They say there may be a drought in London this summer...
However the continual rain is leading me to believe otherwise.
Well it's been a busy couple of days indeed. I finally wore my pedometer and Monday and Tuesday I clocked about 23.5 kms. Then last night, I was getting off of the Tube and the thing unclipped from my waist and I then accidently kicked it off of the platform and under the departing train. Ooops.
Monday I decided to take the secular route and I started my day at Westminster Abbey. I guess I wanted to take the Da Vinci code route. WOW!!! What a place!!! The only downside is that they don't allow photo taking inside (it think it's a respecting the religioin thing...blah, blah, blah). The artwork is freakin' amazing! They rose stained glass. I saw the tombs of several of the British monarchy, like Liz the I and Mary, Queen of Scots. There was an amazing monument to General Wolfe (all of you need to pull out your Canadian history books now). The graves of Tennyson and Auden and Dickens are all there too and memorials to several of them. There was a display of funeral effigies and all kinds of amazing religious relics. Oh, and I saw the actual coronation chair (Liz the II sat in it for her coronation) and the tomb of the unknown soldier that no one is allowed to walk on.
After strolling past parliament and Big Ben, I crossed the river to Southwark (or Bankside). I wandered past the Aquarium and the London Eye. I stopped and did a little sketch of a building I could see across the way. I kept walking and wandered past the Royal National Theatre. They have a bookstore that only sells books on theatre. Nothing else. Play manuscripts, history, biographies, they had it all. It may have been the happiest place I've ever been! I kept on walking after a browse and ended up at the Globe. Since it was included in my London Pass, I stopped and toured the theatre, where they were rehearsing Titus Andronicus and the interpretive centre. I walked back to the London Bridge tube station and went back to the hotel. After the 13 kms of walking, I didn't really feel like doing much else, so I spent the evening in.
Yesterday, I started at St. Paul's Cathedral. Again, no photos allowed. All I could think of was Mary Poppins and the feed the birds song. Man, I may not be religious, but the artwork is so amazing in the cathedrals and churches here. And the architecture of all of the buildings, we just don't have anything like it at home (except in Quebec, of course). I went into the crypts and saw the tombs of Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington (for whom the boots are named). They also have a memorial bust to Sir John A. Macdonald (again, pull out the Canadian history books). I wanted to take a photo of that, but I behaved.
After I went to the Museum of London. It's basically like the Royal Alberta Museum, it gives a history of the city and the development of the Area. The coronation coach was there. There was exhibits from Roman Londinium and the lifestyle and such, all the way up to the present.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I went to the London Dungeon first thing in the morning. What a hoot! They take you on a semi-guided tour of some of the darker moments of London's history. Now, when I was at the Tower, they said that there were very few recorded cases of torture, but I think it's more unrecorded than anything. I got sneezed on by a guy with the plague. We were taken through Traitor's Gate at the Tower by boat, I had my photo taken with a guy about to cut off my head. We went through Sweeney Todd's barber/surgeon shop in old Fleet Street (so named because the river Fleet used to run through there, but the stench was so bad from all of the waste, they covered it over. It still runs, but underneath). If anyone is planning a trip, I would highly recommend this attraction.
Last evening was my Jack the Ripper tour of Whitechapel. Wow. Even today, Whitechapel is so not the nice clean touristy part of London. It's mostly East Indian (we walked through Little India) and definitely not a huge tourist area. Some of the buildings still stand as they were (or close to) in 1888. The Ten Bells pub still exists and the White Chapel itself. I have lots of photos. The tour lady was excellent. She had lots of photos of the area and of the women themselves (post mortem). Glad it wasn't dark out when I went!
After another 10kms (before I kicked the pedometer under the train) I headed back to my hotel to change. Went for dinner at a really nice little Italian place near the Tube station. Drank half a bottle of wine and got myself a little tiddly.
Today, so far, I have taken in the British Museum. It's quite an undertaking. I didn't stay too long, (I was there last time I was here) but I did take in the exhibit of Michaelangelo's drawings. So cool. The man was a master. Even his sketches (which he hated) were perfect works of art. He had such a grasp of the naked male form (I'm sure we would all like to grasp a naked man though!).
Now, I'm heading off to Picadilly Circus to do some last shopping and try to snag tix to the Producers tonight. It's my last night here, and tomorrow I will be on a plane back to Calgary. Kind of sad I didn't do more, but I think it'll be nice to come home.
Until then, cheerio!
Well it's been a busy couple of days indeed. I finally wore my pedometer and Monday and Tuesday I clocked about 23.5 kms. Then last night, I was getting off of the Tube and the thing unclipped from my waist and I then accidently kicked it off of the platform and under the departing train. Ooops.
Monday I decided to take the secular route and I started my day at Westminster Abbey. I guess I wanted to take the Da Vinci code route. WOW!!! What a place!!! The only downside is that they don't allow photo taking inside (it think it's a respecting the religioin thing...blah, blah, blah). The artwork is freakin' amazing! They rose stained glass. I saw the tombs of several of the British monarchy, like Liz the I and Mary, Queen of Scots. There was an amazing monument to General Wolfe (all of you need to pull out your Canadian history books now). The graves of Tennyson and Auden and Dickens are all there too and memorials to several of them. There was a display of funeral effigies and all kinds of amazing religious relics. Oh, and I saw the actual coronation chair (Liz the II sat in it for her coronation) and the tomb of the unknown soldier that no one is allowed to walk on.
After strolling past parliament and Big Ben, I crossed the river to Southwark (or Bankside). I wandered past the Aquarium and the London Eye. I stopped and did a little sketch of a building I could see across the way. I kept walking and wandered past the Royal National Theatre. They have a bookstore that only sells books on theatre. Nothing else. Play manuscripts, history, biographies, they had it all. It may have been the happiest place I've ever been! I kept on walking after a browse and ended up at the Globe. Since it was included in my London Pass, I stopped and toured the theatre, where they were rehearsing Titus Andronicus and the interpretive centre. I walked back to the London Bridge tube station and went back to the hotel. After the 13 kms of walking, I didn't really feel like doing much else, so I spent the evening in.
Yesterday, I started at St. Paul's Cathedral. Again, no photos allowed. All I could think of was Mary Poppins and the feed the birds song. Man, I may not be religious, but the artwork is so amazing in the cathedrals and churches here. And the architecture of all of the buildings, we just don't have anything like it at home (except in Quebec, of course). I went into the crypts and saw the tombs of Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington (for whom the boots are named). They also have a memorial bust to Sir John A. Macdonald (again, pull out the Canadian history books). I wanted to take a photo of that, but I behaved.
After I went to the Museum of London. It's basically like the Royal Alberta Museum, it gives a history of the city and the development of the Area. The coronation coach was there. There was exhibits from Roman Londinium and the lifestyle and such, all the way up to the present.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I went to the London Dungeon first thing in the morning. What a hoot! They take you on a semi-guided tour of some of the darker moments of London's history. Now, when I was at the Tower, they said that there were very few recorded cases of torture, but I think it's more unrecorded than anything. I got sneezed on by a guy with the plague. We were taken through Traitor's Gate at the Tower by boat, I had my photo taken with a guy about to cut off my head. We went through Sweeney Todd's barber/surgeon shop in old Fleet Street (so named because the river Fleet used to run through there, but the stench was so bad from all of the waste, they covered it over. It still runs, but underneath). If anyone is planning a trip, I would highly recommend this attraction.
Last evening was my Jack the Ripper tour of Whitechapel. Wow. Even today, Whitechapel is so not the nice clean touristy part of London. It's mostly East Indian (we walked through Little India) and definitely not a huge tourist area. Some of the buildings still stand as they were (or close to) in 1888. The Ten Bells pub still exists and the White Chapel itself. I have lots of photos. The tour lady was excellent. She had lots of photos of the area and of the women themselves (post mortem). Glad it wasn't dark out when I went!
After another 10kms (before I kicked the pedometer under the train) I headed back to my hotel to change. Went for dinner at a really nice little Italian place near the Tube station. Drank half a bottle of wine and got myself a little tiddly.
Today, so far, I have taken in the British Museum. It's quite an undertaking. I didn't stay too long, (I was there last time I was here) but I did take in the exhibit of Michaelangelo's drawings. So cool. The man was a master. Even his sketches (which he hated) were perfect works of art. He had such a grasp of the naked male form (I'm sure we would all like to grasp a naked man though!).
Now, I'm heading off to Picadilly Circus to do some last shopping and try to snag tix to the Producers tonight. It's my last night here, and tomorrow I will be on a plane back to Calgary. Kind of sad I didn't do more, but I think it'll be nice to come home.
Until then, cheerio!
posted by Trish van Doornum @ 7:42 AM
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