It's Monday, so it must be over-running engineering works.
Sure enough, we roll in to London a little over an hour late (actually "approximately fifty-eight minutes late" is how the announcer always puts it, as they have to pay compensation if it's an hour or more).
I don't mind. I'm having a Rosie Thomas morning on the iPod, so I'm nicely chilled out (Thanks, Robyn; it sure is a beautiful album).
It's actually a clear(ish) morning (we're between storms) so I amble my long walky route, figuring I'm late, so it won't matter if I'm a little later.
Watching the sun come up under Tower Bridge is always a treat, and seeing the sunlight light up the bridges ahead of me has me singing Waterloo Sunset, causing frightened looks on the faces of commuters walking the other way.
So here I am on another yummy monday. No more weekend chores to do; just a nice no-brainer day making stuff in 3D.
Walking across London, the thought comes to me that Ame and her hubby only need to learn one phrase when they come over here next month.
In fact all Americans should learn it as it will cause hostility to fade away in an instant and they will be greeted by helpful smiling Brits.
The phrase is: "Actually, we're Canadian."
I won't recommend lots of things for Ame to do or places to go as there are just too many and a lot of them wiill depend on the weather.
Besides which, Ame's tastes and mine (indeed everybody's tastes and mine) are unlikely to coincide.
For instance, one of my favourite places is the Hunterian Collection (part of the Royal College of Surgeons), a splendid, free and newly revamped cornucopia of medical curiosities, including a whole wall of diseased penises and the Bishop of Durham's anus in a jar (not the present Bishop, I hasten to add).
But two things I would recommend are:
- A go on the slides at the Tate Modern (Wheeee …);
- The London Eye (Spiffy).
Hints for Eye travellers: I'd usually recommend booking well in advance, but in February, the weather is likely to bugger this up.
What I normally do is book the combined Eye trip and river excursion. It's well cheap, and the trip down the Thames to Tower Bridge and back is great (I do love tooling up and down the Thames; it's a lovely way to see London).
The other hint is: The Eye officialy opens at 10:30. If you get there half an hour earlier, they are sometimes starting it up and they let people get on before the queues build up. If you're lucky, you can get a whole gondola to yourselves.
You can see my office from up there, so do wave.
The comments box welcomes suggestions for Ame's trip.
Real ones today, please. Any more silly suggestions can go in yesterday's comments box.
24 comments:
One place i've wanted to go to is the London Dungeon. Never got there so Ame could let me know what it's like. Had nothing but good reports so far.
Have a break sitting by the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Eat some sandwiches in the open air. Simple stuff but great nonetheless. Watch the British go by - well you might see one or two. Most are from other origins.
Have afternoon tea at the Ritz. In the evening play some tables there. Take a limit of cash only!
Take in some shows of course.
Take some back streets to sample a local, non-touristy pub. Watch yourself though.
River trip along the Thames.
Walk, walk, walk. Take Dive's daily commute walk. It's incredible. Go to the Tate Modern. Get lost a couple of times and have a pint while figuring out where you are (don't piss people off, though---follow the vibe of the place). Get a copy of London A--Z, or you really might find yourself horribly lost. Make sure you consult some kind of guide book so that you see what you want, but don't follow it religiously. That's boring. Walk every place you can.
If the VNA is still doing their little evening jazz thing, you can hear some decent music, have a glass of wine, and then wander the musuem. Cheap and fun.
Eat Indian food.
If you don't go to a show while you are there, you are cheating yourself.
Ame, for the love of God, DO NOT stand on the left on an escalator. If you are standing, follow the other standers. You will be yelled at for violating this (I didn't do it, but I heard more than one tongue lashing issued to such people). Don't talk too much in the Tube, and do not speak in the elevators. People will glare at you.
And, Dive, people were really nice to me even though I was American. I did make it clear that I hated W, though.
Tip top advice so far. Take note, Ame.
Don't make small talk on the train, unless stopped randomly in delay (very likely) surrounded by nothing but fields and darkness. In which case be polite, friendly and helpful, all the while holding firmly onto your wallet and removing your rings into your pocket. If threatened, give them up immediately and apologise for being a nuisance. Your manners will be appreciated and you may survive to post an interesting blog. I'm really not sure now whether i'm supposed to be on this page or whether i've morphed into the post before. Dive?
Watch the changing of the guard. Not because it's a good experience - it's f... awful boring. It'll simply allow you to nod without further comment when asked if you saw it, when you get home.
Love the changing of the guard comment, Lynn.
The same could apply to most of the tourist itinerary, though at least in February the places won't be so crowded and the prices merely astronomical, rather than in the summer, where you'd have to hand over all your kids and your house for a bottle of water.
And London can be really cheap, but only if you stay clear of tourist spots. The intense competition drives the prices down, which is why I can get a dinner-sized tray of sushi for £2.50 (after 4:15pm) inatead of £16.99 in Norwich.
Really, do spend time at the half-price ticket booth, and get tickets for something "off Broadway." I'm not sure what that kind of show would be called there. The scalpers are amusing to watch, and it's central to other points of interest, like the National Gallery, if my memory serves.
I would skip Madame Toussauds, only because NY has one, but that's up to you, Ame. I had wanted to go on a Jack the Ripper walk, even though I'm sure it's a big tourist thing, but what the heck. And there is a weekly magazine guide that I found very helpful called "The____________", I'm hoping Dive can fill in the blank. Sorry, my brain has holes.
Hi, Robyn.
Thanks for the latest Maryanne. Trouble is, I'm already craving my next fix.
As for shows; there's a million and one of 'em. I'd imagine things like Billy Elliott at the Victoria Apollo would be fairly booked up, but then I never go to shows so what do I know?
Any help on shows, anyone?
Madame Toussauds? Definitely skip THAT.
The Jack the Ripper walk around the East End's less salubrious haunts sounds fun. As does Lynn's suggestion of the London Dungeon (walk across London Bridge from Monument and it's down an alley off to your left).
Checking the web, I see that we even have a TEA museum! How very British of us.
As for "what's on" magazines; I'm afraid I have no idea, Robyn.
And an A to Z is probably a good idea, as Sassy suggests. London is NOT set out on a grid. You WILL get lost, Ame.
And if you find anything cool tucked away on a back street, please get the address. I'm STILL trying to find the place Sassy found which sells Fluff, after months of searching.
"off BrOADWAY?" Lynn shrieked with a sudden attack of patriotism,"that phrase will not be heard in my presence. We are in the LAND of theatre. We write, direct, act and produce our own performance here in the birthplace of Shakespeare." Here endeth Lynn's thespian tantrum.
Although the best theatre director we have is Kevin Spacey, oddly enough.
Sorry, Lynn. I knew that wasn't right when I wrote it, but I wasn't sure if you had a term for a play that was less than a big, budget star-laden production. Even in NY, "Off Broadway" is used to suggested a smaller production, regardless of where it is performed.
I will try to look up the name of the magazine I was thinking of.
I'd skip the Jack the Ripper walk, but do go on some of the touristy walks (I think it's called London Walks, but I'm not sure---the groups are small, the prices cheap, and the information is interesting---just show up at the appointed time). You can get ideas of where to wander from them.
Oh, and nice label. My breakfast is making another show.
I thought the label was catchy, too.
It isn't The anything, damn it. The weekly is called TimeOut. and TimeOut.com offers the same information.
Ah, Time Out. Of course!
I haven't read that since I was a student (and yes, back then it was hand lettered on vellum).
Nice "walky" ideas, Sassy.
And yes, it's a pretty sweet label. Referring of course to my favourite "little" museum. If you're even slightly "Tim Burton", it's well worth an afternoon of gross-out laughs.
The only touristy thing I'd recommend it the London Eye which is fab. Maybe not in this weather though.
Otherwise - many of our fabulous museums and art galleries are free. Tates old and new, Natural History, Science Museum etc...
Otherwise just wander round looking at Westminster/StPauls/other old stuff.
London's great.
Yaaaaaaaawn...sputter, hack, choke, wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze! Sorry, bit of a cough/cold thing having a party in my chest! UGH!
Anyway...Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww you GUYYYYYYYYYYS! You're all TOO SWEET!!! (Hey, isn't that a Frenchie term?) Such an awesome list so far...don't think I'm gonna wanna go HOME after this trip! Sigh~~~~~~~~~~~
And if any storms are brewing when we're there, and if we DO go up in the "EYE" we could maybe even actually sorta maybe be IN the middle of the eye...of the storm that is...in the EYE...the EYE ride...right? Hmmmmm...
Sorry for the rambling...must be my cough suppressant med!
Carry on mates...can't wait to discover MORE...and don't worry Dive...I'm an ol' fluff-finder from WAY back! I'll definitely find it for ya...wearing my trusty fanny-pack and hollering "I'm An American" as I wander down the street, LOL!
=)))
xo
LOL Dive! And just between you and me...that Hunterian Collection is right up my alley! I used to work in a hospital (Mom's a retired surgery nurse) and I got a kick going down into the catacomb-of-a-storage area looking for specimens!
Ooooooooooooooo, gives me a tingle just thinking about that!
;)
Okay Ame, seriously now, forget HOW to use it, just DROP the word fanny. Ok? lol. Much safer. Don't use it at all. Think you're describing a bumbag, or backpack? Choose one of those, GF.
Well....hmmmmmmmmmmmm...I DO wear my "bumbag" in the front...so ummmm...wouldn't it be a...ermmm....ummmmmmmm...a FANNYPACK?!?!
LOLPMP! ;)
Couldn't resist! I do have my trusty little dictionary and discovered the fanny/hiney/bum/butt/arse confusion awhile ago! Thank GOD!
Think we better inform MB of this so there's NO confusion whatSOever!
HEHEHEHEHE...evil laughter!
Oooooooops, thanks GF! Thanks for keeping your eye on me! ;) xo
Hey there, Ame.
If you're really feeling grisly and medically inclined:
The Hunterian Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free and the museum is open to all.
The College is centrally located at Lincoln's Inn Fields within easy walking distance of Holborn (Piccadilly and Central lines) and Temple (District and Circle Lines) underground stations.
Hunterian Museum
The Royal College of Surgeons of England
35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London WC2A 3PE
Telephone: 020 7869 6560
http://www.bramahmuseum.co.uk/
… is the website of the Bramah Tea Museum.
400 years of tea and coffee history (Rich, are you listening, you Boston partyer?)
Next time I'm down London Bridge way with an afternoon to spare, this is definitely on my itinerary.
Yes Ame the bumbag is a mystery, that we wear them at the front (if we wear them at all). Only explanation is that our British reserve (and you know how reserved i am) prevents us from even thinking about where they are really hanging out.
Lynn...bumbag? Are you talking fanny-pack again? BAD GIRL! Hi DIVEY BOY, we KNOW you're reading here? ;)
What images that word stirs up...now that I give some considerable braincells to it!
Noun-noun?
Noun-verb?
Just COMMIT me....
=)
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