Coming Home: I Forgot About This Part

I know I have more to write about my last day (and more pictures too) but I want to get this all down before the memory fades.

I was up quite late Friday night packing and cleaning.  It's amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in a week.  I was multi-tasking and trying to finish uploading pictures of my last day as well.  My last soak in the bathtub never happened.  I woke up a bit late in the morning and decided to take the Paddington Express to to the airport. It was much faster and more comfortable than The Tube (not to mention cleaner).

Getting to the terminal was interesting.  Once I got my boarding passes and checked my bags, I had the world's longest airport corridor to navigate before reaching my gate.  As it was early and I had not had my coffee, I accidentally got into the wrong seat on the airplane.  Luckily, I was only one row back where I should have been and the lady who had the seat I was in just graciously took mine.

We had just departed the gate when the airplane reversed course and pulled back.  It appears that someone on the plane took ill and we had to let them deplane.  This also meant that they had to go into the baggage hold and pull their luggage off as well.  Of course, we lost our "slot" to take off and had to wait for another one.  We were an hour and a half late taking off.

On this flight, I got to see the rest of Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows Part I and How Do You Know? Snoozed just a little in between reading my new Pride and Prejudice vampire book. Pretty uneventful...

Landed in Detroit and went through the fun that is Customs..which resulted in my missing my connecting flight (as well as about 80% of the other people on my flight as well).  So, got in another line to rebook that.  Of course, there were no more direct flights that day to Roanoke AND the only remaining flights were through my favorite airport (sarcasm note here) Atlanta.  Got that re-booked, re-checked my bag...and took my $20.00 meal voucher up to the terminal to get some lunch...which included a large beer.  Thank you Delta.

The only cool thing is that the flight from Detroit to Atlanta was almost empty.  I had a row of three seats all to myself! Finished my vampire book and landed in Atlanta, where I had to go from one end of terminal A to the train, which took me to terminal C.  ALL the way at the end of terminal C, I found my gate...then went back for some Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  Settled in at the gate and watched the board like a hawk because we all know how they like to play gate Russian roulette in Atlanta.

I had to get my new boarding pass there as I did not have a confirmed seat.  On the plane, I found out that my seat was next to the toilet, not to mention in the back row so I couldn't recline.  Silver lining is that the flight was only 55 minutes long.  Finally got to Roanoke....but the adventure did not end.

The baggage seemed to take forever to get to the baggage claim area.  Keep in mind that this is a tiny airport with one terminal, two baggage carousels, and we were on a teeny plane which wasn't that far from the baggage claim area. Of course, mine was one of the last bags off the plane.  Dragged it out to the car and loaded it up.  Got in, turned the key....

AND THE FREAKING CAR WOULDN'T START.  Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that my crackberry battery died, despite the fact that I had it turned off all week while I was using my UK phone. So I had no phone, no access to the phone numbers in my phone, no US change for a pay phone (a huge pile of British two pence though), and a buttload of exhaustion.

I was able to get enough of a charge to my phone from the car charger to pull a friends number of of the crackberry, so I headed back to the terminal.  I asked the guy at the taxi stand if he had change and he let me use his phone, but I had apparently copied the number wrong (of course).  The nice man at the taxi stand informed me that the guys at the parking area gate were in the possession of a "jump box" and could jump start my car....so out I headed again.

As my car is newfangled, it took the nice man awhile to find the battery terminals among the plastic doohickeys under the hood of the Buick.  I was happy to discover that the issue with my car only appeared to be a dead battery when we got the car to start with the jump box.  I need to think about buying a new battery now, it seems...but I will have it checked out this week.

An hour home in the dark while exhausted is a lot of fun...arrived home to a ecstatic cat and hauled in the bags.  I took a quick shower and dropped off to sleep around 1am.

Whenever I go on an extended trip, I have a nightmare trip home....

My last day - The British Museum

I think we saved the best for last.  This is going to be a photo heavy entry one and I need to get it done quickly because I really need to pack.

My two areas of focus at the museum were the Ancient Egyptian stuff and the Greek stuff.  First, Egypt

Here is my old friend King Tut

This is the famous Rosetta Stone and this is a much better photo than the last one I took.  It's in a case now and you can get closer to it.

Look! A hugenormous scarab!

A mummy with a gold leaf mask, meaning she was a wealthy and important person.

And another poor anonymous type of mummy.  Of course, not all mummies were people.

Here are some cat mummies

A couple of canopic boxes (look it up...lol).

I love these little blue hippos.  I have a pair of reproduction ones that I hang on my Christmas tree.

This is a plaster cast reproduction from the inside of a tomb.  It is painted authentically and I just thought it was awesome.

urgh...battery is dying AGAIN.  Must recharge and post the Greek stuff in a bit.

Ok, I'm back (several days later) and I have the Greek photos and a bit more

This is the special gallery where the sculptures from the Parthenon are kept...otherwise known as the Elgin Marbles.

These are from the East Pediment showing the birth of Athena

These are from the West Pediment showing the contest between Athena and Poseidon over who would become the ruler of Athens and Attica.

A metope from the East Pediment

Detail from a frieze

Of course, there was a ton of other stuff to see in the British Museum, but my camera batteries died before I could record much more of it.  Silly gift shops carry film...but no batteries.

These are some Gnathian baby feeders....in the shapes of fish and rats..

King Mausolus and his wife/sister Artemisia from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Just as I took this photo, the batteries in my camera were dying...I didn't get to take a picture of the enormous horse statue from there.

I did manage to trick it into taking one last photo.  This is an Easter Island statue (a smaller one if you know anything about the statues on Easter Island).  Then the batteries totally crapped out.

There was a lot more of the museum I saw and I have to say that I thought the King's Library section to be especially cool.  I felt like I was in a museum at the time of the Regency. I spent most of the day in the Museum and managed to make a large dent in the gift shop (as always).  I left just about closing time and got an ice cream from a truck out in front.

I then set out with my ice cream to find Forbidden Planet to check out what kind of Dr. Who and Red Dwarf goodies they might have.  I was bummed my batteries gave out or I'd have had my photo taken with the TARDIS they had in the middle of the store.  All the Dr. Who stuff was #11 with a couple of really expensive exceptions, so I got a pen with a floating TARDIS in it, a Cyberman army T-Shirt, and a couple of  other odds and ends.  I also purchased the ONLY Red Dwarf item in the store, which was a little plastic thingie with buttons that you push for the characters saying catch phrases from the show...my favorite is Ace Rimmer and his "Save me a kipper..." which I pushed several times.   This led to the guy at the till telling me about the new series coming out soon.  I joked that I was not going to hold my breath.

I got back on the tube and navigated my way back to High St. in Kensington so I could visit the Mother Ship again.  I got a couple of more packages of that stem ginger fudge...it was yummy.  I also got a couple of things for dinner and and ENORMOUS meringue for desert.  Oh, and a gift for someone....

Then back to the room to pack and clean.  Which took forever.  urgh.

Thursday and a workplace visit

So I did get to visit the office of my UK counterparts today.  Syed and Steven are both super cool guys and I found that Syed has a some software that I want want want.  After the grand tour, which took about 5 minutes, and going over what the guys do every day, Syed took Steven and I out to lunch.  We went to Pizza Hut, which I teased Syed about.

Steven is a local guy and we bumped into several people who know him, including his sister and baby niece. We went back to the office where I hung out for a few minutes and chatted with both them and Sandy before leaving. I took no photos because I wouldn't want someone to visit me at work and take photos!

I headed back to the tube and decided that I'd go to the Tower of London.  Last time, Raine and I got there too late to go in and all we got were some outside photos and the back of a Beafeater...lol.  Again, got to jump the ticket lines thanks to my London Pass.  It was a bit mobbed and late in the day, so I decided to head to Martin Tower first to see the Crown Jewels.

I got into the seemingly neverending line that, surprisingly, moved fairly quickly.  Also cool to see...a gaggle of Yeoman Warders (A.K.A Beefeaters) while I waited in the line.

Yes, that is the line behind them.  Understandably, there is no photography in the tower where the Crown Jewels are.  The room that actually holds the jewels has everything in a row of glass cases with people mover conveyor belts on each side.  I went back and rode it twice, once from each side...LOL.

After I left that tower and the gift shop, I headed over to the White Tower (it used to be whitewashed).

This is the White Tower with a bit of the old Roman Wall in front of it and the Martin Tower behind. Most recently, the White Tower was used as an armory.  It now functions as a museum

This is the other side of the White Tower, which was actually completed around 1100 and once loomed over the whole of London.

. I found this to be the most impressive suit of armor I'd ever seen.  It belonged to Henry VIII.

I particularly enjoyed this dragon.  They were playing growling dragon noises in the room.

I had to share.  If you can't tell what this is...I worry. 

Leaving the White Tower involved descending the longest circular staircase I've ever been on.  The prize at the end was the gift shop.  More souvenirs were purchased.

I then headed out to the green to meet the famous Ravens.

Apparently, they mix well with the Pigeons and have their own guard (look to the back of the Green).

Also on the green is a memorial to those who were executed here,. including Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Jane Gray

Behind this memorial is the Chapel where many of them are buried (including Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Gray)

This is the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.  It is also lovely inside and I was able to find the grave of Anne Boleyn.  Photos were not permitted.

At this point, things were winding down and the Towers were all being closed up.  I wandered back to the entrance area and found The Traitors Gate.

Last time I was here, I took a picture of the other side of the gate.  You didn't want to enter the Tower by this gate because you probably would never leave alive.

I then exited the tower and wandered down the path next to the Thames.  I got a mango sorbet from a vendor and took a photo for a nice family who wanted a picture of Tower bridge behind them.  

After a bit of a walk, and a Starbucks Frappuchino, I headed back to the tube.  Stopped off at King's road, to check out one of the main shopping meccas of this city.  It was late and most of the shops were closed, but I did manage to Locate a Lush before they locked up and I dropped some change there. Back to the Tube and Paddington.

Stopped at Marks and Spencers for some pre-prepared dinner.  It was a pasta, chicken and mushroom thing that was much better than last night's pasta.

Tonight was laundry night, which was an adventure.  Took me awhile to figure out the controls on the washer...then I found out that the dryer cycle takes two hours.  Good grief...it's now tomorrow and laundry is finally done.

It was actually pretty hot today and this place is not air conditioned so I had to take a shower before bed.  It is quite late, but I smell good because I used some of my new Lush soap.

Off to try to get some sleep.  Tomorrow I think we'll visit the British Museum.  Gotta see some mummies!

My Birthday - Part II - Glastonbury

After packing back into our minivan, we headed off to Glastonbury.  I had been especially looking forward to this part of the day because I was quite the fan of Arthurian legend back in my high school and college years.  Not only is Glastonbury a major religious center, it is also a major Arthurian site, as the supposed site of the legendary Avalon.  When I say religious center, I don't just mean Christianity...there are many Wiccans and Pagans here as well.

This is the Chalice Well.  Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea hid the Holy Grail here and it is said that the waters run red because of the blood of Christ remaining in the Grail. Nevermind that the water has a high iron content...

Water from the well flows down through a series of pools.  You can drink the water or bathe in it to take advantage of its healing powers.  This is the last of the pools and part of the gardens.  This is a place for quiet prayer and contemplation.

Next, we were off to our final stop, Glastonbury Abbey.  Reportedly, the final resting place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, it used to be the second most important abbey in England.  It was dissolved by Henry VIII when he split from the Catholic Church.  This is what is left of the main cathedral.

 

This is the remains of one of the great front towers.  Much of the stone from the Abbey  was sold and scavenged for building materials for the town itself.

This is the Lady Chapel, which sits out in front of the main cathedral.  It pre-dates the cathedral and is built on the site of the oldest part of the Abbey itself.

Detail from inside of the Lady Chapel   The stonework must have been awesomely impressive back in the day.

 

This is the site of the black marble tomb of Arthur and Guinevere.  Originally, they were buried in the cemetery next to the Lady Chapel. In 1191, the monks dug them up and placed them in a tomb on this site.  Nobody seems to know what happened to them.

This is the only remaining original building of the Abbey.  It is the Abbot's Kitchen.  At one point, it was used as a Quaker meeting house.

I finally found some gargoyles!  I loves me some gargoyles.  These two fellows were on the Abbot's Kitchen.

St. John the Baptist Church in Glastonbury.  The church tower seems to dominate this town.

We spent about 3.5 hours of free time in Glastonbury and I ended up spending most of it in the Abbey.  I kind of wanted to go up to the Tor (http://www.glastonburytor.org.uk), but lost track of time and never made it.  Guess I'll have to come back some day.

We had a 3 hour drive back and I'll admit that I snoozed a bit on the way back.  We did drive past Stonehenge which, as I mentioned, was easily seen from the road.  Bye Stonehenge!

I have to give a shout out to Anderson Tours as this was exactly the kind of day trip for me.  The driver was a nice guy who would stop, drop us off with a brief explanation of where we were and what to see, and let us wander on our own with a time to meet back at the minivan.  I gave him a very nice tip as I was very happy with the experience.

After I got back, I dropped off my stuff at the flat and thought about dinner.  All I'd had to eat all day was toast for breakfast and a piece of buttery shortbread at Stonehenge.  I briefly thought about hopping on the tube to one of the recommended places in my guidebook...but I was too tired for that.  So, I decided on the Ask Italian place 'round the corner.  As expected (every Italian place I've been to in the UK was just OK) the food was nothing special.  Thc calamari was a bit rubbery and served with an odd sauce (I'm used to marinara) and my main pasta dish was just weird.  Potatoes in my pasta, with some green beans, covered in a creamy pesto.  My birthday lemon meringue pie was good (is there such a thing as Italian lemon meringue?) but the meal was made by the cappuchino...mmmmmmmmm.  Best cappuchino I've had in years.  Oh, the wine I had with dinner was lovely too.

Well, its the next day now and I'm officially 46 years old.  It's getting late and I have to get ready to head over to see my friends at HAHR. 

Oh, side note....David Tennant is in London right now! He's promoting a new movie AND his Much Ado performance with Catherine Tate. In fact, I'm watching an interview on TV with him as I type this.  I believe they are in rehearsals right now.  So Heather, what are the chances I'll bump into him??  Hahahaha...

Happy Birthday to me! Part I

I have a ton of ground to cover here and only half a battery on the ole netbook...so let's get started. It was another lovely, warm, sunny day and I am thankful that my weather luck is holding out.  I even have a mild sunburn from the day.  Yes...a sunburn in England in the spring...weird.

I woke up at the crack of dawn (ok, not really, but 6:30) and got myself ready for the day.  I put on my new outfit that I bought yesterday and got out the door with minutes to spare.  I was supposed to get picked up at 7:45 and had instructions to be out 10 min early.  I forgot my sunglasses, but was afraid to go back in to get them...who knew they'd be 15 min late.

There were only 5 of us in this lil tour group, all Americans.  I was the old lady in the group as it appeared that the rest were in their 20's.  Our Tour Director gave us our itinerary and we were off!  It was about a 2 hour drive to our first stop Avebury where there is a HUGE stone circle with a village inside.  Once we got outside of the city, it was a lovely ride.  Spring flowers everywhere and entire fields of yellow flowers that I have to identify (they are rape flowers and the source of canola oil).

After driving down windy country roads at frightening speeds, we arrived at Avebury.  It was a lovely little town much like many others we had driven through, with one exception...the huge stones partly surrounding it.

 The road through town goes right through the circle.

 The cool thing about this circle is that you could get up close and personal with the stones

These are two of the biggest remaining stones.  Those little markers you see are where stones originally stood, but are now missing.

 Of course, there is a town in the middle of the circle.  Here is a little bit of it.  The round building is the dove cote.  Hundreds of doves lived here and supplied the manor with fresh meat in the winter months.

Here is the church.  Like many historic churches in Britain, there is still a congregation and weekly services. If you didn't know this already, I adore old churches and graveyards.  More photos upon request...LOL.

After we had all spent about 45 minutes exploring the area, we piled back into our minivan and headed to Stonehenge.  I wasn't expecting to be really impressed as several people had told me how disappointed they were.  The first thing that struck me was that the road was awfully close to it.  There is no driving down a long entryway to the visitor center...WHAM! There it is, right on the road.

 Proof that I was there.  Only one picture of me actually on this trip.  You really can't get close to the stones, but they are so HUGE that you really don't miss anything.  The thing that impressed me most was the sheer size of the stones. 

 I was pleasantly surprised at how NOT disappointed I was. It was really amazing and I'm happy I went.

Even though Avebury was larger in circumference, the stones here are larger.  I did not want to leave.

Of course, I had a field day in the gift shop.  I got a nice poster and a t-shirt proclaiming "Stonehenge Rocks!"

OK, running out of battery now, so I'd better post this.  I'll do Part II - Glastonbury tomorrow.

Day 4 - Tourist-O-Rama

The plan was actually to go to the Holiday-Rentals offices today, but my phone still hadn't been straightened out and I didn't have directions to the office yet, so I decided to postpone that until Thursday.  I got up a little late and puttered around a bit before deciding to go to visit Westminster Abbey. It was another beautiful, sunny day and I hopped on the Tube to Westminster.

Westminster Tube Station dumps you right off at the base of Big Ben's tower at the Houses or Parliament. 
I headed across Westminster bridge to get a good shot of the tower and Houses of Parliament with the rest of the tourists and got a couple of decent shots.

Of course you can also see the London Eye across the Thames too.

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Once I had my shots, I had to head back the other way, as that is where the Abbey is.  On the way I walked directly beneath Big Ben's tower which is HUGE.  I don't even know if this can even give you a vague idea of the scale of it:

 I finally got to the Abbey and it was MOBBED.  Still, I had come all this way, so I got in line. Actually, it went pretty quickly and I got my prepaid (thank you London Pass) ticket and my audio guide and set off.  Photos are not allowed in Westminster Abbey, so I can only share some exterior shots

Here are some gargoyles I saw while waiting in line.  I got to spend some quality time in the abbey and saw all of the stuff I had visited before as well as getting to see some things I had missed the first time.  I especially enjoyed spending time in the Poet's Corner, where I found Jane Austen's teeny little memorial plaque and stood over Robert Browning's remains.  The Abbey Museum was something I had missed before, with its funerary effigies of kings and queens.  There are a couple of lovely gardens where I could take photos of the flowers

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After several hours, I headed out of the Abbey...but did head into the gift shop where I got MORE Royal Wedding stuff...including the thingie I think you meant when asking for a program Patti.. I got a Christmas Ornament and a couple of official Westminster Abbey Royal Wedding souvenir pins,

By the way, the Coronation Chair is not in its usual place, but is undergoing restoration, so it is in a glass fronted room at the main entrance to the church.  The shrine of Edward the Confessor is no longer open to the public anymore either as that area has become "fragile."  Still got to check out Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots though.

Took the long walk to Trafalgar square and the National Gallery.  Finally saw Nelson's monument in the distance and I knew I was there

I had to go to the far side of the square to get to the National Gallery.  There were a bunch of buskers and street performers out front...my favorites are always the living statue dudes.

I spent a couple of lovely hours in the National Gallery.  My London Pass got me the recorded tour thingie for free, so I got to learn a lot about the paintings that appealed to me.  I spent most of my time amongst the Impressionists and discovered a new acquisition of a Monet that I really liked...a sunset water lily painting. I didn't take any photos there I think because I was so into squeezing as much into the hour or so I had left before the place closed.  Of course I hit the gift shop where I bought a mug, a magnet, and a small Van Gogh reproduction (not sunflowers).

I then hung out in Trafalgar Square for a bit...which was also undergoing renovation.  An awful lot of the city is undergoing renovation and restoration NOT for the Wedding...but for this

That is the countdown clock for the 2012 Olympics.  Although a lot was fenced off and there was no water in the fountains while they were being repaired, I did see this...

Yes, a giant ship in a bottle...Nelson would be so proud.

I then headed down Regents street. Actually, I intended to head toward Admiralty Arch and down the Mall, but got a bit confused by the incessant renovation and restoration...so I ended up on Regents.

I did detour to Carnaby St. but it was mobbed as it was past time for the shops to close and the pubs to open, so I didn't spend much time there. Stopped once to shop at an H&M where I bought myself an outfit for my birthday.. At this point my back and legs were dying.  Found the Tube station and headed home.  Prepared cheese ravioli from Marks & Spencer was dinner with the rest of my wine.

I really need to get up early as the bus arrives at 7:45am.  Yikes!  Happy Birthday to me.