London Day 3-5

I have been too busy walking around all day everyday, to enter into my blog.

Day 3

On Wednesday, Rebecca and I went to The Natural History Museum. It was huge and beautiful, but
full of kids and strollers. We had to wait in a really long queue to even get inside, and then another queue to see the dinosaur area. Although it was beautiful and held a lot of interesting information, it is definitely a place for children more so then adults. I did get to see a huge fetus though.

From there we went to the British Museum, which is also very beautiful. It has an amazing Egyptology wing! It blows the MET out of the water in that department. All the artifacts they have are amazing. I even got to see the mummy of Cleopatra. The museum is massive, and is easy to get lost in. It is definitely something to check out whenever you are in London.

After that we headed over to the South Bank where we walked along the Thames and saw The Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and the Millennium Bridge (yes the one that gets blown up in the Harry Potter movie). After all that walking we ended up in a posh pub with some hot chocolate and mulled wine. We had an amazing dinner at a friend and colleague's house of Rebecca's father. He has an amazing view of the Thames and made an amazing 5 course vegetarian dinner with lots of wine and spirits.

Day 4

Thursday I headed out on my own to hit up the three museums that cost a good amount of cash to get into. I started at the Westminster Abbey where I got to see the graves of Henry VIII, Jane Seymore, Elizabeth I, and Mary I, among others. I also got to see the amazing architecture inside, and all the little hidden alcoves and rooms. It is a site to see.

I then headed to Tower of London. I started out with a tour by a Yeoman Warden. It was a bit kitschy but it was informational. The tour was great because we got to go into the chapel where Anne Boleyn, and Thomas More were later buried (this chapel is only open if you go on the tour). I then went into the castle that held the crowned jewels of England. There was some serious bling bling in there. It was very awesome to see crowns and scepters that close up. I got lucky though because on my way out there was a line wrapped around the Tower grounds to see the crowned jewels. I then got to see the exhibit "Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill." It was interesting to see his armor get wider and wider as he got wider and wider. I also got to see the tools they used to torture prisoners and to rip their limbs apart until they confessed. It took me two hours to go through the tower and I am sure I didn't see everything.

I then headed to St. Paul's Cathedral with its beautiful dome. This church is right up there with the Vatican in beauty. I climbed the 265 steps to the dome to get a closer look at the mosaics on the ceiling, and then I climbed hundreds more to get to the outside of the dome to see the sprawling view of London. It was amazing to see how big and spread out London really is. I climbed about 500 steps that day, but it was worth it.

I ended my night of exploring at Harrod's (basically the Bloomingdale's of London). It was definitely a scene. But I had to see it.

And then it was New Years Eve which Rebecca and I spent just chilling out and having some Bailey's Irish Cream as we watched the fireworks over the London Eye.

Day 5

Today was very chill. I saw Buckingham Palace, Keningston Palace, Regents Park and Abbey Road (where the Beatles recorded their Album of the same name).  I also walked around Leicster Sq. and Covent Gardens a bit more, and stopped in for some traditional savory British meat pie. Believe it or not it was pretty good, and it was topped with some "Mash." I am calling it an early night, so I can prepare to leave London tomorrow for Uganda.

I will upload some pictures from London later on tonight.... until Africa.....