After the 2 hours train ride to London, we found Aunt Buffy in the train center and went back to her London flat. We were served crumpets and coffee – the perfect beginning to a London day. The day started at the British Museum. Ancient artifacts filled the multi-square block museum. You could spent an entire week slowly tours and reading about every item. We however, spent a solid hour and a half skimming through a few interesting sections. We saw ancient Egypt (Rosetta Stone) and Greece with great detail and bit of other civilization. A gallery to the Parthenon was displayed (see picture of Amanda reading). These ruins which are ordinarily from Greece are of great debate. Does the British or Greece gov’t have the right to display the marble statues, columns, and block sculptures? Who knows.
Following the museum, we took a bus to the Tower of London. This castle was used back in the 1700 and 1800s as a fort for some kings (Edward and others maybe). Many executions took place there. We provided a couple pictures of us on the opposite side of the river from it. It was neat. Right next to the Tower of London is probably the most famous bridge of London – The Tower Bridge. We provided a photo of that as well. It looked amazing behind the clear skies.
Next, we headed down the river to Tate Modern Museum. The journey there was enjoyable. We passed through some cobber stone side streets lined with pubs and shops on the river. We also saw Belfast, a WWII ship sitting in the middle of the river. Aunt Buffy said that G-ma and G-pa Killian toured the ship many years back and G-pa was able to show G-ma the type of ship he was on during WWII. After the nice walk, we finally arrived at the modern art museum. It got mixed reviews. We saw our first Picasso’s, Dali’s and Rousseau’s, amazing! Some paintings were really nice, but others were a bit simple and very strange. It was hard to appreciated some of the “art.” Oh well.
Next we walked over the “wobbly” millennium bridge (see Amanda pretending to shake on the bridge). haha. Behind is St. Paul – a breath-taking church. To enter the church, you have to pay 10 pounds. However, when we got there, a mass just started and we were able to sit down in the back. The inside was even more immaculate. The bright church had high ceilings that were covered with colorful paintings that were rimmed with gold. The organ was made of very dark wood that surrounded the alter. The church extended beyond the alter into a beautiful sanctuary. We relaxed there for a solid 30 mins taking in the view with the peaceful music. It was a great feeling.
Lastly, we walked down Fleet Street to the Convent Gardens (shopping square). The walk was very nice; elegant buildings lined the street. When we got to Convent Gardens, we found a pub, took a load off and had an English Bitter on cask. The touring came to a complete and we headed back to Aunt Buffy’s house for some homemade mac-n-cheese. Mmm mmm good. The day was great success. London is a very special place. It’s a very wide spread-out city with modern and ancient nicely balanced. Great city. Tomorrow we head down to see Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben and many others. Should be another great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment