London, Still in the Slow Lane

A second week of London done, with a couple more days to go.   We revisited the National Gallery and the British Museum and the Museum of London for additional doses.  There was a tour guide at the National Gallery who was especially good, so we ended up on four of his free tours spanning our two visits there.  Added to this were trips to the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Foundling Museum, the Geffrye Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Science Museum, London the Greenwich Royal Observatory, The Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark Exhibit.  So yes, we have done our share of museum visiting, but by spreading the visits over the past 10 days, it has given us time to adsorb a lot of information.  And almost all of these amazing museums are FREE (but we always leave a donation).

We went to see Matilda the Musical in the Cambridge Theater, which was awesome.  We’ve walked in parks, attended religious services at St. Martins and Westminster Abbey (as well as the LDS church in the Hyde Park Chapel).  In fact, if you want to listen to the St Martin’s Assencion Day service from last week, here’s a link to the podcast.  We were there and the music was awesome.

We’ve eaten Indian curries, Himilayian mo mo’s, British fish and chips, Thai som dum, or sometimes just a sandwich or wrap in the ready-to-go sections of Marks & Spencer’s.  Pret a Manger has a lemon cheesecake dessert cup thingy that we both really love.  And we have found Portuguese pastel de nata a couple of times. Yum.

All in all we’ve had a smashing stay in London, everything has been just spot on.  Brilliant.

A figurehead from the bow of a ship

Creepy shot of lots of figureheads

The Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark is suspended by steel poles

First accurate seagoing clock

The prime meridian

Celestial Observation room designed by Wren.

Royal Observatory and surrounding park

Authentic Roman floor, with replica furnishings

Chihuly chandelier in the V & A Museum

From the Fashion collection in the V&A

V&A museum

15th century French stained glass collection

first mechanized metal lathe

My sweetie, and some old bowl

The german ENIGMA machine used for coded messages in WW II

Entrance to V&A Museum

Pastel de Nata, in blueberry too!

Second century Roman face pots

Westminister Abbey

Classic Fish and Chips

12th century Chess pieces

Easter Island statue

Egyptian mummy

Mummified Egyptian cat

Egyptian burial scroll

A old Egyptian joke about this Pharaoh who walks into a bar

Ramesses II

statue of three dudes

200+ year old Plane Tree in Brunswick Square Garden

The Foundling Museum

Painting in the Foundling Museum

Matilda, the Musical

Stage/set for Matilda the Musical

Brass rubbing done in the crypt of St. Martin’s

From the National Portrait Gallery

St James’s Park

St James’s Park

Oh ya, it’s just the Rosetta Stone