Spring equinox 2020 in London

In the Northern Hemisphere, winter ends and spring starts at the moment of the March equinox, which in 2020 was on March 20th. This is following the astronomical calendar, when the start and end dates of spring are based on the changing position of Earth in relation to the sun and the resulting solar events of equinoxes and solstices.

The 2019/20 winter in England was very mild, but the start of 2020 was very wet. London only had a few flakes of snow, on one day, February 27th.

The start of spring was when the whole world was affected by the coronavirus, Covid 19, pandemic. Initially I was enjoying going into London whilst it was very empty.

Spring flowers in Kensington Gardens -

One day I went to Kensal Town area and saw part of the Grand Union Canal -

Close to this is Trellick Tower. This is a Grade II listed tower block on the Cheltenham Estate in Kensal Town, London. It opened in 1972. It has a separate access tower and plant room. The main tower is 98 m high.

On the evening of the equinox, 20 March, pubs and restaurants etc were ordered to close to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus, and transport in London will be cut back, so that is probably the end of my exploring London for a while!

Leinster Gardens fake houses, London

Leinster Gardens in Bayswater, London, has a row of opulent 5 storey houses. They look rather grand. However 23-24 Leinster Gardens is a fake. It is not a house at all. It is merely a facade to hide a gap where there are no houses.

This facade was built in 1860 to cover gaps left by the building of the London Underground. The railway line, which now forms part of the District and Circle line, between Paddington and Bayswater. This was in the days of steam trains, and the technique used is called "cut and cover". The trench for the tunnel was dug, the walls shored up and covered by an overhead support.

Two houses were knocked down in 1868 to make space for the locomotives to give off fumes, which was done in an attempt to cut down on smoke within the tunnels.

Interestingly, last year, 2019, I went to see a steam train run on the District line.

The real and fake houses look identical, with the same columns, balconies, windows and decoration. But if you look closely, you will see the windows are blackened. 

One giveaway is that the roof is different, the attic windows at the very top are missing -

In the past, practical jokers have called for food deliveries to the fake house!

I then walked round to Porchester Terrace to see the rear view.

This photo from the Daily Mail 3 Oct 2019 shows the railway tunnel and line -

A Google Earth image

Vigo, northern Spain

The Azores was supposed to be the last port on the 6 week Amazon and Caribbean cruise. However due to adverse weather in Bay of Biscay with possible 11 m waves, we called in at Vigo, to delay our crossing of the Bay. This was also around the time that storm Dennis was battering Britain.

Vigo is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the most populated municipality of the province of Pontevedra in northern Spain. Vigo is close to Portugal.

It’s ironic because on my Nov 2019 cruise around Spain, we had to miss Vigo as bad weather had delayed us, whereas this time we diverted there, again due to bad weather. In 2019 we hid from the storm in Gibraltar. I was very happy to go to Vigo, as I've never been to that northwest area of Spain.

It took 2 days at sea from Azores to Vigo. When we docked it was still dark, but the casino was lit up, it is right by the berth.

I’d half fancied doing the ship tour to Santiago De Compostela but didn’t want so long at the cathedral. Santiago De Compostela is a Catholic pilgrimage destination. I decided to stay in Vigo.

I knew nothing about Vigo, so had a quick Google over breakfast. I discovered that the French writer Jules Verne had a connection with Vigo. He devoted one of the chapters in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870) to the Bay of Vigo. Verne actually visited Vigo some years after writing the novel, when he sought refuge from a storm in his yacht in 1878. Whilst in the city, he received appreciation of the locals for the publicity that his bestselling novel had given the bay of Vigo. As there was a statue of Verne near our berth, that was my first destination. I was soon to find that Vigo was full of strange statues and sculptures!

As I walked through the cruise terminal I saw a picture of Verne -

Outside is a bronze statue of man preparing to board ship in the port of Vigo. It´s a tribute to the emigrants that went to America in the 1950s and 60s.

Behind this are these people -

There are lots of websites on the Vigo statues, but there is very little info on this one, the fallen man -

Just beyond the yacht club is Jules Verne sitting on an octopus -

I wanted to go up to O Castro Hill and knew it was a steep walk. I also wanted to do the bus tour but as I still had more than an hour to wait, I decided to walk up to O Castro Hill. Found the whole town is built on a steep hill. Some street scenes -

El Sireno (The Merman) or man-fish in Puerta del Sol. Sculpture by a Galician artist installed in 1991 and represents a hybrid of fish and man

Across the road is the Dinoseto. Note the Christmas decorations are still up, in February.

On up to a small park with San Sebastian Castle. 

Near the park I noticed the top of an escalator from a lower level and realised I could have taken that! Then on up to O Castro Hill and Parque Monte Castro.

There were lots of stairs up through the park, it was quite a climb to get to the top. Great views, 360°. The park was pleasant with nice trees and lots of camellias. In fact the whole city has camellia bushes. 

Vigo is on an estuary and is protected by the Cíes Islands, a nature park in the middle of the Atlantic and a gateway to the Vigo estuary from the open sea. Looking towards the sea -

I made my way back down into town and found the main pedestrian shopping street, with another C&A. The Christmas street decorations are still up. 

The town is built on a very steep hill and there are many underground car parks around the city under the streets and buildings and as you walk along, you suddenly come face to face with a car emerging from a tunnel in front of you.

The Monumento al Trabalho (Monument to Work), is dedicated to the hard working men of the sea, there are 7 naked men hauling in a large fishing net.

Camellias are well known in Galicia and particularly in Vigo. They are all over the town -

 The theatre -

Colegiata Church near the casino -

I went back to the A Laxe shopping centre which is right in front of the cruise terminal, with the casino above. I succumbed and bought a delicious cake in El Molino.

I was sad to board the ship as it was our last port before arriving home. Last views of Vigo -

Loads of gulls followed the ship as we left, and as it was tea time, people were able to pop into the bistro and get bread and biscuits for the gulls! It was a great sight. 

We had been warned the seas would get rough as soon as we left the shelter of the bay.

Ship laden with wind turbine blades -

A nice sunset as we headed for the Bay of Biscay. The doors to the outer decks had already been locked because of the aniticpated rough seas, so I had to take this through a dirty window -

The end of the 6 week cruise. Next stop - home!

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