October 7, 2022 The highlight of the day was visit to a most interesting museum.
Another day, another amazon package.
In the US we have detours, over here they are diversions.
The title of this book of poetry nails what the Soane Museum is all about. We had visited many years ago and decided it was time for a return visit.
The entrance to the museum which was the house Sir John Soane lived in. It was willed to British government with the proviso it be kept exactly as it was at the time of his death.
While Linda, of course, is the best thing about this photo, the use of a thistle anywhere you can sit in the museum goes along with the somewhat oddball nature of the museum.
Sir John Soane used his collections in his residence as a teaching tool for his students.
I remembered this missing weapon display from the last time we ere here. I likely took a similar photo and posted it that time. The pistol was stolen by robbers in 1969, but the joke was on them as the pistol was actually a fake.
A gallery of a few of the things we saw. Think of a maze on multiple floors and you get an idea of what it is like. The portrait is of Sir John Soane. Ad the museum is free of charge so even if you visit and don’t care for it, you are out nothing but a little time. Plus nearby is another interesting place to visit.
The museum faces Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the largest public square in London and dates from the 1630’s. We walked through it to see if we recognized where Time Team dug a trench in one of their episodes. There is a lot of history that took place here in the past.
A gate to Lincoln’s Inn. Think Barristers (lawyers), Judges and all things legal. Below are a few photos of some interesting details.
Then there those interesting beasts I really like.
It takes a special person to wear a hat like this.
We are staying in an interesting neighborhood.
Real women wear hats that are practical.
Look like what I found just a couple of blocks away. One for him and one for her. Just kidding, really, just kidding. One is what happens to him if he calls her the other.
October 6, 2022 Another day, another play, plus an unanticipated, but great meal. Still working on making these posts shorter.
My conscience has gotten the best of me. Yesterday I chose not to write about something. The fact I made a complete mess of our journey to the theater where Come From Away was playing. My sole job is to get us to the theater on time.. It was another short easy walk to the theater, or at leas it should have been. It was a case of going left when I should have gone right, not once but twice. Let me just say that when I realized we were almost to Leicester Square, when we should have been a long way from there, Linda let me know just how unhappy with me she was. In the end all was well as far as I was concerned as we arrived with plenty of time for Linda to get her gin and tonic.
The photo is not from yesterday, it does however illustrate how easy it is in London to always know where you are. Up above each of the red trucks is a sign, note the red bas and black lettering in the white background. That is the name of the street heading off into the distance, and every intersection has those signs. I had no excuse. According some of the words Linda was uttering when we were approaching the theater it is obvious if I value certain parts of my anatomy, that situation will never, ever occur again.
Today, for the first time, we used the underground to travel to the theater. Of course I had to once again incur the wrath of she who has put up with her idiot husband for almost 55 years. I got off at the wrong underground station even though she was telling me it was the wrong station. For the life of me I can’t explain why i did it other than I had a death wish. Since I am writing this, obviously that did not come true, But for a few minutes standing on the platform, I made sure to have my back up against the station wall so there was no chance of anything happening. A happy camper she definitely wasn’t., but a very lucky man I was.
Today’s play. We later decided this was our 5th time seeing it over the years.
Just as almost always, 6th row back from the stage, and near the center. We know the seats we like.
I know what long time readers are thinking. That is Linda’s double gin and tonic she always has, but what is that other drink and who is drinking it. After today’s near brush with death at the Covent Garden Underground station, I decided I needed something to “calm me down”. For the life of me I can not say why I ordered something I have never had before and didn’t even like when I tasted it, a double Jack and soda. Oh, I do know why I ordered the double, I don’t really like Jack Daniels and I absolutely don’t like soda water. I can only chalk it up to the recent near death experience still affecting my cognitive abilities. All I can say is, Never Again. For messing out our travel to the theater and drinking that awful concoction.
Selfie. You can tell I am still in shock. Linda has that twisted evil smile knowing the next time I do it will definitely be the last time.
The stalls bar. I should have gone with a double, double Glenlivet. A note about the play. This was a revival of the original play we had seen of previous trips to London. Trying to be kind I will say it wasn’t very good. The actor playing Frankie Valli was okay singing with the group, but by himself, and especially acapella it was bad. The female singing “My Boyfriend is Back” was to put it nicely, atrocious. We’ve seen some bad plays during the years and this one was up there among them due to the actors, not the play itself. I must say the band did an excellent job, to bad the singers didn’t match them.
The theater was just off Trafalgar Square. If you don’t know why the square is so named and a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson towers over it, those two name are worth looking up as the history of the world might have been completely different. Parlez-vous français ?
Nothing special about this photo other than there is just just something about London that reaches into my soul. It is truly one of the world’s great cities and we love every minute that we spend here. (Even if I do sometimes get us lost.)
I think in these posts I failed to mention our Life guide, Sara N. Dippity. Walking back from the theater ( took a wrong turn and we missed the Underground station, but actually walking was just as quick as taking the Underground) we passed a Pizza Hut and Linda said we should have a pizza for dinner. We both agreed the garbage Pizza Hut serves was not what we had in mind, when just a few doors later we happened on an Zizzi’s. Zizzi’s is one of those places that grew from a single pizza place over twenty years ago to some 130 restaurants in the UK and Ireland today. It is the only place we eat pizza in the UK because they do pizza right.
Crispy thin crusts with a good helping of toppings. No deep dish or thick crust crap here, Linda went vegetarian, I went goat cheeses with caramelized onions and we both went out the door and back to the apartment very, very happy. By the way, their pasta crisps show in the first photo are out of this world.
October 5, 2022 Of course it only took a day for me to backtrack on my attempts to slim down my posts. Certain things we see will do that.
We usually try to go The Museum an hour or so after it opens, but today we joined the throngs in the long line on the sidewalk to get in.
It truly is one of the world’s great museums.
And it is great in more ways than one.
You can’t just walk up all 72 steps at once as there are exhibits everywhere in the museum.
Someday, somehow we will get her one.
With our upcoming trip to Egypt, we spent some time in the Egyptian rooms.
Containers that held the internal organs of the mummies.
The vessel with the conical top is an Egyptian wine “bottle”. The marks on the conical top are the equivalent of today’s wine labels. Grapes did not grow in Egypt, so the grapes/wines were imported.
We walked through several over rooms on our way out of the museum.
The world famous Sutton Hoo. We have watched several YouTube videos over the years produced by the museum, so this was a real treat to see it in person.
The Lewis Chessmen hold a special place in our hearts. The first learned about them several years ago during a trip to Scotland where they were discovered in 1831 in a hoard buried in a sand bank.
She who walks up 72 steps must also walk down.
Back again to see this wonderful play.
The set may be minimalist, but the play delivers maximum impact.
A good selfie on my first attempt today.
We call it guitar street, but actually is Demark Street.
It’s not just looking at the classic guitars in the windows, it’s also hearing the sounds of guitars being played before buying in the different stores. To us it not just a street, it is an experience, which is why we travel.
October 4, 2022 A little different post for today.
Looking down from the bedroom window in our apartment we can see the food prep area of the small café across the alleyway. They only are open for breakfast and lunch.
Our favorite eating premises, it has been around on this corner for over 800 years. They have a pamphlet describing the history of the White Hart and the immediate area. For example, Karl Marx and Freidrich Engles lead discussions and seminars in large room at the rear of the building. Born in 1650 in the lane behind the White Hart (which is where our apartment is located) was Nell Gwyn who became the mistress of King Charles II.
Someone is happy!
My kind of pub food.
While eating we able to observe this strange custom the English appear to have. After eating they position themselves on the floor and stretch. We guessed it was to provide room for dessert.
Just because we are in England doesn’t mean we can’t order needed items from Amazon. The post office a minute away from the apartment is a pickup location for Amazon deliveries.
Most every day is a play day, This was today’s. We really like the location we are staying at as we have been able to walk to every play we have seen in 10 minutes or less.
This was a two man play with plenty of scary effects. It also included a ghost (The Woman in Black) who would appear at times. Then it was over and the two actors took their bows, the ghost never appeared to take a bow which we thought fit in very nicely with what the paly was all about. Did the character known as the actor really see a ghost or was it just his imagination.
Linda’s gin and tonic (after she drank it).
As always, our theater selfie.
Getting that selfie isn’t always easy. My first attempt.
Second attempt. The third time was a charm.
At Linda’s suggestion we stopped at the Quik Shop down the street from the apartment on our way back from the theater and look what they had in the cooler. My favorite.
In case anyone wondered what we bought from Amazon. A four USB outlet with US, UK, Europe and Aussie plugs. We have too many things charge with USB cables, or we had before we bought this. It works great.
October 3, 2022 Spent some time today at the British Library. Am trying shorten these posts as there is only so much time in the day and I keep falling behind in posting.
Every time we go to the Library we always seem to exit at the back side of the Kings Cross Underground station, meaning we have to walk all the way around it to get to Euston Road.
Then we always walk by St. Pancras Hotel, never going inside to look at how glorious it is inside as well as outside.
The British Library building is not what one expects since many of the famous buildings in London were built so very long ago.
Our destination. This is one of those places we visit every time we are in London.
The oldest surviving copy of the Magana Carta.
Another very early copy of the Magna Carta with the complete Royal Seal attached.
Ornate bible written in two languages with gold highlights,
One of the first English bibles. The church wouldn’t allow English bibles to be printed in England so they were printed in Germany. This copy belonged to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII., Anne Boleyn was executed by beheading three years after her marriage to Henry.
We are avid viewers of the British TV series, Time Team which is available on YouTube. In many of the archeological dig the team is shown consulting old maps to help determine what was where. This is a map of the type they use and dates from the late 1600’s.
The lighting is very low in the gallery and with some exceptions, the Beatles exhibit being one of them, photography is allowed with no flash.
Michelangelo did not just start chipping away at a chunk of marble. He extensively studied human anatomy and the results show the effort it takes be a genius at something.
Shakespeare’s First Folio.
Of the millions of books in the Library, Linda found one she liked best in the bookstore.
It is always amazing how fast the underground trains come into the stations.
The Piccadilly Line is known as a deep line. It takes two levels of extremely long escalators to go down to the tracks or up to the surface.
