Now, I am going to follow on from my previous post chronicling my adventures in London and Paris.
13 July
I got up at about 8:30ish. Took my time getting ready then headed out to the Tube station. First stop was Topshop to get my nails done. Oh my goodness that felt good. Problem was that I am gullible! and I realised after I'd already bought the nail treatment stuff that my nails aren't actually in that bad a condition and that I didn't need to buy it! Argh!!!!
After Topshop I went off to the Tower of London, beautiful nails for a hellish location. I got there around 1230 so I waited for the 1pm Yeoman tour and proceeded to have a grand ofld time learning about the history of the place from someone who lives there. The "Beefeaters" are all ex-military and seem to have quite the sense of humour. Actually, both of the Yeoman warders that I encountered reminded me a lot of my Dad, must be something about the military that brings out the funny side of people, I dunno.
The Yeoman warders and their families live inside the tower and get locked in at 10pm every night after what is known as the Ceremony of the Keys. I couldn't believe it, 10pm curfews for adults, I felt a little sorry for them. The guy leading the tour said it's good for keeping his teenage daughter in line. ;-)
I also saw the crown jewels there. I was pretty cool although the put you on a travelator that doesn't move slow enough to get a good look. I must say though that that is a serious amount of jewels.
After the Tower I took off to St Pauls Cathedral where I was totally over awed. I had every intention of going back but didn't make it. It was a beautiful church and I can imagine it being quite the place to attend services.
I tried to go to The Tower Bridge exhibition but didn't quite make it. So, I sat and read the paper for a while before meeting up with my sister and her boyfriend for dinner at Wagamama's which really did turn out to be 'just another noodle bar' but at least the steak was good. :D
14 July
I cruised out of my sister's place at about 9am and took the Tube to St Pauls. From there I walked across the Millenium Bridge to the Southbank and went to The Globe Theatre where I took the guided tour, looked at the exhibition and bought the book that I wrote my travel diary in.
I walked along the Southbank to St Thomas's Hospital which houses the Florence Nightengale Museum which was almost empty but really good. Not much that I didn't already know though.
Then I braved the crowds down by the London Eye and ended up spending 14 Pounds to go the Dali Exhibition mostly because I wanted to go to the bathroom and find a quite cafe to hide out in for a bit. Not that Dali isn't a genius too though. His work is so outlandish and out there and he tackled everything! I liked most things that I saw in the exhibition. It was actually quite cool but I'm not 100% sure if it was worth the 14 Pounds. It was really empty in there, perhaps if they lowered the price they'd get more people through.
After the Dali exhibition I went in search of the Winston Churchill Museum and The Cabinet War Rooms. It was fantastic. I learned a lot about WW2 and was amazed by a room that had been done up to look like a locked toilet cubicle but had infact housed the InterContinental Phone that Churchill used to communicate with the President of the United States during the war. I thought it was quite inventive. It reinforced for me just how smart a crew he had and how tough things must have been living underground. It was an experience to say the least. Really impressive but I got rather annoyed when I heard a group of younger women complaining that it was boring. I was thinking to myself 'why in God's name would you go to a war museum if you have no interest in the war?!' I got really annoyed then went in search of a post office and then to meet my sister at Foyles Bookshop which was, frankly, a disappointment. There are other much better bookshops.
On the way to dinner with a couch surfing friend of my sister's we walked past a bunch of society people on the way to Camilla's birthday. I was not impressed with the fashion. I think society people need to learn that ruffles went out with the 90s.
Dinner was awesome too. Gotta love that thai fusion food. :D
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Beautiful day in Japan today. Am off to a festival in the country side this afternoon and off to see my host family in another prefecture tomorrow for 3 days out of the 5 days that we have off this weekend. :D
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