London

London

In August, Brent traveled to London to work in the Starbucks UK offices for several days and I got to tag along. I had such a fabulous time poking around the city on my own! Of course, travel is ALWAYS better with my wonderful husband, but I think it's good to explore on your own too sometimes. The last time I was in London was 15 years ago, as a junior higher so I was definitely ready for a refresher visit. Here are some my highlights:

We flew in the Sunday before so Brent got a chance to do a little sightseeing with me. We wandered Portobello road and Notting Hill, while popping into antique shop. My bought a pair of silver sugar tongs- what can I say? I love my afternoon tea!

We had beautiful weather for strolling London's fashionable neighborhoods!

London has such a fun, funky vibe that I think compliments its grandiose history. We chuckled over this particular bit of graffiti.

Known as “the local” London is filled with quirky, one of a kind pubs. They have a fascinating history and each one has a unique décor. I learned that signs have hung outside public houses since 1393 by the decree of King Richard II. As most citizens at that time were illiterate, names that could be easily illustrated were chosen, such as the Rose & Crown.

The Great Detective even has his own pub, which is not located at 44 Baker Street as you might think, but on Northumberland St where Doyle's best story was set- The Hounds of Baskervilles.

I kept a running list of all the unusual pubs names I came across- Fox & Anchor, Lamb & Flag, The Sun in Splendor, Crown & Anchor, Old Pack Horse, The Ship & Shovel and my personal favorite- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese!

I loved visiting the Shakespearean theatre as it’s a perfect replica of the theatre that the Bard worked in from 1598 to 1611. It’s essentially a wooden O without a roof.

During Shakespeare's lifetime, London's population doubled and theatre was THE entertainment for everyone. Thousands visited theatres every day in the 17th century and most theatres performed a different play each afternoon. It cost 1¢ to see the show from the open air area in front of the stage, there the groundings would stand the entire time. Though the idea of "seeing the show" is a little bit of a misnomer are there were no props and the costumes in the same play might be from completely random time periods. The words were what told the story. It probably didn't help that a nobleman coming late to the show would walk directly in front of the actors on stage and wave to his friends while going to his seat. :)

It would have been sacrilegious to come to London and not visit the British Museum. Through savvy acquisition and controversial plundering from it’s days as an empire, the British Museum documents the story of human culture from its very beginning. Being so overwhelming, I focused on the Egyptian collection as the British Museum has the world's largest collection of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt. In fact, they can only display 4% of their pieces at any given time.

Ramesses II erected more statues of himself than any other Egyptian King and had no problem removing the name of his predecessors from temples and statues and adding his own name instead.

After reading about the most recent controversy surrounding the Parthenon Marbles, I was curious to see their condition. The Parthenon was built over 2,500 years ago in Athens as a temple. Over the centuries it suffered greatly from re-purposing as a church, a mosque and from war. At the beginning of the 1800's the British Ambassador to that area removed half of the remaining sculptures and took them back to England. The Greeks have been very vocal about asking for their return. Of course, England has no intention of giving them up.

A small section of marble panels that ran along the outside of the Parthenon walls

My most unusual museum was definitely the Petrie Museum. It’s a quiet, seemingly overlooked museum with some 80,000 Egyptian objects. There is an atmosphere of academia there- which is a polite way of saying it's a tad dusty and musty. Recently I've taken a genuine interest in Egyptian archeology and this museum was the personal collection of Professor William Flinders Petrie, the greatest Egyptian archeologist.

I couldn't find the museum listed in any guidebooks and even armed with an address and map it was hopeless. I ended up popping into a book shop where they practically walked me to the door. The entrance was so obscure I doubt I could have found it without them. After winding my way through a working university science building I came to a very nondescript door that led to two rooms- that was the museum.

It was like those antique shops that are crammed full with small objects behind glass cases. The lights in the rooms were dimmed to protect the objects, so you needed to grab a complimentary flashlight to shine on cases you were interested in viewing! Despite it's lackluster presentation, they do have the world’s oldest dress dating from 2800 BC. Its essentially a tunic. Quite an unexpected experience, but cool in a geeky sort of way.

To round off my cultural education I also visited the museum at the British Library, where I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of important historical documents. It's incredibly powerful viewing the Magna Carta, a Gutenberg Bible from 1455, hand written lyrics from the Beatles, Leonardo da Vinci's notebook and Shakespeare’s first folio from 1623. I treasured most seeing some of Jane Austen’s books written in her own hand.

One requires refreshments after all these intellectual pursuits! I had afternoon tea in the Orangerie at Kensington Gardens. Cucumber sandwiches, cake and a pot of tea is the height of indulgence for me! Brent likes to tease me that I am his olde-timey girl, because I absolutely love refined traditions like afternoon tea. Its so civilized!

I fell in love with London! Listening to the original Westminster chimes, taking in a piano concert at St. Martin in the Fields and of course riding the tube every morning with the commuters only further enthralled me. London is truly the greatest city in the world. The amount of History is mind-blogging as it's been a major city for two millennia and has shaped the human experience like no other place on earth. It has been said "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life for there is in London all that life can afford.'" I, for one, cannot wait to go back!