Wednesday 9 April 2008

Thursday, March 27th

Keith and I began our day by sleeping in and then heading off to the Imperial War Museum which didn't open until 10 anyway. Last trip, we hadn't allotted ourselves near enough time for this comprehensive place, so we thought it deserved a bit more.
Keith posed with Montgomery's tank here.

The sheer amount of artifacts in this building is amazing. I don't believe that any of these are reproductions. We spent most of our time in the WWI section and also went though the "Blitz Experience" as well as the Children's War special exhibit before heading off to grab a bite and meet our cohorts at St. Paul's.
St. Paul's Cathedral is impressive enough inside, but when you start climbing the stairs you get an even better perspective on just how big it is. The sign at the entrance warned us that the climb was not recommended for pregnant women and by the Whispering Gallery I was starting to think that I should have taken that a bit more seriously. After a rest, I did continue, and found the last two sections much easier.
The view is reward enough for climbing. It was particularily nice that the sun came out and it was quite warm while we were up there. Possibly more entertaining was overhearing groups of American teenagers talk about what they were seeing, especially the ones who were convinced that they could see the Eiffel Tower. Thankfully their teacher knew better and corrected them, but we giggled for quite some time. The picture above shows the Millenium Pedestrian Bridge and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and absolutely nothing from France.
A peek-hole into the nave below the dome gives a chance to appreciate how high up in the church we were.
Yes, we all made it to the top! Here is the requisite foot photo to prove it! After that climb we deserved some refreshment.

Afternoon tea was enjoyed at the Kensington Palace Orangery. Earlier in the week, at Hampton Court, we learned that an orangery is the place where you store your orange trees for the winter. Seems obvious, but I had no idea. Guess I hadn't given much thought to the name. This is basically a very nice shed. Please note the table center piece.
A sunken garden with part of Kensington Palace in the background. We never actually went in this palace either time we were in London, not that we couldn't have. Parts of it are open to the public for a price.
After tea, we parted ways as Keith & I headed off to do some brass rubbing at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields before joining Grant & Becky at the British Museum. Keith decided to do a griffin in red, while I had to wait for someone else to finish doing the celtic design that I preferred. It all worked out. I had initially wanted to complete my rubbing with silver, but seeing what an awful lot of work it was for the other lady, I opted to do it in white as I saw someone else's look quite nice with way less time consumed.

It was neat to see the design reveal itself as I first went over it lightly to find the edges, then put in the elbow grease to bring out the design more distinctly. We haven't decided where in the house to hang these yet, but they will go nicely wherever we move the Jazz Portrait from the office to since it is also black and white with red detail.



We didn't have long for the British Museum by the time we finished our rubbings, but there were far fewer people around this evening than there had been on our previous visit so it was easy to get around and see what we wanted umimpeded. We were even able to get a few good pictures of the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles.
I just really enjoy this sign. Yup, this place has been open since before our country was a country.
I don't think that the Elgin Marbles get any less impressive no matter how many times you look at them. These photos do them no justice whatsoever.


We ended our evening back at St.-Martin-in-the-Field's Crypt Cafe. Keith and I had noticed how excellent the food looked when we were here for our brass rubbing, and the prices were very reasonable. It was so nice to eat a meal which included steamed vegetables and NO gravy. After a week including a lot of pub food (read: gravy on everything), I will certainly not miss it for awhile.

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