As someone who relishes sleeping, as someone who is capable of sleeping through any alarm, it was not a surprise that I woke up late Saturday morning, about 2 hours before my departure (although I planned to be awake 4 hours before it). I scrambled out of bed, got ready in record time (20 minutes!), and sprinted out the door with my suitcase (which was way too large for a 4 day trip). Luckily, I made it to Gare du Nord with lots of time to spare; I had a full hour before my train once I got my tickets. Despite the bad start, I began to think that things were alright now. That is, until I get to passport control, and realize, that my passport is still lying on my dresser, where I had put it the night before so I wouldn't forget to take it. As Gare du Nord is a 30 minute trip away from my home, I realize that I cannot make it back in time. In panic, I call my host mother, who kindly offers to bring it to me (Bless her!). Thanks to her immense kindness, I make it onto the train. Unfortunately, my train is not well-heated, and I am not adequately dressed, as my warm sweaters are in my suitcase. I spend the trip shivering, and I cannot wait to arrive and make it to my hotel and warm up. London was not inviting. The metro station was packed, and half of the lines were closed. I didn't quite know how to make it to where I wanted to go, so I decided to take a cab. I spent about 30-40 minutes in the cold and rain trying to catch one, and when I finally did, it was stolen from me by some jerk with whom I was too tired and cold to argue.
I finally went back and figured out how to use the "tube" to get where I wanted to go. Although it involved much jostling, I finally reached my destination. It was dark, cold, and still raining. London felt strange and frightening, and I felt extremely disappointed as I had really anticipated going there. But, after a long, hot shower and some food, I felt a little better. Since I was exhausted, I decided to go to the museums which were right nearby: The Museum of Science and The Museum of Natural History.
Both were lots of fun, though I enjoyed Natural History much more, which revived in me my environmental interests and struggles towards becoming a vegetarian. (I am still failing miserably for the record, because I also have a great interest in food).
A picture from the Museum of Science, from its exhibition on psychoanalysis. Honestly, I find it one of the most disturbing things ever (and people wonder why this form of psychology is so often mocked). It's a sculpture made from a cast of one psychologist's hand, and the other's penis, assembled together in a bloody mess to form the two psychologist's facial profiles when a light is shined on this grotesque "art" (as seen above). Although interesting in idea, jumbled bloody hands and penises is not something I enjoy looking at.
The most exciting pictures I have are from the Museum of Natural History though. Here's a small sample from the million pictures I took:
Imagine swimming and encountering that.
The closest I will ever be to something resembling a Komodo dragon.
Or a crocodile.
Or an anglerfish.
Ok, I might see a tiger up close in a zoo, but that is still pretty cool.
This photo does not do justice to how cool this room was, with its life size model of a blue whale!
Some pictures of the actual museum - it's truly an awe-inspiring building.
I didn't post any pictures since they're not that great if you weren't actually there, but I did enjoy their rock/mineral collection, as well as the jewels at the end. I had many flashbacks to Earth Science as I remembered things like how to measure the hardness of a mineral with Moh's scale. It was a truly pleasant experience.
The next day (Sunday) it was still raining, so I decided to make it another museum day. First, I headed over to the Victoria and Albert Museum (which was lovely). I enjoy sculptures, so I had fun taking pictures of the ones there at cool angles (see below).
The sun came out for about 5 minutes, and I nabbed these awesome views of the courtyard of the musuem:
After the Victoria and Albert museum, I headed over to the most anticipated part of my trip: The Sherlock Holmes museum. I was also warming up to London.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum lived up to all of my expectations. I had a fabulous time, and once the tour was finished, I wanted to buy the gift shop so I would immerse myself in Holmes paraphernalia. Again, I took way too many photos, so I'll only include some of my favorites (which is clearly still a ton):
The museum!
Me in Sherlock's chair! (With an aged Dr. Watson)
Some snapshots of Mr. Holmes' bedroom. Tee hee.
I, too, am now the proud owner of a deerstalker hat. :)
A bust of the famous detective.
Dr. Roylott with the swamp adder around his head, from "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
Sherlock Holmes himself.
Dr. Watson
Professor Moriarty.
Their living room again. The attention to detail is astounding.
Right next to the Sherlock Holmes museum was a Beatles' Store, and a Rock 'n Roll store. There was definitely a conspiracy afoot to make sure I spent every cent I owned. I had a lot of fun in both stores (mostly the Beatles one, as I spent a good portion of my time just watching Yellow Submarine).
After that, I headed over to Madame's Tussuad's. Since I got there an hour and half before closing, there were no lines (which was awesome). Although that museum is like an amusement park indoors, it was not the *most* fun experience, since I had nobody with me to take pictures of me with the celebrities, which is most of the fun. I still enjoyed it, though.
Me, Daniel Craig and Julie Andrews.
I failed miserably at taking a picture with Oscar Wilde... but here he is!
Me and Putin :D
Iron Man looks very ominous behind me...
Some very kind person saw that I was having a hard time taking pictures, and took a picture of me with Samuel Jackson.
For the record, I totally chickened out and skipped the Chamber of Horrors, which I don't yet regret, as I enjoyed a very peaceful sleep that night.
Monday was a beautiful day, albeit freezing. I signed up for a tour of London that day, and took a bus to all the touristy attractions. My tour guide was very jolly, and I think half of the fun of the tour was just listening to him speak.
The highlights:
Marble Arch.
Westminster Abbey.
Again.
And again.
Big Ben. (Fortunately, the man who they named the clock tower after was not named Richard...)
Side view of Westminster Abbey.
One of their super awesome telephone booths.
A guard of the household cavalry. His name is Connor, by the way.
Me in his helmet!
A video from the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (which was closed, sadly).
St. Paul's Cathedral. My photos are unable to capture how grand it really is.
A statue from out in front of it.
The cathedral again.
Tower Bridge.
The ravens from the Tower of London (Seven ravens are in permanent residence in the Tower of London; their wings are clipped, so they can't fly away. A superstition from the time of Charles II claims that when there are no longer ravens in the Tower, both the White Tower and the kingdom will fall).
A photo from the Tower of London visit.
The crown jewel exhibition was breathtaking. I also decided would wear a five pound crown on my head in order to be royalty.
After the Tower of London, we took a nice boat cruise on the Thames, and then proceeded to go on the London Eye. I did not enjoy that part very much because I am terrified of ferris wheels. I thought I would get over it because of the sturdy structure, but I did not. I could not look at any part of the wheel in order to feel safe. After the London Eye, I enjoyed a nice meal and went to sleep.
My final day in London was spent at Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park.
The Kensington Palace was one of my favorite stops of the whole trip. Although most of the palace was closed down, they had an "Enchanted Palance" exhibition, with modern art installations that explained a bit of the history of the people that lived in it. There was also a game to it: You had to find the names of the seven princesses they specifically talked about in the palace. There were also guides in each room to explain things to you. I spent many hours in the palace listening to the history of the different kings and queens from these guides, and it was awesome. I felt like a true nerd.
Afterwards, I wandered around the park and these are some photos from my peaceful time there:
Albert Memorial.
Again.
Another sculpture from the Albert memorial. I really do like sculptures.
A woman feeding a bajillion pigeons. Not a good photo, but it reminded me of the old lady from Mary Poppins and I had to take a picture.
Cool tree.
Kensington Palace garden.
So. many. birds.
Royal Albert Hall (with the sun right behind it).
A cool bird.
Peter Pan statue.
More cool looking birds bathing in Princess Diana's memorial.
One of the last roses...
And that concludes my London trip, as well as my desire to write anymore about it. I am terrible at blogging.
