St James’s Park in London is the oldest and most visited of 8 royal parks in the city. The lake has a “duck Island as well and is home to many different bird species.
Royal Parks
Author: TheLosAngeleno
Tube strike to hit London in less than 2 hours
The union representing the drivers of the London underground trains have decided to call a strike for today beginning at 18:30 hours and lasting through all day tomorrow Thursday august 6 2015. the spat is in the Mayor’s wish to run trains all night on weekends. I spoke to the taxi driver that brought me into the city from Heathrow upon my arrival a couple of days ago and he – like myself, thought it would make a lot of sense to have the trains running all night weekends.
Everyone expect total chaos in the streets of London and for us visitors it is very inconvenient, makes it so much harder to get to where we want to be – museums, galleries etc. it’s a shame to schedule something like this at the height of the summer season – then again, I suppose that’s the exact point of it.
Here is a message regarding the strike from Transport for London, the authority in charge of running the underground service. We also looked online and Googled for anything public from the unions involved but was unable to find anything, please contact us here if you would like us to post something from you as well. Here is the message from Transport for London:
“05 August 2015
I am sorry that your journeys this evening and tomorrow will again be disrupted by the unions.
We listened to their concerns over work-life balance and put forward an extremely fair, revised offer:
- An above-inflation average two per cent salary increase this year and an inflation-proof rise in 2016 and 2017
- Staff on Night Tube lines or stations will be paid £500 once the service is introduced on 12 September
- Station staff will receive a £500 bonus in February 2016 for the successful completion of the modernisation of customer service, currently being carried out
- Drivers, who already work shifts covering 24 hours, will receive an extra £200 per Night Tube shift during a short transition period, after which they will have the choice whether or not to work Night Tube shifts
Drivers will have the same number of weekends off as now and no one will be asked to work more hours than they do today. Everybody will remain entitled to two days off in seven.
Annual leave will remain at 43 days for a train driver and 52 days for station staff.
The unions rejected this fair offer outright and instead demanded more money, the hiring of even more staff – including for ticket offices that customers no longer use – and a 32-hour, four-day week.
No employer can afford to meet those sorts of demands.
We continue to urge them to call off the strike, put the new offer to their members and not subject Londoners to further unnecessary disruption. We remain available for talks at any time.
If the strike goes ahead, please complete your journeys on the Tube by 18:30 tonight.
There will be no Tube service on Thursday 6 August.
Find out more on our Tube strike page.
Nick Brown
Managing Director, London Underground”
Parikkala sculpture park
In the midst of the forest in the very Eastern part of Southern Finland you can find a pool of people amidst the Pine, Birch and Fir-trees. Parikkala sculpture park is the work of Veijo Rönkkönen (1944–2010) who was a self taught artist and a full time paper mill worker that lived in this part of Southern Finland, very close to the Russian border.
Below are some of the more interesting pieces in the garden, but there are many more to see. If you have a chance, take the 3 1/2 hr drive or so from Helsinki to see the gardens – I think you will appreciate it!
Here is a link to the website – http://www.patsaspuisto.net/the-parikkala-sculpture-park/
Canal to Russia
Lappeenranta in the Southeast of Finland is beautifully situated on lake Saimaa and is connected to the Bay of Finland and Russia via the Saimaa Canal. The canal was built between 1845 – 1856. It was formally opened on September 7 1856. It was later overhauled and widened 1963-1968. The canal is 42.9 km long (26.7 miles). the difference in elevation between lake Saimaa and the lower laying Gulf of Finland is 75.7 m (248 ft). The Finnish part has three locks, the first one in Mälkiä.
Mälkiä lock is the first lock when traveling towards Russia on the Saimaa Canal, it is also the lock with the biggest difference in elevation, 12,4 m (41 ft).
The lock port is rising from below to seal off the lake side of the lock so that the transition downwards can begin.
The gates have closed and lock is being drained of water, lowering the boat to the level of the lower part of the canal.
Take a two hour cruise on Lake Saimaa and the lock at Mälkiä with El Faro, it is a great experience!