Ghostour '07 Day 2

If you have been following the tales of terror from the Ghostour '07, read on.  If you would like to start at the beginning, here is a list of the links for each entry.

GHOSTour '07 Day 8  GHOSTour '07 Day 7  GHOSTour '07 Day 6  GHOSTour '07 Day 5  GHOSTour '07 Day 4  GHOSTour '07 Day 3    GHOSTour '07 Day 2  GHOSTour '07 Day 1 

After a long night on a plane, we landed and guess what, we were in another airport.  I really dislike both airplanes and airports.  Crowded, annoying, filled with stale air, everything is always running late and out of your control no matter how early you arrive, and they all look the same...some sort of horrible industrial waiting hell with rude staff for those unlucky humans who wish to travel.  But, once you arrive and get away from the airport, all is good.  We had made it to London, and I was glad to be out in the fresh air.

We hopped on our bus and drove into London.  On the way through town, we passed Madame Tussauds wax museum.  I have been to both the London and the Vegas versions of this, so I did not feel like we were missing anything as we drove past.  I would much rather see new places and things.  And we did!

Our first stop was Highgate Cemetery, one of the oldest and most outstanding cemeteries I have ever seen.  This place was beautiful!  You can only visit it on a tour, so if you wish to go, make sure you look into when they offer tours and try to prearrange your visit so you can be sure to get in.  There is an old and a new half, and I reccommend you make sure you can see the older half.

In the older half are many famous people's graves and many beautiful examples of gravestones such as this one with the fallen angel on it.  The scenery in Highgate is out of this world.  Just don't mention the Highgate vampire or ghosts to the tour guides or the Friends of Highgate members, as they frown upon anyone interested in this side of the cemetery's more recent history.

If you visit Highgate, the woman at the main gate who is in charge will inspect you for cameras that are not allowed inside.  "No video cameras, and no large cameras" she told us.  "Only small personal cameras, and no using the flash!"  On the way out she yelled at one member of our group because she decided his camera was too large.  She said that if she had seen him go inside with it, she never would have allowed it.  Of course, it was nothing more than a standard SLR style digital camera.  How she decides what is too large, I will never know.

As a part of the tour, we visited the mausoleum of Julius Beer.  In the Victorian era, the Jewish Beer family migrated to London from Frankfurt. Julius Beer owned the London Observer, but society shunned him because of his religion. In order to be buried in Highgate, he converted to the Church of England in the 1880s.   Before this time, people came to Highgate on weekends to picnic on the land above the Circle of Lebanon. Beer's revenge on society was to construct his mausoleum to obstruct their view and so they had to look at him forever.  Rumor insinuated that he had killed his family. His wife died first, followed by their 8-year-old consumptive daughter. Inside the mausoleum, a marble angel stoops to kiss a life-sized child -- whose face was modeled on the death mask of Beer's little girl. Beer himself died of apoplexy in his early 40s. His son Frederick took over the Observer and slid into madness.

Highgate is home to the graves of many famous people.  In the newer section you can find Karl Marx.

After we left Highgate, we walked up the hill to Pond Square Gardens.  This is the location of the famous Ghost Chicken of Francis Bacon.  Or as I like to call it, The Poultrygeist!  Don't believe me?  The just spend a cold winter's night here and see what happens.  Or you can just read more about the Ghost Chicken on the internet.

Finally, we traveled to the Spaniards Inn for dinner where we met my two friends, Alex and Bobbi.  They are currently ex-pats living in London for one year and only arrived in England days before I did.  The Spaniards Inn is a famous old pub that highway men used to frequent, including the notorious Dick Turpin.

Check in soon for more adventures from Merry Olde England.

tags: highgate  cemetery  highgate cemetery  dick turpin  spaniards inn  airport  london  england  new york  new york city  julius beer  beer  madame tussauds  tussauds  grave  grave stone  gravestone  vampire  fallen angel  angel  karl marx  marx  francis bacon  ghost  ghost chi  

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