Look Left...Look Right...Which way do I look?

On my way back to Europe from the US, I made a short detour in London. Why? Because I had never been there. In the U.S., when crossing the street, you always look left first because that is the way traffic is coming from. However, in London, as they drive on the "wrong" but "Right" side of the street, you have to remember to look right first. It's scary when you see a really fast bus coming towards you. But, the city of London has found a way in which to help tourists overcome this problem. Were they being nice, or had they had a few too many accidents.

The whole trip was kind of random. First, the flight over from Chicago was great. On a big 747 plane, there were maybe 30 people on the flight. I had my pick of any row and I got to lay down and sleep the entire trip. Talk about helping with the jet lag. Second, I got to London, and really didn't have any plans. I had place to stay with Logan (a friend of a friend). But, I had about 4.5 days to 'play' in London...and play I did.

London is expensive....and not just a bit overpriced, but expensive. Example: 12-15 US Dollars to go into a church to see it. That is just crazy. But, luckily, many of the musuems are free and with the churches, if you are willing to sit through a service, then there is no cost.

Wednesday, September 27
The first evening there, since I wasn't tired, I took the tube down towards Big Ben and that area and did a little self-guided tour from the Big Ben towards Trafalgar Square on Whitewall boulevard. This little tour connected about 2,000 years of history in about 3/4 of a mile. I started at the Westminster Bridge with the London Eye Ferris Wheel on one side of me and the Big Ben behind me. The Parliament Square, the Cabinet War rooms, the British "White House", the Horse Guards, and the Old Scotland Yard finally ending up at Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is on one end of the square and is open late that evenign I was there. As I entered, a sign stated that FREE guided tours begin in about 20 minutes, so I made my way to the wing of the museum that housed the tours and there was a 5-person classical orchestra playing music while the museum served food and wine. Was I in luck, or what? I hadn't ate dinner yet, either. The tour was good.....went through a couple of collection rooms. I've never been an art musuem person, but sometimes they are interesting (if you know what you are looking at!). I made my way back down the street to a little English Pub I passed on my way to the museum called Clarence's Pub - ate some traditional Fish and Chips topped off with a Beer, met a nice older lady from Ohio who was sight seeing while her husband was on business.

Thursday, September 28
My old boss, Andy, moved to London in July. So, the next morning, I met up with him near his office for Coffee. It was good to see him and catch up. I then made my way to the Imperial War Musuem, also free, with its history of weaponry, real V2 rockets that Hitler rained on Britain in 1944, and lots of WWII era toys available in the gift shop. My favorite part of this museum, was the inactive display in which you were in sitting in a very small space with about 10-12 other people. The audio made it sound like there were bombs being dropped outside and and gun fire and the conversation between a monther and her daughters. The daughters were tired of being cramped up in the small space. At one point, you heard a bomb being dropped and then the bench I was sitting on moved so suddenly, I fell off of my seat. Then the show had you walk out of the little room so you could walk throgh what London after being hit with bombs might have looked like. It was really itnerested and made you think about what you would do in that type of situation. Some trivia from Rick Steves (My travel book): this museum is housed in what was the Royal Bethlam Hospital. Also known as the Bedlam Asylum, the place was so wild it gave the world a new word for chaos: "Bedlam". Back in the Victoria times, the locals would come to this hospital for their entertainment. The asylum aws actually open to the paying public on the weekends.

After the war musuem, I walked along the Thames river from the London Bridge to the Tower Bridge. Before I knew correctly, I thought this bridge was the London Bridge. I was very mistaken. For years while growing up, you may see pictures of this bridge and given the childrens song, I just automatically put two and two together. Who knew. The Tower of London, near the Tower Bridge served as a castle in war time and a was more notoriously known as a prison and place of execution.

The weather was starting to get a little "iffy", and I needed a place to sit down and rest my feet. I headed over to Westmister Abbey for their 5:00 Evensong service - which was UNBELIEVABLE. Who knew 7-12 year old boys and grown men could sing like that. I almost forgot to observe where I was sitting. Westminster Abbey is the place where kings and queens have been crowned and buried for over 1000 years.

I was hoping to catch up that evening with another friend from the IPC, Graham who is our legal counsel, but he got stuck at work. So, contemplating what to do with the rest of my evening, it was almost 7:15 and I was near Leichster Square - the theater district. One of the things that I wanted to do most in London was see a play/musical. So, I walked into the box office for Mama Mia and they had seats available for a good price. Although, it would have been fun to see this musical with someone else, I was so glad I saw it....it was awesome. The cast had the entire audience on their feet clapping and singing along to the concert of AbbA Music at the end. I loved it...and from there became addicted to going to musicals. I tried several times over the weekend to go and see a couple of others (Wicked, the Lion King), but I was not having much luck.

Friday, September 29
I did a lot during my first full day in London so the next day I took it kind of easy. I went to the British Museum (home of the Rosetta Stone)and the British Library (which was actually really cool with some of the oldest knwn gospels, the Gutenberg Bible, doodle sketches from Leonardo, and the original "Alice in Wonderland" in Lewis Carrol's handwriting. I also went to Harrods. Harrod's is most touristy department store that I have ever been inside of. It has over 1 million square feet on 7 floors. I was in there for a couple of hours and got lost several times and actually had to ask a security guard how to get out.

Later that night, I took Logan, my host, out to dinner at Wagamammas (thai food) and then Logan showed me around some of the "districts" of London that I had not yet seen - Soho, Picadilly Circus, Oxford Street Shopping, etc.

Saturday, September 30
Today, I did what ever other tourist in London was doing that morning. I went and saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. It was so crowded and unless you know exactly where to stand and sit, you really can't see anything except the parade of Royal horses and guardsmen coming up the path from near Trafalgar Square with the band. It was fun to watch, but really it was not much of an event. I suppose seeing everyone crammed onto the sidewalks around the palace is quite interesting.

I walked thorugh some of the parks near the Palace. The parks are big and extensive and green. They're quite pretty, complete with ponds. Then, I made my way over to St. Paul's Cathedral. Withstanding being destroyed by the Nazi's during WWII, this church has been used for many important events, one being the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
From St. Paul's, the Millennium Bridge leads to Tate Modern (another museum) where I walked along the river watching the street vendors and entertainers doing their thing. This was my favorite costume. How did they do that?

It was starting to get a little rainy, so I went to Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus district and went shopping. Didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look and walk around with the rest of England. It was so crowded. At one point, I was walking and some girl passed me on the right and kind of pushed me out of the way. I said excuse me and then she kept walking and flipped me off. I started laughing to myself.

Sunday, October 1
My last day there......where did the days go? I found myself at the Cabinet War Rooms in the morning. This was really great audio walk through the underground headquarters of the British Government during WWII. The rooms were used from 1939-1945 and the Churchhill's room the map room and the other rooms are just as they were in 1945 when it stopped being used. (Why do all of the old rooms that were being used during WWII, immediately stop being used and then are preserved in such pristine and original condition at the time of the end of the war?)

Later in the afternoon, after sitting through the rain, the sun came out. Waiting for a good day, I went to the river and rode the London Eye Ferris Wheel. The gigantic Ferris Wheel is quite an engeineering marvel.....they built it on barges on the river and then hoisted it up from the banks with a pulley-type system. The little "eggs" that you ride in always stay on the outside of the wheel. It's crazy. But, on a good day, you have beautiful views of the city of London. I was lucky and had a group from General Motors in my "egg." The Head guy was originally from London and was telling the group with him about everything that was in eye sight. It was likse a private tour guide!

London was fun....from it's parks, the tube stations and the little voice that says "Mind the Gap", the buses, the telephone booths, the many bridges and the lovely fall rain. Looking forward to saving my pennies and going back to see what I missed and to hit up another play or two.