Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Pancakes and a Stamp


This is where I ate lunch yesterday. When I walked past on a visit to the city I immediately had a craving for pancakes, even though I knew they wouldn't be the fluffy North American-style pancakes that you get at Denny's or IHOP. And indeed they were the European variety, which is more like a crêpe. But still yummy! I ordered the "Amsterdammer," with apple, bacon and maple syrup.

I was in town because finally...


...I got to visit the one-cent magenta, the world's rarest and most valuable stamp. It's on display at Stanley Gibbons this week. (You may remember I own a piece of it, and I did clarify with an attendant that if it's eventually sold I recoup my share of my investment. I suppose if there's a loss I take a loss, and if there's profit I get a bit of that, too...?)

They're showing it in a two-sided glass frame, so both front and back are visible, in a very dark room with special lighting. As you can see from the image above, it doesn't look like much. It's quite small and although it depicts a ship, I'll be darned if I could make it out, the design is so faint.

Still, it was fun to finally see it after reading about it so much as a young stamp collector.


From there I walked through Covent Garden and along High Holborn into the city. Above is the view from the Holborn Viaduct, featuring some ornate dragons and the armored head of a knight decorating the bridge.


More dragons. It's quite an elaborate structure!

I walked on all the way to Bishopsgate. I wanted to see the outside of the gigantic new building that's gone up there, and which I've seen from Parliament Hill on my visits to Hampstead Heath.


From beneath it's hard to get a sense of the scale, but it's a big ol' thing. It also creates a heck of a wind-tunnel effect beneath it. I could barely stand on the curb to get this shot without being blown off my feet.

I got back home around 3 p.m. and found that Dave had ordered a new lawn mower, so we should be in good shape to start mowing when necessary. (Not for another month at least.) We also repaired the banana tree pot, at least temporarily, with that most utilitarian of methods: duct tape. Dave is talking about dividing the banana so we may eventually need a couple of new pots to contain it, but for now the taped-up pot will protect the roots.

53 comments:

  1. I didn't know US pancakes are different. A fluffy pancake sounds a bit strange, but I don't knock it until I try it.

    The stamp is...of modest appearance.

    I love the viaduct sculptures.

    Wind tunnel effects are very well known, studied and understood. If like here, such would be part of building permit application, yet the knowledge seems to be totally ignored when the permit is granted. The wind tunnel effect around our building is terrible. Cross the wide road to where there is low rise, and it will be much less windy.

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    1. Yeah, I wonder how much consideration they gave to wind effects when they granted the permits. I'm sure they thought of it but maybe didn't expect it to be as challenging as it is! (At least on a windy day.)

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  2. I suppose a curb is attached to a sidewalk just as a kerb is attached to a pavement in this country. As for the dragons, don't they define the boundaries of The City of London? I am not sure about this as I am an only ignorant northerner.

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    1. Yes! There are dragons on pillars at several points leading into the city. The viaduct is not at the city border, but the dragons on the bridge are on the city crest so I guess they also serve as a declaration that you're entering the city. (Maybe it was the border at one time?)

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  3. Ah, the wonder of duct tape. That bridge is gorgeous. Can I get that dragon for our terrace? As for the new building, the wind tunnels they often create are a serious problem. You might remember windows regularly falling out of the Hancock Building in Boston. The wind tunnel created down below made it often near impossible to even walk by, and that was the quickest way for me to my office — while avoiding the barriers and police tape from the most recently smashed window. The revolving doors at the entrance would spin uncontrollably, so they installed domes above them. Then the domes blew off. Aren’t there courses in architecture school for this stuff?

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    1. I'd forgotten that about the Hancock Building! I wonder what architect's career suffered for that debacle?

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  4. Talking of stamps. When my Dad died and we cleared out the shed we found a tobacco tin hidden, it contained a love letter in German, his dog tags and a tiny blue German stamp. I had the letter translated and it was a love letter. Who knows what he got up to, he was in Germany and Belgium for most of the war.
    Briony
    x
    x

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    1. How interesting! It clearly meant something to him, since he saved it all those years. (And kept it tucked away in the shed!)

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  5. Pancakes are the only thing I like WHEN in the states
    I love them with syrup and bacon

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    1. I do miss American pancakes, I must say. (They're the ONLY thing you like in the states?? LOL!)

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  6. Oo,Dutch pancakes!!♥️

    By the way I am looking for your post about the gravestone with Doulton Lambeth links....

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    1. Is that the one where I posted the Rixon gravestone in Hampstead Cemetery?

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    2. Must be! I thought it was another . But a Rixon link would be handy!

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  7. What A Delightful Day - Just Cruising Around And Spontaneously Doing Your Thang - Way Cool And Dig Those Photos - Is This What Retirement Feels Like

    Cheers

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  8. Great day there. Stamp collecting was such a thing, I remember the excitement about the Penny Black and that upside down plane.

    I love my Brit style pancakes. Not so much those of my adopted country, which are too much like sponge innersoles for my taste.

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    1. Yes! I actually own a penny black. The "inverted Jenny" was another famous philatelic prize.

      I guess when it comes to pancakes you never quite get past what you're raised with.

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  9. I tried to get into the post but all I can think about is panckaes!!

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    1. Maybe I should have ended with that instead of starting with it. LOL

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  10. I like that many of our famous artifacts are being digitally scanned and available online do that people like me can see things up close that I otherwise might never have seen.

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    1. I do too! I love how the Internet can make things so available to us now.

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  11. I have made so many pancakes in my life that I am completely OVER THEM. I am sure when I die and my grandchildren reminisce about me (if they do), my pancakes will always be mentioned.
    London is such a beautiful city and the way the old and the new are woven together is truly amazing.

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    1. Oh, I LOVE pancakes. Whenever I go back to the states I am always certain to get some! They're one of the few things we just don't see here (in the same style).

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  12. I made pancakes more often when the grandkids were coming for their visits in the summer though I did make some strawberry pancakes recently. I even made crepes once! I'll have to try those again. I don't think those red and gold things are dragons. I thought maybe griffins but griffins have an eagle head.

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    1. Yeah, I'm not sure either -- but they do have scales.

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  13. It's amazing to me that they could squeeze another tall building into that area. It's hard for me to imagine that stamp being worth a lot of money.
    I made pancakes for my dinner last night which is very strange. I never make pancakes.

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    1. Not only tall but also wide. It's a big structure.

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  14. The details on the viaduct are beautifully painted.
    Good work with the duct tape.

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    1. Aren't they nice? I wonder who gets assigned to touch up that gold detailing? It must be quite a task.

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  15. You never get tired of exploring London and I can see why! You always have something to discover on your long walks. Love it!

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    1. I can never get enough of exploring on foot, no matter where I am.

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  16. You will likely find the perfect two pots on the street , with your lucky finding skills. That building- whoa!! What goes up must come down, I would not like to be near it when the earth shakes. The molecule of stamp that you own does look incredibly adorable... rosy cheeked and tiny. Oh yes, thrilling investment, Steve!

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    1. I laughed at the "molecule" of stamp -- that is indeed about what I own. I HOPE I find some new flowerpots!

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  17. Such a nice long walk there. I love seeing that stamp and those dragons. It's been a long while since I've had a pancake. In fact I can't even remember the last time. I didn't know that pancakes were different there. The world is full of surprises!

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    1. Yeah, here when you get a pancake it's always crepe-like. Very flat.

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  18. Oh man now I want pancakes! I'll take any variety - light & fluffy & big as my head, or thin like crepes - as long as there is plenty of butter & syrup :)

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  19. Just what London needs...another skyscraper. Was reading the other day that there is speculation that the reason part of the O2 roof shredded the during Storm Eunice was due to the wind tunnel impacts of the tall hotel building next to it that went up around 2015--about eight years after O2 was built. Perhaps some authority didn't do due diligence when considering wind tunnel impact of the building on the O2 roof?

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    1. Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't heard that, but it certainly seems possible. There's been a lot of new construction around the O2.

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  20. Like many things about the U.S. our pancakes are thick and doughy. I'm more of a waffle person! Is the stamp valuable because it's so old? It looks very nondescript to me.

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    1. It's literally one of a kind. There are very few stamps that don't exist in multiple copies, but this is one of them. So the value is based on a combination of age and scarcity.

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  21. You are one week to early! Next Tuesday is Shrove (or pancake) Tuesday, at least in Ireland and in this household (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday).

    We make them fluffy, roll them up with lemon juice and sugar.

    I mowed the lawn last Saturday, a first in February, but it was high enough.

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    1. Oh, I didn't even think of Shrove Tuesday! Well, I was celebrating early. :)

      We're nowhere near mowing here. It's still way too wet out there.

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  22. Your day trip sounded really fun. I think that the Dragons are pretty awesome, and I am glad that you could go and see the stamp and hope that someday it might bring you a fantastic reward. Well, it is a good wish at any rate.

    I am happy that you were able to save the banana pot for a little longer. Duct tape is something that we all need to keep on hand for those just in case emergencies big and small.

    Now you have a way to cut the grass because the new mower will be needed eventually. Did you keep the older one?

    Have a great day... xx

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    1. We still have the older one. We're debating what to do with it!

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  23. How fun that you got to see "your" stamp! Mmmm... pancakes. Now that's good way to use maple syrup. I have a great recipe for vegan pancakes that I make fairly often.

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    1. Are you vegan, Kelly? I don't think I knew that. Or do you just like vegan pancakes?

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    2. Yes I am. I began a plant-based diet just over seven years ago.

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  24. That IS a big ol' thing! It looks like a terrific walk and a fun day, seeing your stamp, taking some great photos and pancakes, too! Thanks for stopping by Marmelade Gypsy!

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    1. It was indeed a fun day out. Not as fun as a trip to Japan (as you described on your blog) but not too shabby. :)

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  25. There's a ship in that stamp? Perhaps you were looking at the wrong side? I see a lion face outline.
    Being a Dragon Lady (born in the year of) I love those dragons. Your pancake shop is very nice to look at too. Pancake Tuesday is next week and I shall make some for breakfast.

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    1. This is definitely the front of the stamp. Here's a greatly enhanced image that shows the design better:

      https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_guiana_1c_magenta_reconstitution.jpg

      As YP pointed out above, there are dragons on pillars guarding all the major entrances to the City of London. These dragons are on a large city crest mounted on the bridge.

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