Kew Gardens
Two sets of Spring
Week in Scotland!!
Me, Wes, Nadia and Bram spent a week in Scotland for our spring break. It was the sunniest, most breathtakingly beautiful, truly unforgettable vacation I’ve ever taken. We went to Edinburgh, Inverness, Culloden battlefield, The Macallan whiskey distillery, Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye for two days, Glencoe, and St. Andrews. The pictures are below:
Liana’s Visit
Slideshow from the G20 Protests
The Protests
So I went down to the Bank of England today just to get a sense of the protests that were being staged in response to the G20 economic summit held just down the river. Though I wasn’t planning to protest, per se, I figured being here in the city meant I should take advantage of the situation and go see what was going on.
There were many different protests going on around the city, and the one I chose featured the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, representing War, Climate Change, Housing/Homelessness and Financial Crimes. I decided to start with the red horsemen for war, and walked with that group to meet with the other four.
I ended up finding a fabulous perch on the bank itself, and I stood up there with an old man, a Spanish cameraman and his journalist, and another couple for a long time. At one point, Russell Brand (photo below) walked by me but my trigger finger was slow and I didn’t get a snap. The overall feel was a bit quieter than I was expecting, with little bursts of cheering and chanting. There was a group of younger protesters wearing all black, with hoods and black scarves covering their faces, which were pretty intimidating. Not so much because of how they looked but because it was clear from the way they were acting that they were looking to cause some trouble.
Eventually, the police started forming columns which I knew could end up cordoning off the protesters, not letting anyone in or out. I decided that this would probably be the best time to go, so I crossed to the other side of the police and then continued on my way.
Apparently just a few minutes after I left, things got a bit more violent, though not very much - some windows at the Royal Bank of Scotland were smashed, and police on the front line had some shoving contests with some of those same black-clad protesters I mentioned above. A few people had injuries, but given the amount of talk/hype before the protests, I’m surprised about how small and peaceful they were in the end.
The Green horseman column arrives
The protesters start to converge on the Bank
People stand on the tube station for viewing position
The Red Horseman of the Apocalypse - the group I started out with - representing those against war (in Iraq? in Afghanistan? in general? …it’s unclear)
From my perch on the Bank itself, this is what I saw around midday today. This was just before the other 2 horsemen and their columns joined, so only half of the total number of protesters had arrived.
What the BBC Reported in their Blog
1230 City workers have been leaning out of windows to wave £10 notes at G20 protesters on the streets below, the Press Association reports. Demonstrators responded with jeers and shouts, their reporter says. 
1220 BBC’s Dominic Casciani texts: About two dozen black-clad men have charged police lines on Cornhill at Bank. There were minor skirmishes but the group sprinted away. Otherwise calm. A few minutes ago it got noisier when someone popped a head over the balcony of the governor of the Bank of England’s office.
Comedian Russell Brand joins the protests
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7973178.stm
