grades are handed out.



The Queens Library.  A priceless collection of books including original Shakespeare writings. All the books are located on the second story in case the river floods.

If you look at the tower you will notice the clock tower is missing the clock. This is due to a bet this college lost to another....

Kings College. It doesn't get any better than this..



Even Cambridge has shopping...





Below are photos of my friend, Melvyn Rutter's amazing Moran car dealership.
Melvyn and his wife Sindy and youngest daughter Mariella. Not only is Sindy beautiful and charming, but she makes a WONDERFUL Curry diner!

Always great to see old friends. I am very lucky to have friends all over the world. Definitely makes life interesting.








Only a Morgan specialist wood need a fully equipped wood shop..






My dream, there home is located above their shop!






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If you need a bar of soap in the shape of a Morgan this is your place!



Here is how reincarnation works. Cow eats grass, grass dies, cow dies and its asking becomes a Morgan interior....



The "Pink Lady". a custom factory built Morgan just for Sindy Rutter.






These three windows in the Rutter B&B came from the original Morgan factory!

The eating area of the B&B

Each bedroom has it's own unique design.









Now back to London and visit to the world famous Borough Market with every kind of food delight you can imagine..

Some more great friends, Colette Doke and her son Tom. Tom is a neural surge with a great sense of humor and more great stories than anyone his age should have..

Aubrey and Leah exploring the Market.

Mmmmmmmmm;;; Pallea, one of my favorite dishes.






This is truly amazing... We all had a full Births breakfast at the Market and ten minutes later Leah is eating some exotic meat hamburger... Where does she put it and keep so slim???? Oh to be 19 again..








Did anyone say chocolate??




Mmmmmm.... a whole smoked pig.

Now it is time for a visit to the Towner of London, the oldest castle in London and to see the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately no photos allowed of the Jewels but here are some photos of the castle and grounds.



You don't want to enter through this gate.. This was for prisoners who rarely left the castle alive or with their heads.















Only in London.... there is 1000 years of time separating the buildings in this photo..








This was King Henry's suite of armor. Notice the COD piece... I think the king was exaggerating.





I am pretty sure this sculpture was not original to the castle..

This leads to the tower where King Henry the 8th executed his wives.. What I don't understand is after the first wife was beheaded what kind of woman would agree to follow that act??

London Bridge.

This building is called the "Shard". It is all glass and the tallest building in London.





London is full of street entertainers.














Time for a visit to Westminster Abbey..












This is the grounds and housing for the Royal Guards and their horses.. On the way to Buckingham Palace.



Buckingham Palace. Notice the Union Jack flag flying on top? That means the Queen is home.. Unfortunately we did not have time to stop in and have tea.





Tea time in Covent Gardens and we had this most amazing French desert. The best tasting chocolate and cream I have experienced.




Again notice the contrast in age of the building in the back to the one in the front..


London is a real combination of old and new. The building in front when it was first completed melted the roof off a Jaguar parked below it just from its reflection of the sun. Luckily in London bright sun it not a common problem..


The Globe Theater where the original Shakespear plays were performed!

Here we are about to visit the Tate Museum of modern art... I am not a sophisticated art critic but it hardly looked like are to me....



The Tate Museum used to house the main power plant for London so the building is HUGHE!!

Art????



My friend Aubrey is obviously more sophisticated in art than i am. When we saw this painting he announced in a loud voice..... " At least I can see a pair of Tits!".. We car guys are a classy group..



Guess what this is??

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Art that is useful in case of a fire..

The piece above is a pencil mask.... obviously.

A tray of hardware... I guess I am an artist too.

Dead trees.... I have these in my back yard.

Did we visit an art museum or a lumber yard???


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I thought this was an art display but......

..... my friend Aubrey figured out what it really is..









Leah having a proper French food lunch.... with wine. On this trip at least Leah learned how to drink wine..
My first "SELFIE"... Not bad, I think I look like a proper English Gentleman.. Looks can be deceiving..
The oldest door in London. Must have some amazing stories..


This is the look you get when you have taken exactly one to may photos..



A night at the theater..

We got to see Wicked at the Royal Victoria Theater.

Here we are finishing up our trip. It has become our tradition to finish up each trip to England with dinner in Hempstead the last night....

Then one last tradition,,,, finishing off the evening with a delicious hand made French crepe from the Crepe stand in Hampstead.. Been going here for 35+ years...

That's all folks!!




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