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Published: July 27th 2006
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Piece of the Berlin Wall
We waited a pretty long while to get back into the Imperial War Museum. While we stood outside we observed three different kids posing in front of the museum wearing graduation gowns. We never found out why but it seemed odd. We also took time to check-out this section of the old Berlin Wall from Checkpoint Charlie. All those candy bars I bought to bring home probably melted last night. Even after all those ales I consumed last night I still had difficulty sleeping through the night. How'd those Victorian women in their layers of petticoats and necklines up to their chins survive the London summers? People must've absolutely reeked back then.
I enjoyed the same sumptuous breakfast down in the air-conditioned lobby. I think I downed 5 orange juice glasses. Today we would be totally on our own. At this point Gail pretty much had had enough of this group so when a few of them asked what we were doing she said we were going over to the Imperial War Museum which scared them off. The promise of air conditioning convinced her it would be worthwhile. We walked across the street and waited almost half an hour outside before the museum opened.
Once we got inside the girls walked through the Children's War exhibit that I had told them about while I paid a few shillings more to visit the temporary exhibit dedicated to Prisoners of War. I think I've read every World War II escape book ever written but actually seeing some
Enigma Code Machine
This is a horrible quality shot of the Enigma code-breaking device. Very early in World War II the British got hold of the Germans ultra-secret computer/code machine that encrypted messages that could only be read by the sender and receiver. The Germans felt that the coded messages they were sending were so un-breakable that they took very limited steps to disguise the transmittal. With the Enigma the British and Americans were fully aware of almost every German move during the war. of the improvised escape tools that the enterprising POWs designed up close was a thrill. Things were a lot bleaker than they are portrayed in the movies and novels. We also walked through an interesting display area chronicling the development of spycraft in the 20th Century. Some of those wacky devices that Q issues to James Bond aren't that far-fetched. We saw guns and knives disguised as pens, umbrellas, razors, telescopes and shoes. Much of the exhibit was dedicated to all manner of passing information through clandestine means such as disappearing ink, hidden compartments and miniature transmiiters. All kinds of stuff that I found absolutely fascinating. Jolly good show.
Once again James had given us free day passes for the Underground. Since we had spent most of the morning doing what I wanted to do next we had to do what Gail wanted to do. She decided she wanted to see a play if the price was right. We had seen a good number of discount ticket outlets around Leicester Square while wandering about the previous day. We hopped on the Tube and after a couple of train transfers we ended-up in Leicester Square. Initially Gail wanted to see
British El Alamein tank
I've seen bulldozers with more armor and which could outrun this little old WWII tank, but somehow the British defeated Rommel in the Egyptian desert using these things. The Battle of El Alamein was a key turning point in the British struggle against the overwhelming Germany military. Evita, but Grandma and I weren't too interested. I would've liked to have seen the Queen musical, but it was expensive. Les Miserables tickets were cheap so I offered to see that if everyone else wanted to. We got pretty decent seats for about half the price we paid in Scranton a few years ago.
And of course the heat was still an issue. The ladies wanted to cool off with Starbuck's frozen lattes. We found a shop in the middle of the square. Meanwhile I was ready for lunch but nothing appealed to me. I settled for a slightly cold Coke and a Snickers. We really didn't have much of a gameplan so we just walked and walked. We passed through a section of the theater district that I had never been in before. The main street was lined with quaint old theaters with huge marquees, but when we traipsed off the beaten path and onto a parallel street we found ourselves in the porno district. We eventually emerged back near Trafalgar Square. I stopped in my favorites Boots chemist shop where I purchased a couple more cans of their deodorant.
We suddenly got the idea of
Five hours later
Most of the things we did this day in London didn't warrant capturing on film (memory card). I didn't take my little Nikon out of my pocket again until we were boarding our little tour boat on the Thames. Here we are passing by the London Eye - a huge ferris wheel giving panoramic views of the entire city. taking a Thames River cruise. We headed over to Westminster Pier by passing through Charing Cross station where I got yet another Coke. In the little shop where I got the soda the Russian clerk claimed he could give us the best deal on a Thames cruise. We told him we had to think about it. When we left the station and walked over to where the tour boats docked we discovered much better prices than anything our Russian friend had quoted. Because we had to be back in time to make the opening curtain of our play, we had to go to a couple different cruise line kiosks before we found a trip that would get us back by 5:30 pm.
I had been thinking we'd go up river toward Richmond but the only cruise that met our timeframe was going South to Greenwich. I had never been there before so that sounded great to me. On board the ship we sat up on the top deck. Even though the sun was bright and the heat intense once the ship started moving down river a stiff breeze and the cool water below us kept things rather pleasant.
High tide on the Thames
Out on the river we got our first respite from the heat since we got to the U.K. A stiff breeze and the coldness of the water made things comfortable...finally. As much as I would've liked to look at the Naval Museum and Obervatory in Greenwich we only had time to get off our ship and run to the other side of the dock to catch a return ship to Westminster. Once we got back to Westminster Pier we had to hustle to catch the Tube back to our hotel and change clothes for the play.
We had notified James that we wouldn't be dining with the group that night because of our showtime, but James called the restaurant and arranged for the three of us to eat earlier. Since the restaurant was in the Leicester Square area and was serving fish and chips, Gail insisted we go. We actually had no trouble finding the place. It was actually a bit more upscale than the usual place EF found for us. We immediately told our waiter that we were in a big hurry because of our play. The women ordered their fish and chips while I decided to pass. The smell of fish nauseates me and GREASY-FRIED fish is even more disgusting. We hurried our way through dinner but when the waiter seemed to take forever to bring the
Cleopatra's Needle
One of the many tourist attractions along the banks of the Thames is this obelisk that the British took from Egypt. desserts we started getting quite antsy. We practically ran out of the place.
Almost as soon as we hit the street the first rain of the trip began to come down - on our very last day. Even though I knew where we needed to go it turned-out that the restaurant was much farther from the theater than I anticipated. We were panting and sweating despite the rainstorm when we finally spotted the Queens Theater.
Even though we got there just a few minutes before curtain time, most of the audience hadn't taken their seats yet. The lobby was wall-to-wall people sipping cocktails and smoking before the show started. Our seats were only about 20 rows from the stage. None of the actors in the show were familiar to us but they performed admirably. I think they've changed the show slightly since we saw the traveling Broadway company perform it in Scranton a few years back.
Throughout the show the orchestra was drowned out by the sounds of my growling stomach. I hadn't had any real food since breakfast. When we left the theater I hoped Gail and her mom would want to stop to eat but
they claimed to be full. Rather than go in a restaurant and have them stare at me while I gorged myself I settled on getting a couple burgers at the first McDonald's we passed. It was quite delicious but was maybe the most expensive Mickey Dee's ever. A Quarterpounder, a cheeseburger, fries and large Coke was over $15!!!
Despite the fact that it was after 11:00 by this point, the sky still held remnants of daylight. Things were getting crazier on the streets as we passed by Soho and toward Picadilly. I could've been convinced to stop in a bar for a nightcap but Gail and her mother were ready to go back to the hotel. Going down into the Underground was a little scary that late at night. There were few people down there and almost no one on the train. And the few that were riding the rails looked like mental patients. But we made it back to the Days Inn without incident. I sneaked through the lobby and to the elevator before anyone in our group caught sight of me. Gail wasn't so lucky. She spent the next hour sitting around the lobby listening to everybody's
Heading under Blackfriars Bridge
The second prettiest bridge over the Thames is the Blackfriars Bridge. In the background is the domw of St. Paul's. To the right is the Giant Cucumber-like building housing a wealthy (are there any other?) insurance company. tales of their day in London. I just wanted to get some sleep.
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