London Calling

---

Tuesday 5-17 to Sunday 5-22
Man, the flight from Amsterdam to London is really short! I think we were up in the air for maybe 15 minutes before the captain came on and told us to prepare for landing! We were met at the airport by our friend Mandy, a college friend from Boston University who moved to the UK with her British husband, Tony, a few years ago and now have an adorable 19 month old boy named Raphael. He’s really cute and a total chick magnet! Everywhere we went with Raphael, the ladies ooh’d and aah’d over him ;o)

Our first British experience was an old English pub for lunch, followed by grocery shopping at Marks & Spensors. Mandy then made us a great spaghetti dinner while we played futbol with Raphael in the back yard. It was really nice to just to relax and hang out at their house for the evening, especially since we planned to hit the ground running the next few days to see as much of London as we could!

We had another “date” with Rick Steves’ walking tours and visited the sights along Whitehall (London’s version of the D.C. Mall). We walked around Parliament, saw Big Ben, visited Westminster Abbey (there are over 2000 people buried there!), climbed the Jewel Tower (last remaining structure of the original Westminster Castle), went underground to see the Churchill Museum & War Rooms (truly a world class museum! Anyone who comes to London should go see it – one of the best interpretive museums I have ever seen!), strolled past 10 Downing St. (where the prime minister lives) , and made it to Trafalgar Square just in time for the rain to start pouring down! We tucked into a movie theater to avoid the down pour and were pleasantly surprised by an Australian film called “Red Hill.” (Dad, you would like it; it’s a modern day Western.)

The next day, we were equally ambitious and started the day at St. Paul’s Cathedral. I had no idea what significance this church held for London. I always thought Westminster Abbey was the big important one, but not so. Charles and Diana were married here and Churchill had his funeral here. St. Paul’s had the most beautiful mosaic ceilings I have seen on this trip! And we were able to walk up to the top of the dome and look out over the city (as one of the most dominant features of the skyline, it was quite a hike!). We crossed the Millennium Bridge and headed over to the new Globe Theater. Shakespeare’s original theater no longer exists but the new replica they made is pretty impressive. They’ve tried to be as historically correct in the reconstruction as possible, only using Elizabethan materials and techniques for the building as well as for the costumes and props they use. We had a great tour guide who loved to quote Shakespeare in her talks and we were even able to sit in on a rehearsal of “Much Ado About Nothing,” where we saw the actor who used to play the butler on “Fresh Prince of Bellaire”. We then walked across Tower Bridge and grabbed a guided tour at the Tower of London. This is my favorite thing to see in all of London! It’s a bit macabre, with all the torture and beheadings that took place here, but there’s SO much history, it’s really cool! Plus, the tours are led by Yeoman of the Guard (Beefeaters) and we had a GREAT one for our tour! [Nick Note: The yeomen are all former drill sergeants so as you can imagine they know how to really project their voice and if they naturally are very commanding and tough, so the guide was really good at using this to at one moment scare the little kids (and me but just a little but, I swear) and then doing silly stuff like sighing romantically at the ladies or looking forlorn when he expressed how lonely it is after 10 pm when he and everyone else who works and lives at the tower is locked in for the night. Everyone had a hoot seeing such an imposing man being sweet and vulnerable. I think any tour company should hire all the former drill sergeants they can as tour guides.] We had been looking forward to seeing the crown jewels ever since India. It was there that we learned about the Koh-I-Noor Diamond that used to adorn the thrown of the Mughal Emperors of Delhi, before it was taken by the British. It’s now a part of the Imperial State Crown. And the largest diamond in the world (over 500 carats), known as the Star of Africa, came from South Africa 1 when it used to be a part of England; it’s now atop the royal scepter. [Nick Note: The Kohinoor diamond is very large, its face about the size of a quarter, but the Star of Africa is surreally huge, about the size of an egg. What’s more it was the largest of 9 cut from an original raw diamond that was over 3000 karats in size. And just to show how Mel Brooks was right when he said “It’s good to be the king,” South Africa presented as a gift to the king of England at the time, Edward V. I wish someone, anyone, would just give ma a 3000 karat diamond.] It’s kind of cool to hear about these things from other countries and then to finally see them in person (plundered of course, but still cool). We finished the evening by taking a boat ride down the Thames, playing some air hockey at the arcade, and then meeting my former boss from the Jane Goodall Institute for dinner. It was SO nice to see Mary again! She took us out to her local pub for a delicious dinner and great company. I definitely miss my former coworkers at JGI and I’ve never worked for an organization before or since in whose mission I so strongly believed in and supported, but I can definitely say I don’t miss the craziness and hectic schedule of keeping up with one Jane Goodall! She and Mary are indomitable! ;o)

Friday was a little more laid back. We no longer rushed around to see the sights, but instead took Mandy and Raphael in to London for a day at the British Museum. Anything and everything that the British plundered/collected during its empire days is at this museum. It’s amazing to see what’s there! The most impressive are probably the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. Raphael was hysterical – he loved running around the museum and seeing all the statues shaped like animals ;o) For lunch, we met another former JGI coworker, Sylvie, who lives in Lincolnshire but was nice enough to come into town to see me (thanks so much, Sylvie!). It was really great catching up with Sylvie and SO good to see her again! (Sorry we weren’t able to get together Rob – next time I’ll come to Cambridge!) We finished our day with coffee and pastries in the park, while Nick and Raphael played on the slide. Followed by pizza and a movie back home; it turned out to be a really nice day.

We took the weekend at a slower pace and spent one afternoon in West Ruislip – a very quaint small town – followed by BBQ & burgers at home. I am LOVIN’ the home cooked meals! Our last day in England was great! We spent the whole day with Mandy et al. in Bath. Known for its ancient Roman baths (now a museum) and its beautifully well-preserved Georgian architecture, this was once the home to Mary Shelley, Jane Austen and a handful of British aristocrats. We spent our time there eating Cornish Pasties (think giant hot pocket), soaking in the mineral baths and riding the double decker bus around town (not such a good idea after relaxing the spa, as it was very hard not to fall asleep ;o) We got to experience a full afternoon tea (I like the little sandwiches) and just hang out with Mandy, Tony & Raphael. It was a great day and a great week. Thanks to Mandy & Tony for such great hospitality! (Can’t wait to see you guys back in the States!)

---