After a lovely breakfast, we left on foot for the nearby British Museum. Like most museums in London, entry was FREE. Rick Steves was our hero once again. His guide to London was helpful every step of the way. Andrew and I both really enjoy history and I think we could have easily spent 3 days on the 7 main sections.
We were moved by an exhibit near the entrance, titled Cradle to Grave. It was a tapestry that told the story of healthcare over a husband and wives' lives. It was really interesting to think about what all we are putting into our bodies over a lifetime. The exhibit definitely did its job because I'm still thinking about it months later.
Following Rick's guidance, we focused on Ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Greece. The amount of significant artifacts in that building is just unfathomable. Just ONE thing from that museum would attract an entire exhibition in the U.S. The highlights for us were the Rosetta Stone and Ginger. The Rosetta Stone (196 B.C.) allowed scientists to crack the code of hieroglyphics . Ginger is a 4,500 year old body that was well preserved naturally by the desert sand. If you can get over the squeamish part of him, it's very cool!
I really enjoyed the mummies. I think most kids go through a period of fascination with the Ancient Egyptian culture. 3rd grade Katie was really stoked to be seeing history in real life.
As the hours passed, our eyes began to glaze. Someday I hope we will travel back to Europe without feeling the need to rush through things and move on to the next site. I would have loved to see the rest of the museum, but we were beginning to get overwhelmed and needed to move on.
We walked through the dreary weather and made a stop for the obligatory American tourist in a red phone booth pic.
Looks fun right? Nobody warns you that they are obviously porta-potties on the side of the road at some point because they REAK of B.O. and pee! Also there are business cards and ads for people and things that this lady is not comfortable blogging about. I will never look fondly at another red telephone booth ever again!
We made it to
Leicester Square to accomplish the goal of buying cheap West End theater tickets. Andrew was not thrilled with the idea but he humored me.
War Horse had been highly recommended, but unfortunately was sold out. We wanted to find a show that we couldn't see in the U.S. (no Wicked, Phantom, Jersey Boys) and I tried to steer clear of other musicals (Viva, Les Miserables) for the sake of our marriage. We settled on
The Mouse Trap. More on that below.
Conveniently, we were able to pick up our London Pass at Lesicester Square as well. We ordered them online at Arosfa the night before, printed our vouchers and easily picked them up. I'm not sure we actually got our money's worth out of this pass, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Even if we didn't reap every penny (pence?), it was worth the money to not have to stress over buying tickets at every attraction.
From Leicester Square, we made our first trip on The Tube. I don't think we ended up buying our
Oyster Cards then, but I would suggest doing it right away. You put down a deposit and load money on to the card. At the end of our trip, we were able to return our Oyster card and get our deposits back. We nervously (and successfully) took the tube to Tower Hill.
The
Tower of London was not at all what I expected. It was definitely one of the high points of London for me. I wish I had done more research before we went. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I wasn't trying to learn the information as we struggled to hear the tour guide through the rain.
Upon arrival, we showed our London Pass and lucked out as a Yeoman was just beginning a tour. Our Yeoman (I do not remember his name) was WONDERFUL. He told the history of the tower and performed a standup comedy act, all seamlessly. I would have really loved to have had a private tour with him. He reminded me a lot of my favorite high school history teacher, Mr. Mills. He just seemed like the kind of guy who would make you a better and more intelligent person, just by spending a few hours with him.
As we finished the tour in the chapel, it began to POUR and the wind was GUSTING around 40mph. We hurried into the room that houses the Crown Jewels. OHHH EMMM GEEEEE! There are no words to describe the multitude of heavenly sparkles. It is dark and the lighting is set to optimize the sparkle factor. I didn't even know jewels like that existed. No pictures from that part. Only memories of jaw dropping bling and "I wish I were a princess" sighs.
The Ceremony of Keys takes place every night and has for 700 years!! It was recommended to us and we really wanted to go, but you have to reserve the free tickets months in advance. By the time I found out about it, it was too late. It is definitely something I'd like to do on a later trip.
We ran from that room through the rain to the Torture at the Tower exhibit. Yikes! By the time we left the exhibit and walked back outside, the weather had become unbearable. Throughout our trip, I would say the weather was less than ideal, but it was a mild inconvenience. This day, it ruined our plans for the first time. I would have loved to have spent more time at the Tower (that's definitely on the "next time" to do list) but I could barely stand up walking into the wind, it was pouring, and I was freezing.
We left and ducked around the corner into a restaurant. I don't remember the name. It wasn't fabulous. I had a mulled wine... yuck! I think I had a salad for lunch and Andrew had fish & chips.
The rain had let up a little, so we ran over to the Tower Bridge. We used our London passes and did the little tour. Thankfully, the top of the bridge was closed in. One side had an exhibit about bridges across the world and the other an Olympics exhibit. (London had hosted the Olympics earlier this year). The clouds started to clear just as the sun was beginning to set. Andrew got this beautiful picture of the modern skyline next to the bridge. Doesn't it look like something out of The Jetsons?
One of my favorite parts of London and Paris was how thousands of year old landmarks were right next to modern buildings. We viewed the engine room on our way out. As we left, we walked along the river toward a tube station. Andrew got some more beautiful shots of the bridge. It really is beautiful.
This picture makes it look late, but the sun set very early. It couldn't have been later than 5:00 when he took this picture. We took the train back to the hotel to get read for our evening at the theatre.
We fancied ourselves up and took the tube to St. Martin's Theatre. We got relatively inexpensive seats toward the front of the balcony. We both thoroughly enjoyed the show. I would recommend it to anyone. This year is the 60th Anniversary of the show. There was to glitz, glamour, or flair. It was simply a good script acted by great actors. I was really surprised Andrew liked it as much as he did. I would definitely recommend it to anyone travelling with the "broadway challenged." I really appreciated that he made the effort to go, and it was a plus that he ended up really liking the show!
It was my dream evening. I was with my incredible, handsome husband, we were dressed to the nines, we were in LONDON, we had just enjoyed a wonderful show on the West End. There was only one thing that could make this evening better. A fabulous steak dinner, you say? Yes, you read me like a book!
We dashed across the street, I really felt like I was in a movie at this point. Running around the West End of London late at night with a handsome man? Behold, the neon lights of the Angus Steakhouse. I had fillet and a baked potato, Andrew had ribeye and french fries. We topped it all off with a fabulous Bordeau (we had just left France, afterall). I would say it was the best meal we had in London. Who knew the Brits could handle a good steak?
Satisfied, we held hands and took the chilly walk back to our B&B home.
Did we really do all of this in one day? Yes! And aside from the Tower weather, it was another incredible day.
