Sunday, March 17, 2013

London, A Pictorial: Night Pictures, British Museum, & the British Library


(You can click the pictures for their original size versions.)

SUNDAY
By 8:00pm (Saturday), we were finally on the plane headed from DFW to London Heathrow! We were so crazy lucky that we had the middle 3 seats of the 5-seat center, and the two aisle seats were empty!!! :) 



We got to London via the Heathrow Express train at Paddington Station. The first thing we did on arrival was dump our stuff at our hotel just a block from Victoria Station. Off to a hop-on bus tour!


Yes, we were the only ones brave enough (read 'dumb enough') to sit on the top deck. :) 

At some point we realized this bus was stopping too frequently for us to make it to the organ concert at Westminster Abbey that evening, so we hopped off the bus and figured out which Tube lines would get us to the Westminster stop. As we climbed the steps from the Underground, our eyes were met with this:


.AMAZING.

We walked from Parliament across the street to Westminster. This is the side entrance near the high altar. Freezing, we joined the crowd gathering at the south entrance (main) for the organ recital. No pictures were allowed inside the abbey, but I was emotionally moved.


For dinner our first night, we found a pub called the Jugged Hare and indulged in their specialty - pies. Mine was the closest and was filled with duck, port, and cranberries. SO delicious! 

Off for some night pictures!

I call this one "Leaning Tower of Elizabeth". I'm not sure how I took this so crooked... While the clock might be called Big Ben, the tower is actually the Elizabeth Tower, renamed in honor of her Diamond Jubilee.

My new lens had some serious zoom power.



Some of the stained glass.
Look super close at the 4th martyr from the left.



By this point, my fingers were too cold to function any more, 
so we took the Tube back to our hotel and slept hard.


*****************************************************************************

MONDAY

 Monday we started the day with a trip to the British Museum. From the moment I fell in love with mummies 20 years ago, I have wanted to visit the British Museum, but getting to do so in the snow was even better! We seemed to be the minority excited about the weather.











Dude! That's the real Rosetta Stone! 


 The ceiling of the British Museum

 side trip to King's Cross Station!!!

 A trip to the British Library (no pictures inside...) showed us Handel's Messiah, a Gutenberg Bible, and one of the only 4 remaining copies of the Magna Carta with King John's actual seal! 

And we ended our first full day with a tea service at Harrod's, 
quite possibly the coolest department store ever!


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