London: Day 8
- Comments: No Comments Yet
By the time I came up from breakfast this morning it was pouring rain out. This had the miserable effect of making Geo miserable (he’s like Andie one little drop of rain and he has to shake, very fussy), but the fortunate effect of making the line up at the Tower of London short.
We got there at 10:10am, and the Beefeaters weren’t giving tours because of the rain, a disappointment, but one we could deal with. We headed straight for the crown jewels. The videos in the jewel tower were fascinating and informative, they told you the history and the use of the crowns, scepters, orbs, swords, and all the rest of the coronation paraphernalia that went with it. They showed the coronation of the queen and her historic relatives. The jewels themselves were very impressive to see. Several of the world’s largest diamonds are contained in the collection.
London: Day 7
- Comments: No Comments Yet
We had a much better day today. I went for breakfast while Geo showered, then we took the tube to Southwalk Bridge. We picked up a great coffee and croissant at Pret-A-Mange, then walked across the bridge to the Globe theater. We took pictures of the inside and outside of the theater and the waterfront gates. We toured the Globe with a guide who was a member of the Globe Players. He had an actor’s temperament, aloof, superior and condescending. He spent a great deal of his time bemoaring the attention span and the inability of people to listen for extended periods of time. Despite his tone, he was informative, and it was great to be in the Globe. The info center attached was very informative regarding the construction of the theater. I picked up some postcards, bookmarks and a poster for Sean and the drama department.
London: Day 6
- Comments: No Comments Yet
Today was almost a complete write 0ff, if not for 2 or 3 redeeming factors. We slept in, missed breakfast and got off to a late start to the British Museum. We stopped and had cappuccino and Starbucks (it’s hard to get real coffee in London).
We spent the morning wandering the museum. We saw the Rosetta Stone, apparently it’s the key to translating hieroglyphs into modern Egyptian, who knew? It also contains an entire, huge Lycean tomb, apparently it was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. It also contains all the freezes off the Parthenon in Athens, it’s amazing. I can’t believe that the British pilfered treasures from countries all over the world.
London: Day 5
- Comments: No Comments Yet
We slept in a bit today. I went for breakfast while Geo slept, then showered. We wanted to go to the British Museum, but it was closed on New Year’s day, so we wandered the pedestrian shopping mall streets just off Tottenham Court Road. There was actually a plaque on one of the buildings dedicating it to the working class merchants of London, from a royal somebody. All I could think of was Alfred Doolittle and the “Undeserving Poor”. Geo found a Sci-Fi book store that had all kinds of British authors in it that he’d never even heard of, so he was thrilled to pick up a few books he wouldn’t find at home. He also found a camera store that he got a good price on a memory card on.
London: Day 4
- Comments: No Comments Yet
We were up on time for breakfast again this morning. I went for breakfast while Geo went for a shower. He should have stayed in bed and slept another hour. He’s tried hard not to be a crabby boy all day, but we’re back in the room at the hotel now (4:00 pm) so he can have a snooze.
We left on the tube for Petticoat Lane market, it was mostly textiles and household wares, and a lot of locals. It was a completely different atmosphere from the Portobello Road market yesterday, no crush of tourists. It was fun to listen to the merchants banter back and forth with each other in their cockney accents. We took some pictures of a pretty, narrow street called Artillery Lane, and I bought a London Arsenal Football Club scarf for Buzz, Then we got back on the tube and went to Camden Market and locks.
