Miles of walking

Wednesday was a day of walking. In the end, we walked about seven miles, not counting ambling around the Tate Modern and the Tower of London. When I write it out, it doesn't seem like a lot - plenty of people run more than that for exercise in an hour, but over the course of the whole day and while wandering around, it can do quite a number on your feet.

We walked from our hotel to Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, and from there along the Victoria Embankment to the Tate Modern. We thought a walk along the river would be nice, but between the exhaust from the cars and buses on the busy road and the exhaust from the ships on the river, it wasn't the most enjoyable, at least for breathing. Very picturesque if you didn't have to inhale.

The cafe in the Tate Modern.
Once we arrived at the Tate Modern it had been a while since breakfast, so we enjoyed a mid-morning snack in the cafe. It has a nice view of the Thames and I think the decor is done well (all of the Tate Modern is amazing in my mind - it can do no wrong). After "elevenses" (which I believe we actually had at 10:30am) we explored the museum.

The Tate is free, but there are certain exhibitions that you have to pay for - we decided to skip those two but we saw every other piece of art in that museum. After several hours of meandering through the museum, we went to the bar and restaurant on the top floor and each enjoyed a beverage.

The view from the Tate Modern bar.

After the Tate, we walked across the Millennium footbridge to get to St. Paul's Cathedral, which we explored for a bit. From there, we made our way to the Tower of London and spent a lot of time there. As with the Tate Modern, we saw everything we could: the crown jewels, the special exhibit on Henry VIII, the White Tower (the original "Tower" started by William the Conqueror in 1078) and many of the other towers (Bloody, Wakefield, etc).

The view from the Tate bar reflected in my wine.

A common discussion Chris and I have when visiting different sites is how they choose to present these places for the visitors (I believe the technical name for this is "heritage interpretation" - I learned about it when volunteering at the Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site and was actually given a free copy of Freeman Tilden's Interpreting Our Heritage. Never got around to reading it, though...) I think the Tower of London is a great historic site and as a European history buff, I really enjoyed visiting, but at times it seemed like the way they set up the site was a bit cheesy. I suppose it is aimed a bit toward children who are force-marched through by their parents, but I felt like it detracted a bit from the historical significance of the place.

Thursday was our final day in London and we had a few things left that we really wanted to do. London is a tough city to see in such a short period of time, but since we have both been there before there were some sites we skipped.

Chris in Hyde Park.

We started our last day by walking a few miles through Hyde Park on our way to the British Library. Once at the British Library (great website, by the way: http://www.bl.uk/), we got to see a few things that might interest someone who has described themselves as a European history buff: a Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta, pages from DaVinci's notebook, the Codex Sinaiticus, a lot of Shakespeare, and so on and so forth. I knew the Magna Carta was there and that was my main reason for wanting to visit, but I was very excited to see many other very important and unique documents. I got to see Jane Austen and Sylvia Plath's handwriting (Jane Austen's draft of Persuasion was there, a book I love and have read several times - I have also seen three movie/TV versions of it! Sylvia Plath's draft of Insomniac was exhibited - she had very unique/distinct handwriting. It made me think about handwriting as personality evaluation, and her life and how she met her end).

In addition to having a great collection, the British Library is a very nice building. I didn't find the outside too spectacular, but I thought the interior was very nice. Prince Charles, however, is not a fan (or of modern architecture in general). He said the reading room looks like a secret police academy. (what does that even mean?)

Chris and his beer at lunch.

After the British Library, lunch and then a brief reprieve from sightseeing, we headed to the London Eye. Earlier the previous day, I had commented while crossing the Millennium footbridge that my mom probably wouldn't like walking across it. This has sort of become a theme in the trip, where either Chris or I will say "Mom wouldn't like this" (except she isn't Chris' mother, so to be precise he would say "your mom wouldn't like this"). Well, Mom, you REALLY wouldn't like being on the London Eye. It was quite a spectacular view and I (of course) took many photos during our "flight."

London Eye

When we got off the London Eye, we headed to meet a family friend, Sam, and his girlfriend Lucy. We had a few beers, then realized we were quite hungry, so the four of us headed in search of food. We somehow ended up at the "Loco Mexicano." Chris and I probably eat Mexican food about four times a week, so this was kind of an interesting prospect- Mexican food much further from Mexico than normal for us. And ok, I'll admit, Mexican food in Berkeley may not be 100% authentic, but it is pretty darn good. Maybe it was the several beers, but I thought the food was ok. Chris wasn't as kind, but either way, we got fed. It was a fun evening regardless of if the food was the best it could be.

Sam and Lucy at the "Loco Mexicano."