To say that I'm a bit of an Anglophile is an understatement. Although I love being American, there is a piece of me that wishes I was British.
So when I found out I was going to be spending 2 weeks in the U.K. with my brother Will, I was pumped.
(Dame) Maggie Smith, you're the best.
We divided our trip into three main trips: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. This also means we can say we visited 3 parts of the United Kingdom: the country of England, the country of Scotland, and the principality of Wales. I'm also going to divide this post into 3 parts and this one, the London one, will be the biggest. Like the Paris post, I'll tell you what we did each day and give you guys my recommendation.
The rating scale here will be: "Smashing" (it's a must see), "Bob's Your Uncle" (average), and "Bollocks" (terrible).
Doing your best Downton Abbey impression while reading this might make it more fun. Unless you're actually British. Then by all means, carry on.
Day One
Getting to London was an all-day affair at the airport. Airports are basically hurry-up-and-wait with all the post 9/11 security. It didn't help that I was super-nervous:
Did Will catch his flight on time? What time is my flight coming again? Seriously, dude across from me, your small child is out of control, do something about that. What if something happened on Will's flight? What he crashed and it's like LOST? Except the purgatory part, that was stupid. But wouldn't it be cool if you got to slide down the emergency slides...Well, if it would be fun if it wasn't a life-or-death emergency...Sliding into freezing water with sharks would suck...Crap, now I have "My Heart Will Go On" stuck in my head...I hate you Celine Dion...Speaking of which where's my ipod? Oh God, where did I put my passpor-oh nevermind, here it is. Whew, crisis adverted! I wonder,will Will know where to meet me? I hope so. What if customs doesn't let me in? What if I can't get back into Germany on the way back?!
I'm not a nervous flier AT ALL. The flight was on-time, despite turbulence that gave me some serious Tower of Terror flashbacks. And when I got through customs (seriously, I'm just here for vacation, I swear) there was Will!!!
After figuring out the Underground, I spent most of the time freaking out as I slowly realized that everything - literally everything - was in English.
After 8 months in Germany, seeing things in English
was amazing.
I realize, now in hindsight which rumor has it is 20/20, that I was having culture shock. But the good kind!
Luckily, our directions to the hostel from Hostelworld (which I highly recommend, it's an awesome site) were perfect and we found ourselves in the South Kensington area. South Kensington is a gorgeous, up-scale neighborhood, filled with embassies and famous landmarks, such as the Natural Science Museum, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gardens, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Thanks Google Images!
We spent the rest of the late afternoon at the Natural History Museum. Which is actually a natural science museum. Weird, no?
With a biologist father, both my brother and I have a deep appreciation for science museums. Best of all, it was free!
Most of the big national museums and sights are subsidized by the British government and are open to the public, which makes London a great city for travelers!
Most of the buildings in the South Kensington area were built by Queen Victoria during her very, very long reign. Many of the buildings are dedicated to her and her Prince Consort, Albert. The Natural History Museum is as well, but it also shares a bit of history with another famous Englander...
If you guessed Karl Marx, you're wrong.
Sorry.
But he had a cool beard too.
Charles Darwin called the Natural History Museum his home for research, as did many other famous British scientists. The Museum also just recently added a Charles Darwin Center (or Centre, if you prefer), which is for both kids and hard-core scientists alike. Although it was closed when Will and I were there, when it's open it has an amazing collection of the original specimens Darwin collected. The coolest one is a giant (over 27 foot long) Giant Squid named Archie.
The Museum is huge and imposing from the front!
Meet Dippy, a Diplodocus carnegii dinosaur
who's called the museum home for 106 years.
The museum is super kid-friendly, with lots of interactive and fun activities. Will and I explored the museum, meandering through the exhibits. Here are some of the coolest sights we saw!
Check out this giant gold nugget!
None of you should be surprised that I liked the sparkly stuff.
These are two examples of the huge gemstones the museum has!
A giant tortoise!
Will Vs. Komodo Dragon.
I think Will might win.
A huge clam - can you imagine how big of a pearl it would create?!
Sorry I cut the caption off, but you get the gist!
Nature terrifies me.
Left: Angler Fish before eating
Right: Angler Fish after eating
In case you can't remember what an Angler Fish is, here is a clip of Finding Nemo to jog your memory.
In the gift shop, I nearly burst out laughing when two ten-year old kids were talking to each other about the price of a plush toy - "14 quid? That's a bit much innit?"
Overall, I give the Natural History Museum a "Bob's Your Uncle" - it's free and really cool, but not everyone will want to spend hours there. If you have kids or you still possess a child-like sense of wonder, it's a great place to go.
We ended the night with a pint of ale and some Fish 'N Chips at a local pub! It was greasy and delicious.
Day Two
My brother and I left the hostel early to catch a Sandeman's Free Tour of the city. I've talked before about this type of tour in my Paris post. Our guide wasn't great (I think he was new and it was a huge group) but we got to see some amazing sights! We started at the Wellington statue by Hyde Park. (Side note: British war heroes, the Duke of Wellington and Admiral Nelson, are everywhere. Get used to it.) We then saw Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards Parade (which is actually a square, but whatever), Number 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, St. Stephen's Tower and Big Ben, and finally the Houses of Parliament.
Buckingham Palace! And yes, the Queen is home!
Canada Gate
Hey there Will!
The courtyard is filled with tourists.
Your Humble Blogger!
Several carriages went by, but we didn't get a look inside.
The guard and guard house outside Prince Charles' house.
On the way to Trafalgar Square!
Admiral Lord Nelson, looking dapper, despite
missing an eye and an arm.
The National Portrait Galley
WWII Bunker in Horse Guard's Parade.
Disguised as a tree, it's virtually invisible from the sky.
Number 10 Downing Street, home of the PM.
Since I can't go one post without being silly, take a break from the photos and watch Hugh Grant doing his little Prime Minister Dance from one of my favorite movies ever, Love Actually.
Okay, back to being serious.
If you wanted to say, "Oh look, there's Big Ben!"
I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
Big Ben is the bell...in St. Stephen's Tower.
Huzzah for learning!
Now repeat after me: Big Ben is the Bell, not the Tower.
Westminster Abbey
More Westminster!
The Houses of Parliament
The tour was a great way to get introduced to London and the walk really wasn't bad at all (I suppose we needed to burn off those Fish 'N Chips, huh?). I'm giving the tour a "Smashing"!
We were pretty tired after the tour, so we had a late lunch at a British pub. We decided to check out the Cabinet War Rooms, Winston Churchill's undeground bunker from which both the Battle of Britain and D-Day were planned, along with many other strategic decisions of WWII. The museum is dedicated to both the Cabinet War Rooms as well as Winston Churchill.
The War Room, untouched since 1945.
The big comfy chair in the middle is Churchill's.
Will is ecstatic!
The Alarm Signals in the Bunker!
Will and Winston.
The Enigma Machine which scrambled
German codes. It was cracked by the Allies
in 1932.
Winston's famous pocket watch.
Map showing how the Allies planned to divide Germany
post-war.
Churchill's Nobel Prize for Literature.
Another Board Room in the War Room
My brother is a huge history buff, especially war history, so this was the perfect place for him. The museum was super cool, although a bit pricey. They had tons of interactive displays which was great - I learned so much! Did you know that Churchill spent most of his retirement years painting? And he was actually really good! The cutest thing was definitely how Churchill cared for his grand-kids' plush toys. He would stick them in his bookshelf in places where he was missing books - right at eye level for the little kids.
I give the Cabinet War Room a "Smashing" rating!
Day Three
After seeing the big sights, we declared our third day "Art Day". We rode the Tube like seasoned professionals all the way to "Embankment" where we walked across on of the many bridges over the Thames. We got a little turned around on the other side, but luckily, the city of London has these nifty signs where they show all the sightseeing attractions in a circle from 5 minutes walks to 15 minutes walks. These signs also have giant arrows and are placed at main intersections. You don't need to buy a map in London, but get a Tube map, for sure!
We had some lovely, drizzly London weather, which made it a good day to sight-see inside!
Lovely.
Using these maps we were able to find our way to the Tate Modern, London's biggest modern art museum. In case you don't remember, this humble blogger really doesn't like modern art, mostly installation art. My experience in Vienna was terrible, but I was willing to give modern art another go. It was free (you can pay to see the special exhibits) and we were getting some culture in. What could go wrong?
It was...um...interesting to say the least.
I knew things were going downhill from the first room. The first room we went in had one exhibit that was a mirror.
Just a mirror, like a crappy one from Ikea.
The plaque went on and on about "true self-portraits un-warped by bias" or something.
If you have to read a plaque to explain the basic idea of the work of art - you're doing it wrong. The idea of art is that it captures an idea without words! (Not to mention the fact that I was unaware that my Ikea mirror is worthy of hanging in the Tate Modern!)
My brother and I had a great time reading the plaques and looking at each other. If we said anything, we pretended we were art critics and made sassy comments, because that's how we roll.
Made up example: "Visions of the Blue River XII: This glorious installation art work represents the fluid dynamics of gender in relation to consumerism and war with a special focus on environmentalism."
My reaction:
Will's reaction doing his best art critic face:
Another exhibit was a video of street litter in New York. Yep, someone filmed an hour of litter being blown around on NYC streets. That's dedication. Nearly sixty minutes of "balletic ecstasy of capitalistic consumerism". Because, you know, communists don't litter. It was kind of mesmerizing, in a weird way, but it still made no sense. I could see if you included that video segment in an anti-littering PSA, but calling it art?
Harry knows what's up.
The best piece of art - and by best I mean, most ridiculous and unintentionally hilarious piece of art - was definitely this masterpiece of installation art by German artist Joseph Beuys called "Lightning with Stag in its Glare". I hope you know what that means, because I sure don't.
In case you were wondering - I know you were-
that's goat's poop.
On sticks.
And an ironing board.
Will summarizes it nicely.
If you write in the comments what you think
this means in real people language,
I'll send you some German chocolate.
The creepiest exhibit was by far this room filled with the writings of this one "artist" (I'm putting it in quotes, because if he's an artist, then so are some of the inmates in prison). At first, it just looked like scrawling words and sketches.
Then you realized there was "poetry" in the writing. Raunchy poetry. I'm not talking like Pablo Neruda, one-metaphor-away-from-explicit-shenanigans-but-it's-still-classy-and-romantic raunchy poetry either. This was just full on descriptive, inappropriate, tasteless. What are you twelve? I'm glad to know you properly know how to use English swear words. (Maybe you can teach the Germans here?)
But it got creepier after reading the plaque about this room full of licentious writing.
Apparently these were written when the artist had an earlier installation artwork in a museum (maybe the Tate too, I don't know or care). When he hid under the false floor and watched people go by. And he fantasized about the people (mostly women) who unknowingly walked over him. Mostly while looking up their skirts.
Seriously. In what universe is that acceptable?!
If anyone else did that, Detectives Benson and Stabler from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit would be knocking on your door. Seriously, it's like a episode of Criminal Minds. If I was one of London's prosecutors, I'd be all over that.
I've waited forever to use that one.
To keep you from getting too down on the Tate Modern, I will say this - they had some super pop art and classics of modern art. I also really liked the photography section. There were some beautiful and moving pieces in there.
Monet's "Waterlilies" - it was bigger and blander than I
expected.
Picasso!
I give the Tate Modern a low "Bob's Your Uncle" - Art buffs will love it, as will admirers of modern art. Personally...The best I can say is...at least it was free?
To purge our minds from the crazy art we'd just witnessed, we strolled down the Thames and less than a block was Shakespeare's Globe Theater (or Theatre, if you prefer).
I had a bit of an English major freakout. Alas, the Globe was closed - it's open air (just like in the Bard's time) and it's way too cold and rainy in the spring, so no tours or shows. The shows start later in the year - I might go back to see one!
Despite not being able to see the theater, I had lots of fun in the gift shop! Since I didn't get to go in, I can't give this rating, but for Shakespeare buffs or even mild admirers, the gift shop was a blast.
When we left the Globe, the rain was coming down pretty hard, but we braved our way - slip sliding - over the Millennium Bridge, which looks wobblier than it really is.
We made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral despite the rain.
Sir Christopher Wren's greatest design
Unfortunately, while we were inside St. Paul's were were not allowed to take any photos, which is a shame, since it's so lovely inside. For all the fans of royalty out there - it's the church where the royal weddings are held. It was pretty expensive, but it was worth it - we were provided with pimped out iPod touches that gave audio guides as well as photos and videos. Although the highest part of the dome was closed, we were able to climb up to the Whispering Gallery. What's the Whispering Gallery, you ask? Check out the video!
It was amazingly cool. Will and I learned that you have to whisper along the wall to get it to work - you can't whisper across. The power of science!
We also got to got into the catacombs and see the tombs of Wellington, Nelson, and the chapel for the Knights of the British Order. I did think it was kind of weird that they had the gift shop and cafe down there though....
Overall, I'd say St. Paul's was pretty "Smashing", despite the price.
Our final stop for the day was the National Portrait Gallery, which is right next to the National Gallery. We thought we were going into the National Gallery, but it turns out we weren't. Nevertheless, the National Portrait Gallery was pretty cool! It's filled with portraits of people important to British culture from the time to Henry VI until today. Luckily, Will's a history major and I have taken a fair amount of BritLit classes and we were able to puzzle together the timeline of history. The names tend to run together, what with all the Henrys, Jameses, and Williams. The plaques were really helpful and cool in here - for some of the portraits they talked about restoration and things the museum had discovered.
I was really happy to find "my people" - rooms dedicated to writers and poets in the museum. It was really cool to see images of what the authors looked like! My favorite was the tiny miniature portrait of Jane Austen painted by her sister Cassandra. You could feel the Austen sassiness through the portrait.
The modern portraits of famous Brits, such as (Sir) Paul McCartney, were also fun and cool!
I really enjoyed myself in the National Portrait Gallery, so I'm giving this a "Smashing".
Day Four
Our fourth day, we decided to spend the day in the British Museum. The British Museum is just about the coolest place ever - like the Louvre in Paris, it's filled with stuff acquired during Britain's golden years under Queen Victoria. The British Museum is definitely an all-day thing if you want to take in the most you can see in a day. But here's a tip: don't wear high heeled boots. I learned that painfully.
Anyway, here are the pics!
Outside of the Museum.
Note the large group of first-formers
who stalked us everywhere.
Mufasa?
One giant arm/hand of Ramses.
The Rosetta Stone!
Unfortunately, it does not help me
understand German grammar.
The Pharaoh Ramses was really humble.
Not.
Stuff of nightmares.
The Nereids from Greece
Time has no patience for heads or arms.
Easter Island Head...And Body!
The coolest thing about the British Museum is that in certain regional sections, they have free "eye-opener" tours that last about 30mins. We managed to catch one in the Asia section and we got to learn about Hindu and Buddhist art. It was really cool! Did you know that Buddhist artists always must depict the Buddha the way he appeared at that stage in his life? Skinny Buddhas show a young Buddha, while the stereotypical chubby, laughing Buddha depicts an older Buddha. See, you learned something today!
These tiny jeweled images are only a small part of a giant
depiction of many Hindu gods.
Lord Shiva - we spend a lot of time
talking about this cool statue!
They had a special exhibit on Chinese Jade, so we went in a saw it. Luckily for you, I was able to snap some (illegal, although I didn't know at the time!) photos.
This was about the size of coaster - simply amazing.
Since this type of jade art is done with a single piece of jade,
if the artist screwed up, they would have to start
all over again!
Although my feet were aching, we still had a lot to do after the museum. We got dinner at a hamburger joint near Piccadilly Circus. I got to have a root beer for the first time in about 7 months! It was a happy day.
I was even happier when we stepped into Her Majesty's Theater to see my favorite musical ever - The Phantom of the Opera!
If you haven't seen Phantom, I'm sorry. If you've only seen the terrible 2004 movie with Gerard Butler, I'm really sorry. Nothing beats the original show. Nothing. The sets and costumes are wonderfully lavish, and you'll be humming Andrew Lloyd Webber's best tunes for the next couple of days.
Will was too tall for the seats
and not happy about it.
It was an amazing show and the actors were really great in it! I was so happy!! I also finally got my mitts on the Phantom "magic mug" which is the coolest thing ever. It's a black mug (for all my tea, this blogger can't stand the taste of coffee) but when you pour in hot liquids, a white Phantom mask appears. I lead an exciting life, I know.
Because I'm totally biased, I'm giving Phantom a "Smashing" rating. But seriously, with so many musicals and plays you can get cheap seats to almost any of them. So why not see a show?!
Anyway, to celebrate Phantom's 25th Birthday, have the originals - Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford - at the Tony Awards.
Day Five
Our fifth day in the trip was actually later since we spent the weekend in Edinburgh. We only spent a night in London before we caught our bus to Cardiff. Luckily, we got to see the Victoria and Albert museum that afternoon after we landed and checked into our hostel.
The Victoria and Albert museum houses all kinds of historical art and design objects. I was excited to see it, since I had heard that they had the biggest collection of period clothes and accessories! But then we arrived there, and that wing was under construction!
But we still wandered around and found some cool stuff:
Amazing!
Check out the detail!
A reconstruction of a parlor room from about 1750s (I think)
Ever changing fashions...
Yep, you had to go through doors sideways.
A really cool safe lock, complete with hidden combinations
and a counter to see who's been in your stuff.
A Victorian Wedding Dress
"The Ruby Door" - the height of 1800s fashion.
What a whole room would have looked like with that "ruby" paneling.
I want one.
Grotesque gargoyles!
This huge blown glass fixture hangs
above the entry way.
Look with your eyes, not your hands!
Although the Victoria and Albert had some really cool objects, their most famous exhibit was under construction, so I can only give the museum a "Bob's Your Uncle" Rating.
Day Six
It was our last full day in London town and we wanted to go out in style. It was a drizzly day, but we bravely set out to see London with the London Eye, a huge Ferris Wheel by the Thames River. The ride takes about an hour and would give us spectacular glimpses of the city. We were pumped. Even better, the line was really short! We raced to get our tickets...and came to a screeching halt.
I think Will's face says it all. In case you can't see it, it's 19 Pounds to ride the Eye. For those of you playing at home, that's about 23 Euros, which is about 30 US Dollars!!
Yikes!
Ahahah, no, London.
So here's what the Eye looks like from below.
We decided to stroll through the downtown area as we made our way to Will's pick of the day - the Imperial War Museum!
After a short (and mostly deserted) Tube ride - I guess everyone was working - we found ourselves at the Imperial War Museum.
Will was pumped.
Like most other British museums, the Imperial War Museum is free to the public. The main lobby is filled with two stories of tanks, planes, and all sorts of cool stuff. So without further explanation have some manly photos:
Tanks!
Love the name!
Not much leg room inside! Ouch!
The museum's two big displays are its WWI and WWII exhibits which, not surprisingly, flow into one another. Since the 100th Anniversary of WWI (1914 -18) is creeping up on us, the museum has an electronic wall where people can "sign in" to give thanks to the veterans of WWI. You can do so too at the IMW's WWI website!
The Museum's exhibits were really cool - showing life both on the war front and the home front. We started in a special exhibit about the era before the outbreak of the Second World War.
What Colin Firth King George VI wore when
he inspired a nation with his speech.
A milder image from the War Front
We then wound our way into the WWI exhibit. It was both fascinating and terribly sad. Here are some images from the exhibit, starting with the home front in England
Pressure to get men to enlist was terrible:
Here a Girl Scout leader calls out
an un-enlisted man by offering
him a spot to lead in Girl Scouts.
DO IT.
A window sign to display your status in WWI.
Yep, the US copied the idea.
A prototype Gatling gun.
Tools of the trade.
Will checks our the U.S. uniforms and supplies.
The museum also had an (scary) exhibit where you can experience
what it must have been like to live in the trenches in WWI.
It was amazing, eye-opening, and totally scary.
As we wound our way from WWI (Spoiler: we won) to WWII (Spoiler: we won, again), we saw some cool stuff. And along the way, my battery died. So I got one photo from the WWII exhibit:
Neville Chamberlain's Peace Treaty with Hitler.
Although Chamberlain is most known for
totally dropping the ball on this one,
he actually helped Churchill
lead the defense of Britain during the war.
The museum also had a super cool display about spies and spy warfare! They also had some cool, toned down kids exhibits. For any history-lovers, this is definitely "Smashing". It's worth definitely going to.
Also for you fans of "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters, you can get cool copies of propaganda posters. Here's a cool video to teach you about the iconic "Keep Calm" poster!
Our last stop was the National Portrait Gallery, another free entry museum, housing some super works of art.
I wanted to capture the art as well as the art doing whose
sketch was awesome!
Unfortunately, I didn't realize you couldn't take pictures in there until I got yelled at by a security guard after snapping a picture of a Monet. Ooops. Oh well! Enjoy my plunders.
A Vermeer (I think.)
One of the museum's new Monets.
It was worth getting yelled at for.
So...that was London! I loved it - absolutely adored it - but we only scratched the surface. I can't wait to go again.
UP NEXT: The Highlands (or in this case, the Lowlands actually) are Calling! We go to Edinburgh!
