I've uploaded the pictures I took with my cell. More of the same sites, but with a different camera!
Here is a picture of Westminster Abbey above the Great North Door. Beautiful! It was even more beautiful inside, but you won't find any good pictures in our set.
Why not? Because they prohibit photography inside Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Terracotta Army Exhibit at the British Museum, and the National Gallery! Lame.
It seems, however, that my camera phone was malfunctioning. Every time I checked the time on my phone (and I check it often) I was accidentally snapping a photo! Oops! I've posted a few of the clearer illicit shots.
Oh well, they can rest assured that my ersatz surveillance shots were all pretty crappy.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Go Go Go Go Go!
That was the tone of for our last day. We had a lot of stuff we wanted to accomplish today and not enough day to do it. We got up *very* early for us, got ready, stopped at Starbucks and hopped a bus to St. Pauls. Bussing it up was a different experience as the people were older and more beaten down but you got to see the City in all its glory which was a bonus. We got to St. Paul's at about 9:30 and found that the first tour didn't start until 11 a.m. so we decided on an audio tour. 
All of the big tourist spots have these headphones with maps that you can rent to tell you about stuff (Blaine called them audio tour zombies) and wander around. St. Paul's also didn't allow photos, but...this time we were both sneaky. :) It might not be the best image but it's still pretty darn cool. We followed the prompts and learned cool facts like the fact that Christopher Wren was determined to do things his way so screwed with his contract to get the look we wanted for the church (it was supposed to have a steeple and a teeny little dome). We wandered all over the first floor and then, Blaine, in a moment of evil genius I thought church vibes would kill, said "let's go up to the Whispering Gallery". Now that gallery is 259 steps up and is at the base of the dome of the ceiling. I thought it'd be cool but 259 steps is kinda a long way. He convinced me that all of our London walking had trained us for this and that it'd be easy and that the BIG SIGNS saying you can't turn back and you have to finish if you start and pregnant people, people with heart problems, etc are not allowed to do this. It SUCKED. 259 doesn't sound like a lot of steps but they were fairly straight up with a lot of close spiral staircases and the occasional hallways were so small that when Blaine would get to the top after I did he blocked all light and made them DARK little cramped hallways. We got to the top and while I'm still not completely convinced it was worth it the view from up there was completely cool and wonderful.
Blaine made the further trek to the top of the dome and then again to the tip top where you can see outside. When he got back and we trotted down the steps to the crypt and saw the final resting place of Wellington and Nelson.
Then on to Hamley's, the world's largest toy store (according to their adverts) where there was truth in advertising. It was huge and had a great range of toys and the staff were out doing demonstrations on every floor and even had a good product knowledge range. We found some of the things we'd been looking for and then headed back to drop of our bags. We then went to a Pakistani dinner where finally FINALLY I got gulab jum - neither of the Indian restaurants we went to had it and I love this dessert. After that I realized that I still hadn't finished souvenir shopping (I have a lot of family) so raced over to Piccadilly Square to finish shopping, then out to Platform 9-3/4 to see the Harry Potter monument and then over to Trafalgar Square to get pictures with the famous Lions (which the protest blocked) and then back to the hotel to pack up and have everything ready for getting up at the crack of dawn Saturday for the trip back.
All of the big tourist spots have these headphones with maps that you can rent to tell you about stuff (Blaine called them audio tour zombies) and wander around. St. Paul's also didn't allow photos, but...this time we were both sneaky. :) It might not be the best image but it's still pretty darn cool. We followed the prompts and learned cool facts like the fact that Christopher Wren was determined to do things his way so screwed with his contract to get the look we wanted for the church (it was supposed to have a steeple and a teeny little dome). We wandered all over the first floor and then, Blaine, in a moment of evil genius I thought church vibes would kill, said "let's go up to the Whispering Gallery". Now that gallery is 259 steps up and is at the base of the dome of the ceiling. I thought it'd be cool but 259 steps is kinda a long way. He convinced me that all of our London walking had trained us for this and that it'd be easy and that the BIG SIGNS saying you can't turn back and you have to finish if you start and pregnant people, people with heart problems, etc are not allowed to do this. It SUCKED. 259 doesn't sound like a lot of steps but they were fairly straight up with a lot of close spiral staircases and the occasional hallways were so small that when Blaine would get to the top after I did he blocked all light and made them DARK little cramped hallways. We got to the top and while I'm still not completely convinced it was worth it the view from up there was completely cool and wonderful.Blaine made the further trek to the top of the dome and then again to the tip top where you can see outside. When he got back and we trotted down the steps to the crypt and saw the final resting place of Wellington and Nelson.
Then on to Hamley's, the world's largest toy store (according to their adverts) where there was truth in advertising. It was huge and had a great range of toys and the staff were out doing demonstrations on every floor and even had a good product knowledge range. We found some of the things we'd been looking for and then headed back to drop of our bags. We then went to a Pakistani dinner where finally FINALLY I got gulab jum - neither of the Indian restaurants we went to had it and I love this dessert. After that I realized that I still hadn't finished souvenir shopping (I have a lot of family) so raced over to Piccadilly Square to finish shopping, then out to Platform 9-3/4 to see the Harry Potter monument and then over to Trafalgar Square to get pictures with the famous Lions (which the protest blocked) and then back to the hotel to pack up and have everything ready for getting up at the crack of dawn Saturday for the trip back.
Birds Eye View of Shopping Mecca
After Blaine requested to not do two "churchy" things in a row (I think he was afraid of the brainwashing) we decided to hit the London Eye, the coolest Ferris Wheel ever and Harrods, aka shopping Mecca. We started by hopping the Tube over to the Eye in order to buy advance tickets. As ya'll probably remember when we tried doing this before there was a multi-hour wait, however, they ticket lady said it would be 10 minutes. Doing it on a Thursday morning meant we walked right on - 10 minutes was even too long an estimate. Getting on and off of was interesting - The Eye does NOT stop (unless accomodating the physically handicapped) and you just hop on and off. This attraction was cool to me because it had the most Brits on it - it's apparently still a cool thing to do local or not.
The capsule you ride in is a clear oval bubble so that you can have a 360 degree view all the way around (brought to you by the Detp of Redundancy Dept) and it was fantastic. We took all sorts of great pictures and saw a lot and just loved it. It lasts about a half hour and it doesn't feel like you've been on there for that long. You can see one of the really good views of the city we got with a shot of Parliament and Big Ben in it. We got off the eye and headed to Harrods. Ah, Harrods, the world's largest department store and a VERY cool place. Blaine loved the food hall and said (and I quote directly lest you think I exaggerate) "I could shop in the food halls all day". If you think it, they have it and if they don't display it they can get it. They have tons of restaurants, pubs, and bars and that includes a KRISPY KREME. They have a working Krispy Kreme bakery in there - it was kinda off-putting to see in there actually. We ate a tapas bar in the basement and then hit juuuuust about every floor (we skipped the sports floor) and looked and shopped and bought and lugged and I had a pretty darn good time and at least for the food part Blaine did too. He was a real trooper for the whole thing though. 
After that we went home and crashed for a little bit to try and regain feelings in our feet and then headed out to a Thai place recommended by the hotel staff. The food was good and it was fun to try. They even bring out hot towels to wash off with at the end of the meal. It was a nice meal that we finished off with a trip to "our" pub - I've included that picture too. Blaine enjoyed being able to drink what he wanted and then be home in less than 3 minutes. There truly are pubs, bars, and alcohol everywhere. Last day and it's gonna be jam packed.
The capsule you ride in is a clear oval bubble so that you can have a 360 degree view all the way around (brought to you by the Detp of Redundancy Dept) and it was fantastic. We took all sorts of great pictures and saw a lot and just loved it. It lasts about a half hour and it doesn't feel like you've been on there for that long. You can see one of the really good views of the city we got with a shot of Parliament and Big Ben in it. We got off the eye and headed to Harrods. Ah, Harrods, the world's largest department store and a VERY cool place. Blaine loved the food hall and said (and I quote directly lest you think I exaggerate) "I could shop in the food halls all day". If you think it, they have it and if they don't display it they can get it. They have tons of restaurants, pubs, and bars and that includes a KRISPY KREME. They have a working Krispy Kreme bakery in there - it was kinda off-putting to see in there actually. We ate a tapas bar in the basement and then hit juuuuust about every floor (we skipped the sports floor) and looked and shopped and bought and lugged and I had a pretty darn good time and at least for the food part Blaine did too. He was a real trooper for the whole thing though. 
After that we went home and crashed for a little bit to try and regain feelings in our feet and then headed out to a Thai place recommended by the hotel staff. The food was good and it was fun to try. They even bring out hot towels to wash off with at the end of the meal. It was a nice meal that we finished off with a trip to "our" pub - I've included that picture too. Blaine enjoyed being able to drink what he wanted and then be home in less than 3 minutes. There truly are pubs, bars, and alcohol everywhere. Last day and it's gonna be jam packed.
Friday, November 23, 2007
flickr photo upload, take two
I swear I'll catch up on the postings some time soon but, in the meantime, please go back to the flickr account and look at our newest additions. (You can use the web address listed in the previous post). Thanks, have fun and we're now on our way home. :( London rocks and I'm sad to leave it although going home to my stuff sounds really good. Later gators!
Fuzzy hats and lots of walking
So Wednesday was one of the listed days to do the super-ceremonial and quintessentially British Changing of the Guard. All of the guide books say get there early to score a primo spot so we jetted out of here and took off. There was a slight misunderstanding as to where this fancy pants spectacle took place but getting off of the Tube an exit early turned out to be a blessing b/c we had a gorgeous (and fairly quick) walk down the side of St. James Park. One of the things that London does have is an abundance of trees, parks, and the like most likely left over from the village green mentality (I'd take credit for that psychobabble but a sign/tour guide/Brit person said that some time this week). This beautiful walk took us through hugely elaborate Australia gates to the Palace.
The Queen, unfortunately, was not in to say "Yo!" to all of us tourists. :( The Palace is big, but compared to a lot of the buildings I've been to and seen it's not that big and not that ornate either. We got a decent spot by the front fence next to some nice people from Michigan that helped push away the VERY rude French lady (seriously the French - evil) from my obviously staked spot. We got there early, took pictures, hung out, waited, got bored, waited some more and FINALLY we heard the music - it was starting!
The little band of interior guards started marching around in some complicated dance sequence and then the band marched up in full fur hats and instruments behind the little band of "new" exterior guards. Then, another band and more guards marched up and then every possible combination of walking around and back forth between the commanders of these groups took place including and formulaic inspection of the guardhouse. The guardhouse is this teeny tiny 3 foot square box with a roof - what's to inspect? But it was cool to watch (for a while) and then, they broke into show tunes and kept walking around. It's now about 12:15 or so and they've been walking (again, just the commander-y people) for EVER and I was done. We left early but I don't think I missed much. So - while it was cool it's way too long so go early, watch for a while and then head up St. James Park to possibly the coolest attraction - Westminster Abbey.
Now, this place already had some favouritism points going for it (my parents met right outside the Abbey) but going inside and taking the tour put it up close/at the top. We got there right as an afternoon service was starting so all the tourists were not allowed in to tour until a little bit later so I got some nice outdoor shots and even one of me AND Blaine at the same time not at arm's length.
(I asked a nice tourist guy to help us out ; he had a nicer camera than mine so no stealing - I hoped.) We got in, paid a fee (for a church??) and looked around at this gorgeous building with tons of monuments and marble etc and decided a tour was necessary - we'd never figure out all the cool stuff without a lot more time or a local. The tour - so worth it. We got to go to a chapel on the 2nd floor with a saint's tomb still in it that has been around since the 1600s (how cool is that!) and saw dead kings (3 or 4 of them) and dead queends (5 or 6 of them) and walked on graves (seriously - buried in the church floor - freaky weird to me) and heard all sorts of stories and history and cool little tidbits. For example, if a necromancer really wanted to screw with London he should just go to Westminster Abbey and raise the 3000 people buried in that place. Zombies would ABOUND! It certainly explained all the London based zombie movies to me. We finished our tour with our verger (he tried to say that Wesminster was the oldest religious site - ha! the Vatican (or St. Peter's Basilica has been around since the 400's - Vatican wins and Catholics rule!! (although the Basilica there now was built in 1506). It still rocked is cool and a must see in London - after that we ate pizza (I know, we're in London and eating pizza but it was good London pizza) and collapsed back at the CopperDay ranch (i.e. the hotel) for some rest. Thursday brings on The London Eye and Harrods a.k.a. shopping Mecca.
PS - the fee at the Abbey was for upkeep. They're considered a royal Peculiar, their official title, as such receive no money from a Church, the State, or the Crown. It's all donations and fees.
Editor's comment: No non-Catholics were harmed in the Catholics rule portion of this blog. However, there has been some Catholic mockage. ;)
The Queen, unfortunately, was not in to say "Yo!" to all of us tourists. :( The Palace is big, but compared to a lot of the buildings I've been to and seen it's not that big and not that ornate either. We got a decent spot by the front fence next to some nice people from Michigan that helped push away the VERY rude French lady (seriously the French - evil) from my obviously staked spot. We got there early, took pictures, hung out, waited, got bored, waited some more and FINALLY we heard the music - it was starting!
The little band of interior guards started marching around in some complicated dance sequence and then the band marched up in full fur hats and instruments behind the little band of "new" exterior guards. Then, another band and more guards marched up and then every possible combination of walking around and back forth between the commanders of these groups took place including and formulaic inspection of the guardhouse. The guardhouse is this teeny tiny 3 foot square box with a roof - what's to inspect? But it was cool to watch (for a while) and then, they broke into show tunes and kept walking around. It's now about 12:15 or so and they've been walking (again, just the commander-y people) for EVER and I was done. We left early but I don't think I missed much. So - while it was cool it's way too long so go early, watch for a while and then head up St. James Park to possibly the coolest attraction - Westminster Abbey.
Now, this place already had some favouritism points going for it (my parents met right outside the Abbey) but going inside and taking the tour put it up close/at the top. We got there right as an afternoon service was starting so all the tourists were not allowed in to tour until a little bit later so I got some nice outdoor shots and even one of me AND Blaine at the same time not at arm's length.
(I asked a nice tourist guy to help us out ; he had a nicer camera than mine so no stealing - I hoped.) We got in, paid a fee (for a church??) and looked around at this gorgeous building with tons of monuments and marble etc and decided a tour was necessary - we'd never figure out all the cool stuff without a lot more time or a local. The tour - so worth it. We got to go to a chapel on the 2nd floor with a saint's tomb still in it that has been around since the 1600s (how cool is that!) and saw dead kings (3 or 4 of them) and dead queends (5 or 6 of them) and walked on graves (seriously - buried in the church floor - freaky weird to me) and heard all sorts of stories and history and cool little tidbits. For example, if a necromancer really wanted to screw with London he should just go to Westminster Abbey and raise the 3000 people buried in that place. Zombies would ABOUND! It certainly explained all the London based zombie movies to me. We finished our tour with our verger (he tried to say that Wesminster was the oldest religious site - ha! the Vatican (or St. Peter's Basilica has been around since the 400's - Vatican wins and Catholics rule!! (although the Basilica there now was built in 1506). It still rocked is cool and a must see in London - after that we ate pizza (I know, we're in London and eating pizza but it was good London pizza) and collapsed back at the CopperDay ranch (i.e. the hotel) for some rest. Thursday brings on The London Eye and Harrods a.k.a. shopping Mecca.PS - the fee at the Abbey was for upkeep. They're considered a royal Peculiar, their official title, as such receive no money from a Church, the State, or the Crown. It's all donations and fees.
Editor's comment: No non-Catholics were harmed in the Catholics rule portion of this blog. However, there has been some Catholic mockage. ;)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
British Museum
With all love and respect to the tee-total-riffic Smithsonian - it's a wannabe poser. I'll still love it, but not as much now that I've seen the truth. Tuesday, Blaine and I went to the museum that the Smithsonian wants to be when it grows up: the British Museum. The museum itself is free, huge, and overwhelming and that's before you add in the special exhibits like the Terracotta Chinese guys. We planned a whole day there (even though Blaine suggested adding in various London items - it didn't happen) and followed the plan. It was only when we got to town that we discovered that their "big" special exhibit was items from the burial "mound" (HA! just a mound!) of the First Emperor.
However, they limit ticket sales and the first available time for us was 3:20 p.m. which became a non-issue on the whole day there plan. We saw mummies and the Saxon Hoo treasure and the Elgin marbles (thief or saviour - you be the judge) and the Enlightment stuff and all sorts of rugs, textiles, jewelry, stuff and even Harry Potter coins in the money room. We hit cool things meltdown about 2:30 and were tired of the Eygptians and mummies and things that make you hmmm or awe. That gave us time to grab museum lunch (Brie for lunch in a museum cafeteria - cool!) before we hit the Terracotta dudes.
Blaine is the one that really wanted to see this event and I'm glad he did - it's was incredible and worth the price of admission. (Oh yeah, some special exhibits are for pay at EVERY "free" musuem) What a 13 year old accomplished is insane - JUST his burial mound inlcluded hundreds of figures including an army, in formation, of terracotta guys, some even still having their original paint and individual faces. And the First Emperor forced his guys to invent crossbow and chariot interchangeable parts CENTURIES before Eli Whitney pretended to be the first to apply it. So there!! Unfortunately, this particular exhibit was a no photo zone (grrrr!) and the sneaky phone camera guy's image (that's Blaine's no photo nick) is too blurry to post.
Get thee to the British Museum! I'll leave you with my favorite Blaine photo from the British Museum - I bet you guys will like it too (for those that haven't been to the flickr acct - it's posted there too).
However, they limit ticket sales and the first available time for us was 3:20 p.m. which became a non-issue on the whole day there plan. We saw mummies and the Saxon Hoo treasure and the Elgin marbles (thief or saviour - you be the judge) and the Enlightment stuff and all sorts of rugs, textiles, jewelry, stuff and even Harry Potter coins in the money room. We hit cool things meltdown about 2:30 and were tired of the Eygptians and mummies and things that make you hmmm or awe. That gave us time to grab museum lunch (Brie for lunch in a museum cafeteria - cool!) before we hit the Terracotta dudes.
Blaine is the one that really wanted to see this event and I'm glad he did - it's was incredible and worth the price of admission. (Oh yeah, some special exhibits are for pay at EVERY "free" musuem) What a 13 year old accomplished is insane - JUST his burial mound inlcluded hundreds of figures including an army, in formation, of terracotta guys, some even still having their original paint and individual faces. And the First Emperor forced his guys to invent crossbow and chariot interchangeable parts CENTURIES before Eli Whitney pretended to be the first to apply it. So there!! Unfortunately, this particular exhibit was a no photo zone (grrrr!) and the sneaky phone camera guy's image (that's Blaine's no photo nick) is too blurry to post.
Get thee to the British Museum! I'll leave you with my favorite Blaine photo from the British Museum - I bet you guys will like it too (for those that haven't been to the flickr acct - it's posted there too).
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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