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My parents decided to come to the UK for 10 days in June. A massive earthquake, afterquakes, and tsunami hit around northeast coast of Japan on 11 March, and it crippled the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. They experienced the biggest and long-lasting earthquake on the day and tremor till the end of April. The compound crisis of earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear emergency often worried us, but it luckily didn’t disturb their plan.
The weather had been varied since the beginning of June and I advised them to bring waterproof clothes and pullovers.
I met up with my parents in Heathrow in the late afternoon on 10 June. They had already perceived the breezy air and rainy clouds when travelling on the Piccadilly Line. Mark patiently waited for us at Ruskin Hotel near the British Museum. My mother gave us various gifts including 2 copies of the photographic magazine of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.
We went to the Italian Restaurant for our dinner. We enjoyed eating authentic pasta and fish and chicken dishes and deserts. It started raining when we had finished eating deserts. The waiter was aware that it was just a sqall and offered us to
sit until it would ease up or stop. The sqall was over when we said goodbye to my parents at Ruskin Hotel.
The Original Tour
On 17 June, Mark went to work. I arrived at Ruskin Hotel at 9:30 and took my parents to Victoria. As we went up the stairs and left the station, we saw the T2 bus sightseeing bus stopping at Grosvenor Gardens. I showed three vouchers and received the tickets for the bus and cruise and interphones.
After leaving Victoria Station, the Original Bus Tour drove up on the Grosvenor Place and Park Lane via Hyde Park, posh hotels, and Marble Arch. My father was trying out his new digital camera while we were on the bus. I pointed out the Madame Tussauds building for them, saying that it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in London. Securing the front seats of the top floor of the sightseeing bus, it allowed us to see various types of buildings and prestigious shops, e.g. Hamleys, Burberry. The traffic was very slow on the Great Portland Street and Regent Street. Looking at the winding streets and rather random layout of the roads and buildings, my
father that commented the West End would have been the part of the vast pasture and vegetable field in the past.
The bus was running more smoothly after leaving Piccadilly Circus. We were taken to Whitehall, Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Aldwych, Fleet Street, and Cannon Street via St Paul’s Cathedral.
We got off at London Bridge Station. It was lunch time when we were at London Bridge Station and popped in one of the cafes to have lunch.
As the weather forecast said, it started raining after the lunch time. We decided to stay on the bottom floor of the bus when returning to Victoria.
When we arrived at Victorian, the rain eased up and it stopped. I took my parents to Buckingham Palace Gate and showed them where Kate and William kissed and the royal family greeted the pubic on 29 April. We walked on the Mall where the wedding parade was held on the Royal Wedding. The Mall led us to the Admiralty Arch, the start of the Whitehall. My parents were interested in seeing live horses standing at the gate of Horse Guards House. They saw the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
It started drizzling when we approached the Westminster Pier. Considering the time, which was already at 14:30, we decided to take a short cruise course which would stop at Tower Hill Pier and return to the Westminster Pier. We got on a smaller sightseeing boat with the English commentary provided by the amateur guide. I therefore translated the contents into Japanese for my parents. There were some interesting facts that I learnt, as follows:
1. London Eye has 32 capsules built, as there are 32 boroughs in London,
2. The building, which was once the gravy factory, has been converted to the posh restaurant as a part of the regeneration programme. The staff designed the shape of O.X.O windows on the tower facing to the Thames River to promote the factory.
We saw the ongoing construction works of the station building near the Blackfriars Bridge, which is part of the Olympic Project. The highlight of the cruise was that my parents saw the Tower Bridge opening for the military liner to go through and it was open for nearly five minutes. They and many fellow passengers took photos of the historical moment, which is only said to happen
once every three weeks these days. The drizzle turned to rain and it was windy during the cruise. We decided to get off at Tower Hill Pier. On the way back to Tower Hill Station, my parents were given opportunities to take photos of the Tower of London and have a close look at the façade of the historic building.
The British Museum
We arrived at the British Museum at 4:30. I first took my parents to the exhibition rooms where mummies and its accessories were displayed. As anticipated, there were a lot of visitors in those rooms. Looking at coffins and bodies of the mummies, we realised that very detailed articles were drawn even on the inside of the coffins and the back of the lids of the coffins. Then, I took them to the Roman Britain and Sutton Hoo Exhibition rooms. I explained them how Mrs Pretty found the body of the Anglo Saxon King and his personal belongings in the southeast corner of Suffolk before the outbreak of the Second World War and told them that archaeological excavation have been carried out. We found that the British Museum would open till 8:30 on Friday, and it allowed us to see more archaeological items and historical monuments and natural collections etc which were collected by Sir Hans Sloane. As we went downstairs, we found the library where the replica of Rossetta Stone was displayed and collections of scientific encyclopaedias and dictionaries, collections of ammonites, stuffed animals and bones and skulls were kept. I also showed a series of Asyrrian’s relief of lion hunting, Egyptian sphinx, Greek and Roman busts and statues. Unexpectedly, my father was thrilled with the collections at the British Museum.
We met up with Mark outside of the museum at 6 o’clock. It was raining heavily. We went to the Thai Restaurant near the Somerset House.
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