Touring of London (Day 4)

Today was pretty relaxing compared to the last two days. I went on the Thames River Cruise, to the National Maritime Museum, and the British Music Experience at the O2 Arena.

Today was the latest I had to leave which was nice. Meant I got to sleep in (yay!). Simple ride on the tube to the pier. Same ride I went on yesterday (yestermorning?). I just missed the first one so I had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. So I busted out Northanger Abbey and did some reading. It's actually very interesting. Wonder if they ever made a movie for it. While I was reading, the weather went from dark and cloudy, to pouring rain, to incredibly hot sunshine just when the boat pulled in. So it was perfect weather to sit on the top level of the ferry. One of the crew members acted as our commentator. He did a great job for some one who hasn't had any guided tour stuff before and knew lots of little cool facts for most of the buildings we pasted. It was cool to see the sights from the river. Plus it was very relaxing and I needed that. When we went under bridges, some people would wave at us. At one of the bridges, a kid spit at us. Missed it by that much. Luckily no one was sitting next to me. I think the kid was dared to since afterwards, a group of kids crowded around him and were all giddy with laughter and mischief.

After we landed at Greenwich pier, I wandered around the old Royal Navy Academy before heading into the museum. I passed by the Cutty Shark ship on the way. It was pretty cool. Speaking of ships, while on the river cruise, I passed by Sir Francis Drake's ship and a little model of the Mayflower (it was on top of a building that our commentator pointed out).
There were lots of families and little elementary students around the museum. So it was a bit crowded. Made it difficult to take pictures but luckily I got a guidebook for free to help make up for that. I got to see exhibits about the Titanic, migrations to the Americas, slave trade, and other adventures from the sea. At one point I was having difficulty locating a restroom so I asked a staff member where one was. He said the nearest one was down stairs, but there was an exhibit down there you had to pay for in order to go down the stairs. I asked how much it was. He told me the price. I the asked, "So, if I don't wish to buy a ticket, do I need to go somewhere else for a toilet (when I first said restroom, the guy apologized for there not being places to take naps at. I'm pretty sure he was just teasing me)?" He then gave me a look (almost like Zach's people smile just dead serious), then quickly smiled a big grin and said it was OK for me to go downstairs anyway. Funny guy. He he.

I then took the bus over to the O2 arena to go to the British music Experience. HOLY COW. It was my version of a video game paradise. It was a mash-up of Just Dance, Rockband, with all American and British music since the beginning of music! It was an interactive museum and they had so much to do! Most of the exhibits had displays of things that were donated like Elton John's many glasses, costumes from David Bowie, The Madness, Duran Duran, KISS, etc. and lots of instruments (guitars especially) with lyrics from various singers and bands. There was an interactive studio where you got to learn how to play some songs. I learned how to play a bit of "Fascination" on piano, "Suddenly I See" on electric guitar, and a rock song on the drums. It was awesome. There was a dance booth, but it was super popular and I didn't get a chance to do it. But that's why I have my Just Dance games :P

So it was a pretty chill day. I'm mainly exhausted from the heat. It was 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, that's not hot compared to Utah or Tri-Cities, but when you're used to it being 60 degrees at the highest, it was pretty hot. And it made the tube ride back home very stuffy and stink. On one coach, I was crammed between two guys who I'm guessing had just finished working out and they each and one arm reaching for the bar on the roof. Leaving their lovely armpits in my face on both sides. Whoop de doo. When I transferred to another train, I was crammed between two ladies. It smelled a lot nicer. Guess rush hour is a bit later over here then in the states.

Guess that's all.

Ta ta  for now.

Touring of London (Day 3)

Another crazy adventurous day!

So today I was able to see Westminster Abbey, the Jewel Tower, The Churchill War Rooms, Benjamin Franklin's House, Wellington Arch, The Royal Mews, and the Queen's Gallery.

Since Westminster opened a little later then St. Paul's does, I got to leave a little later and the tube trains were less crowded. I even got there before it was opened. So I walked around Parliament Square. I took several pictures of Big Ben, House of Parliament, some random buildings, and Westminster Abbey. When I went inside the Abbey, it was nice and quiet since the tons of people weren't there super early (like St. Paul's). I got to see the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, Bloody Mary, Henry VII, Elizabeth of York, Edward the Confessor, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Chaucer, and yes William Shakespeare (it was actually just a memorial, he's not really buried there). I tried to get a picture of Poet's corner, but the Abbey attendees were EVERYWHERE making sure people didn't take pictures. They do their job very well.

I then made my way to the Jewel Tower. No, it didn't have any jewels inside. According to the exhibit I read throughout the tower, it used to be part of a wall that either was around an older building that was once used for Parliament or a town. Can't remember all the details very well. But the exhibit mainly talked about how Parliament came to be and how it works. A nice, simple visit.

As I walked to the Churchill War Rooms, I saw three police officers riding horses. They were looking so fancy and official while slowing down traffic. I also saw either a rally or a protest about the Union. Don't now what was going on, but they played the Cops theme song (The one that goes, "Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?") and there was a big rat inflatable thing. Yeah.

The war rooms were really fantastic. Almost everything in there was the exact things that were found inside when the rooms were reopened after the Second World War. Occasionally they would play clips of Churchill's broadcasts and the audio tour would play recordings from phones calls Between Truman and Churchill and discussions/arguments that happened in the war rooms. After I went through the little museum, I stopped by the little cafe that they had inside and had some Orange Juice with a berry scone. It was yummy. They really thought through things very well back then. Everything was organized to the last detail and had a system for any scenario. And everyone there played a crucial part, no matter how small. Simply amazing.

I took a double-Decker bus to Benjamin Franklin's House since I was getting a bit tired from all the walking. The traffic was bad. I should've walked instead. Oh well. I got to the house just fine, but I had to wait 30 minutes for the next Historic Experience show. So I walked around Trafalgar Square a bit. There was a lot of people there today. Sitting on the lions, playing in the fountain, feeding the pigeons (when there were signs saying not to, haha), and so on. It was very chill.
The Historic Experience show was AMAZING. There was an actress who played Polly Huston, daughter of the land lady who rented the space to Benjamin Franklin. They recorded some actors and actresses speaking in their roles and had visuals to go along. It all just flowed so well together and I was intrigued the entire time. After the show, the people asked me to fill out a comment card. As I did so, I overheard one of the lady's asking some other costumers how they heard about the house. The lady said her husband is American so he talks about Ben Franklin a lot. The other costumers just said that they've heard the name before and thought they'd check out the place. It felt so strange that people don't know about Ben Franklin much over here. Almost everyone in the states know who he is (at least they should know). Hopefully more people will be able to visit the house.

Then I booked it to Charing Cross underground (tube) station to go to Wellington Arch. When I got off at Hyde Park Corner, a HUGE crowd of people were also exiting. There was a very steep staircase with two escalators. One for going up and another to go down. Since everyone was crowding the escalator and I was in a hurry, I took the stairs. It was St. Paul's all over again. I ran up the steps, hearing people whispering, "wow, is that lady really going to run up ALL those steps? She's going so fast!" That last bit made me feel pretty good. Sadly though, about 3/4 of the way up I had to walk. Right when I stopped running, I heard a little boy say to his mom "Mom! Did you see that?! That lady ran up all those stairs! I can't even make it halfway up them!" And his mom replied, "It is amazing indeed! She must be training for the Olympics." I had a good laugh at that one (in my mind of course. It would have been peculiar if I had randomly burst out laughing right in the middle of a tube station).

When I exited the station, I was right there at Wellington arch. I took some pictures and went through it and had fun. But since it was 2:45pm and the Royal Mews last admission was 3:15pm I decided to book it over there inside of going up the arch.

The Royal Mews was so COOL! Mainly because of the horses, but it's still pretty cool overall. The Royal Mews is the stables at Buckingham palace! I got to see the different coaches (The Australian Coach, The State coaches, The Irish Coach, and the Golden coach (the one used for coronations)), one of the limos the royal family uses, and two of the carriage horses, Daniel and McCarthy.

I then went next door to the Queen's Gallery. They had an exhibit about Leonardo da Vinci and his anatomy work he did. It's amazing how much he guessed correctly from guessing off of what he learned from dissecting animals and rumors of body organs. All the drawings were fantastic. It was a bit too crowded so it made it hard to see things, but it was still a great visit.

Afterwards, I tried to make it to Kensington Palace, but I didn't make it in time. So inside I went to a little cafe and grabbed a cup of organic hot chocolate for free (with my London Pass). There was either very very very VERY little sugar in it or none. That made me sad. But I guess it was still sort of tasty. In it's own bitter way.

Think I covered everything for today.

Later!

Pictures from Hampton Court and Kew Gardens