The British Museum is an amazing place, once you find it! But getting there is very confusing. Hotel front desk staff, just a street away from the museum, were not aware of where exactly the museum was. We spent almost an hour walking round in circles in residential and commercial areas before stumbling into the Museum. Turns out that it was actually within easy walking distance of our hotel, but the dearth of adequate signage combined with the lack of any semblance of a street grid structure makes getting lost in London really easy. Doesn't help that our guide book by Rick Steves only has hand drawn maps that are not to scale. Our primary criticism of an otherwise decent guide book. Once in though, (the museum trustees are proud that entrance is free), there's so ... read more

Took the Docklands Light Rail to the National Maritime Museum to see British Naval and Maritime history enroute to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. It's a good museum that's kid friendly. In fact, there were several school groups there. The museum shows the importance that accurate time measurement played in the history of navigation. Latitudes could be determined from a Sextant and the stars. But, longitudes had to be created with the standardization of time to make East-West travel a practical reality. Does this mean no clocks meant no colonization? What if the Luddites had busted clocks instead of weaving machines? Just more random thoughts. History is never that simple is it? The Chinese first invented the clock, the compass and navigated in large fleets to Western Africa. No raping, pillaging or colonization. Well, there were ... read more

Took a flight on the London Eye - the new Giant Ferris Wheel on the Thames by Waterloo Station and opposite Westminster. It's built like a giant bicycle wheel and offers great panoramic views, as you can see from the photos. The Eye was constructed as a temporary structure for the Millennium (minus one) celebrations. It's life has been extended for a few years. Maybe it'll become a permanent part of London's skyline. Just like that large metal thingy in the centre of Paris which also started life as a temporary exhibit for the Paris exhibition. Yes, that thing the visiting Germans contemplated making into tanks in WWII.... read more

Got to Trafalgar square where we were surprised by all the Canadian flags. It was Canada Day! So we stayed and celebrated Canada Day at Trafalgar Square with Bison burgers and Canadian country music from Saskatchewan. The large crowd was mostly Canadians. Couldn't have planned a better end to the day. Oh ... The Canadian embassy is at Trafalgar Square - that's probably why the party was there. ... read more

Arrived in London at Waterloo Station. N.. got tickets for the wrong train and we ended up on the slow, stop at every station train, instead of the express train from Reading. It took almost 2 hours instead of the expected ½ hour trip to Paddington station. But, Waterloo station meant we had a better tube connection to our hotel. We didn't have to change tubes carrying our luggage. Yup. Every silver lining comes with a cloud.... read more