Viewing London from the River Thames

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Viewing London from Thames is the least stressful way to travel in London and is heap of fun. There are 9 piers from which to stop or start one’s journey. These are: Hampton Court Pier, Richmond Pier, Kew Pier, Putney Pier, Westminster Pier, Charing Cross Pier, Tower Pier, Greenwich Pier and Thames Barrier Pier.

A visit to London is incomplete without a cruise along the Thames, either as an introduction to the many sights and scenes to be enjoyed during one’s stay or as a treasured memory of one’s visit. All year round, there are that boat service leaves regularly from Westminster Pier, passing historic and modern places of interest. Over the centuries the river has brought life to London. Hustling boats, teeming wharves, trade and commerce at every turn. Reminders of days gone by are still to be seen along the riverbanks. The classic architecture of Greenwich contrasts with the modern style of Canary Wharf.

To travel by water is one of the easiest ways to get around London. At the time of the Romans until the 18th century there was only one bridge across the Thames, and naturally it was clogged with traffic. It was quicker and easier to hire water boats to carry travelers from one bank to the other, or up and down the Thames.

The early 19th century saw a proliferation of canals built into and around London, usually for goods transport. These canals fell out of service as rail transport became a viable option, but now they offer a relaxing way to travel about the city.

Along river Thames one can find several tour boat operators, where one can buy tickets for a sightseeing tour on the river. These tours are recommended because one travel on the beautiful river Thames and see London and its beautiful buildings and sights from a completely different view. The tour guide gives you loads of information about the buildings and views one pass.

One of these tours goes to the London Tower, a museum located at Tower Bridge. During this trip one canview several well-known bridges, like Blackfriars Bridge, London Bridge and Tower Bridge. There are several famous and/or beautiful buildings (for instance the Royal Festival Hall, Shakespeare’s globe which was used by him as a theatre, the oldest pub of London and last but not least the Tower of London), landmarks (like Cleopatra’s Needle and the Oxo tower) and wharves to be seen on the way. One can view the HMS Belfast, a naval ship that is used as a museum nowadays.

Another tour starts from Hampton Court, which has been the Royal residence for centuries from the 16th century onwards. The route this boat sails is the same as the kings used to travel to Hampton Court. There are several beautiful and/or famous buildings for instance Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Lambeth Palace. One passes several well known bridges like Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge and Hammersmith Bridge. Going through two locks through a boat is quite an experience in itself.

One prominent feature is the further away one comes away from the centre of London, the more expensive the houses became. There are also more and more yachts which slowly became more expensive too. Around Kew and Richmond there was number of expensive yachts vying with each other.

The best part of tour was the natural scenery. Sometimes it looked that one was not in London anymore. There was nothing but peace and quietness all around and all one could hear was the pounding of the boat itself.

Dealing With a Joplins Neuroma in the Foot

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A Joplin’s Neuroma or neuritis is an entrapment or pinching of what’s known as the inside plantar digital nerve. This specific nerve supplies sensation on the medial side and regions of the top and underside on the great toe or hallux. This particular entraped nerve was initially identified by Joplin in 1971 with 3 cases which came about soon after bunion surgery. The reason behind a Joplin’s Neuroma is most frequently as a result of continual compression about the big toe with recurring trauma to the nerve. This is mainly more likely to occur when using tight shoes, particularly if there is an underlying problem like a bunion in the big toe. This may also happen in some instances following a single occurrence of trauma instead of the repetitive trauma from shoes. Some other instances are due to an restriction with the nerve in scar tissue formation right after bunion surgical procedures.

The typical symptoms of a Joplin’s neuroma may differ from dull ache discomfort and some pins and needles to an acute shooting or radiating pain occurring around along the medial side of the great toe. The symptoms can generally be made more painful by the continued wearing of tight shoes. There could also be some numbness and tingling about the area. When you carefully palpate the area of the nerve, it’s sometimes easy to feel a lump over the area and the pressing on this mass can cause the symptoms which the person is having. There are many different problems which may imitate these types of features since the signs and symptoms of a Joplin’s neuroma may be somewhat hazy. You should get the medical diagnosis prior to carrying on with therapy. The differential diagnosis includes almost any other disorders which has an effect on the large toe joint. This may consist of osteo arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or even gout. The signs and symptoms of these usually happen more inside the joint instead of radiating pains about the hallux joint. There might be swelling from a bunion with some bursitis that doesn’t involve the nerve getting entraped. A sesamoiditis may be considered, but this causes pain under the big toe or hallux joint and will not shoot forward. There also might be a traumatic damage to the hallux joint or even the structures surrounding the joint.

The first part of the treatment of a Joplin’s neuroma is to find some alleviation in the pain when it is bad enough. This may involve using ice and medications to ease the signs and symptoms. The key part of the treatment is using wider footwear or to modify the footwear to allow a lesser amount of force on the great toe or hallux joint. This may be problematic if tight fitting footwear needs to be used in sports such as soccer. Adhesive felt protective pads to get stress off the affected area could be very useful. This adhesive felt padding could be in the shape of a ‘U’ or even a donut. This really is required in order that there isn’t any pressure on the area the symptoms are coming from. A shot of corticosteroid is sometimes needed to settle the pain of the Joplins neuroma. When none of this helps, then a surgical removal of the affected nerve is usually necessary.

Where were you in 1967?

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1967 was an interesting year with many different things which it may be commemorated for. 1967 began on January 1 with Canada commencing a year-long festivity of the 100th anniversary of Confederation. On January 23 the trial starts out for Wilhelm Harster that was accused of the deaths of 82,856 Jews (including Anne Frank) when he directed German security police through the German occupation of the Netherlands. Hsrdter ended up being in due course sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment. The Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed on January 27th when fire breaks in the Apollo capsule during a launch pad test. In southern Tasmania, in Australia, severe bush fires on February 7 claim 62 lives, and also damages 2,642.7 sq kms (653,025.4 acres) of property. The US labour union director Jimmy Hoffa starts his 8-year sentence on March 7th for working to give incentives to a jury. On March 14, nine executives of the German drug organization Grunenthal are charged for breaking the German drug laws and regulations as a result of thalidomide. The case was eventually dropped. On April 14th & 15th, there had been significant protests held opposing the Vietnam War in New York City as well as in San Francisco. The coup by a number of army representatives in Greece on April 21st secures a military government which is led by Georgios Papadopoulos. The dictatorship doesn’t conclude right up until 1974. On April 27th in Montreal, Quebec, Expo 67, the World’s Fair that will coincides along with the Canadian Confederation celebration is formally opened up. The Expo closes on October 29 after having been visited by more than 50 million visitors in the six months it was open. The boxer Muhammad Ali refuses military service on April 28th and is stripped of his boxing titles and banned from professional fighting for the next 3 years.

On May 1 Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu in a ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. On May 26th, The Beatles put out the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and on November 27, they launch their Magical Mystery Tour complete album in the United States. On December 26 the Beatles film on the Magical Mystery Tour receives its global launch on BBC Television in the United Kingdom. On June 5 the Six-Day War begins just as Israel commences Operation Focus attacking Egyptian Air Force airfields and the military of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan invades Israel. On June 10th that six-Day War ends as both Israel as well as Syria accept a United Nations mediated cease-fire. On July 4th the Great Britain Parliament decriminalizes homosexuality and on August 30th, Thurgood Marshall will be revealed as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first Black to have the appointment. On September 29th, the timeless science fiction TV show Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons starts on ITV in the UK. On October 17th, the musical Hair opens up off-Broadway and then the following year they transfers to Broadway to start its long haul. Future United States senator as well as presidential aspirant John McCain will be shot down over North Vietnam and taken captive on October 26th, 1967. McCain is released five years later on. On December 11, the Supersonic passenger plane Concorde is unveiled in Toulouse, France.

Japanese Gardens

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Ready for something different in your garden? Take a look at Japanese bridges. These beautiful ornamental bridges bring the Far East right into your back yard or garden.

Japanese bridges add elegance to gardens and look beautiful when placed over a koi pond or Japanese style dry river bed. There are many flowers, shrubs and trees that compliment Japanese bridges also.

If you are interested in Japanese bridges for your garden you may want to look online for ideas and suggestions. There are excellent sites that not only feature the bridges but have information about planning an entire garden space in the Japanese style.

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The Year that was, 1973

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There was a whole lot that went on in 1973. The year commenced with the expansion of the European Economic Community with the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland plus Denmark joining on January 1. The European Economic Community down the road turns into the European Union. Peace negotiations carried on from 1972 during the war within Vietnam. On January 15 the US President, Richard Nixon announces the suspensions of war action within North Vietnam citing progress with the peace negotiations. By March 17, almost all of the remaining US military continue to depart Vietnam. On January 22nd, the boxer George Foreman overcame Joe Frazier in one of the all-time classic battles to get the heavyweight world boxing championship. In the Chinese province of Sichuan on February 6th, a 7.6 quake kills 2200 individuals and injuring 2700 people. On April 1 the UK starts the Value Added Tax (VAT) in to the tax system.

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What happened in 1970?

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The year of 1970 was a fascinating year for a variety of reasons. Perhaps it is most memorable because of the wide variety of calamities which occurred, several big and several small. Initially on January 5th these was a 7.1 magnitude Tonghai quake which affected Tonghai County, within the Yunnan province in China, having an approximated 10,000 and 15,000 people killed and over 26,000 injured. On February 1 the Benavídez railway catastrophe close to Buenos Aires in Argentina occured with the derailing of a train killed 236 individuals. An avalanche at Val-d’Isère in France on February 10 killed 41 travellers to the vicinity. On April 11 one more avalanche above a TB respite hospital in the French Alps killed 74 individuals, many of them being adolescent boys. On March 4, the France sub Eurydice imploded whilst undertaking a training dive in the Mediterranean Sea killing all on board. In Osakain Japan on April 8th, a natural gas explosion at a metro construction site killed 79 people and injured over 400. On May 31st a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Ancash, in Peru accompanied by a landslide buried the town of Yungay. It was determined that in between 66,000 and 70,000 individuals were killed. On July 3 all 112 individuals on board Dan-Air Flight 1903 were killed when the British De Havilland Comet plane crashes into mountain tops north of Barcelona in Spain. Yet another crash on July 5th occurred with Air Canada Flight 621 crashing close to Toronto Airport, Toronto, in Ontario killing all 109 passengers and crew on board. In Melbourne, Australia on October 15th a part of the new West Gate Bridge fell into the river beneath, killing 35 building workers. On October 15 a cholera epidemic breaks out in Istanbul in Turkey that later develops on October 28th to east Slovakia leading to Hungary to close its border with Czechoslovakia. On November 13, a 120-mph tropical storm hits the heavily populated Ganges Delta region in East Pakistan (in what is currently known as Bangladesh), kills an estimated 500,000 individuals which makes it the 20th century’s most severe cyclone disasters. On December 12th there had been a landslide in western Colombia which left 200 people dead.

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