Connecticut Yankees in London: Hampstead Cemetery

On Thursday, my friend Marcia and I went to the nearby area of Hampstead, to the St. John's Wood Women's Club Book Group meeting for a discussion of The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. It was a rich and interesting discussion among eight women.

After the meeting, we stopped for lunch at a local cafe, then went to tour a famous cemetery in the neighborhood. The author, George Eliot, was buried there, so it seemed an appropriate destination.

This was George Eliot's tombstone. Of course, George Eliot was a pen name; her real name was Mary Ann Cross.

It reads, "Of those immortal dead who live again in minds made better by their presence."

This cemetery was really quite beautiful.

It was lush with greenery.

There were some very attractive tombstones.

There were some very old tombstones...

..some covered in English ivy.

Then we saw a very large and unusual tomb stone ...

...for a famous man -- Karl Marx.

The saying written in gold is, "Workers of all lands unite."

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it."

Considering that today is May 1, or May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, it was a particularly appropriate finding. (Monday is a holiday here for everyone to celebrate May Day.)

After our walk through this cemetery, Marcia and I decided that rather than take the bus or the tube home, we would hike the six miles back to St. John's Wood using our handy pocket maps to guide us.

Even though there were threatening black clouds at times, we were lucky enough to avoid any major downpours all the way home.

Shortly after arriving home, however, the skies opened up, and there was a major downpour with lightning and thunder. This was followed by a beautiful rainbow across the sky that could not be captured in just one picture without a wide angle lens. It stretched in a single arc clear across the sky. These pictures show only a part of it. Beautiful!