Going to London I was really interested in seeing two things: Anything royal and really old stuff. I have very specific interests, and by the end of the trip I got all I could have asked for and more.
The day we arrived, June 11th, also happened to be the queen’s official birthday celebration day. As soon as we had our bags at our hotel we took the tube over to Buckingham Palace—never mind that I hadn’t slept a wink for over 28 hours and worked the day before. We met with some friends and then this happened:
Still can’t see it? Here’s the same picture zoomed in.
That would be the entire royal family. Talk about a bucket list moment. Kate and William are on the far left, the queen is in blue behind the lantern standing next to Charles and Camilla. Should we be concerned that I could make them all out 1000 feet away when they were the sized of ants? My obsession knows no bounds.
The next day we left London on a trip that included a stop at Stratford. Stratford’s claim to fame is that it’s the birthplace of Shakespeare, and this was his house. It was very pretty even in the pouring rain, though I can’t imagine how it must have been in the 16th century without heating or power.
We also visited Oxford, specifically Christ’s Church, or “the place that inspired Hogwarts.” Oxford was so impressive it made me consider those two forbidden words: Grad school. The campus was something special for sure. A friend of mine is attending in the Fall; I’m incredibly jealous and wonder if I can sneak into her luggage.
The next day involved a quick trip to the British Museum. Even though I was only there for a mere 50 minutes, I managed to take more pictures than I did at any other attraction. It was like stepping in to one of my textbooks, and I was home. Among the most impressive collections was the Parthenon friezes. I’m sure this interests few people other than me so I’ll shut up and move on.
And then there was also the Rosetta Stone, which I got a picture of myself standing next to. How geeky is that? The stone has on it the same law written in three languages: Ancient Greek, a spoken form of Egyptian, and hieroglyphics. Before its discovery historians had no clue how to translate hieroglyphics, but then this stone combined with a knowledge of ancient Greek helped to crack the code. How cool is that? It sounds like something straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.
But my favorite part of the whole trip was visiting Stonehenge. The whole experience is hard to capture in words. Being there you get a sense of how awe-inspiring the structure is, and how complex a crafted ring of stones can be. It’s crazy to think this was ancient by the time the Romans invaded Britain and found it. Of course I wanted to go to the center and search for the secret chamber that holds the Pandorica but that part is closed off to visitors.
Have you been to London? What was/would be your favorite part?
Beautiful scenery and photos on London! Haven’t been YET 🙂
I’m glad you had a great time! I’ve never been to London but I think my favorite part would be the really touristy stuff 🙂 (and the food obviously – which is my favorite part of traveling to any new place)!
GREAT shot of the Royal Family – wow. knowing you went there on no sleep makes me feel better about staying up for the wedding.
this geek loves the Rosetta Stone too!
Shakespeare AND Kate Middleton? You just had my dream vacation 🙂
You know, I’ve never been to London but would LOVE to go! I loved your post yesterday, desserts 🙂 And this one too. Great recap of it…and I know you really wanted to go back to London and happy you did just that!
Thanks for the bday wishes on my site earlier today too 🙂
Oh my gosh, I didn’t know you were going to London! (been on the road, out of loop)
I mostly grew up in London, and I did my undergraduate at Oxford, so those were some super-evocative pics. I’m so glad you went and saw the Rosetta Stone–an inspiration for sure, and the Parthenon Frieze. Oh, and Stonehenge. One of my favorite places. Damn right about those old buildings with no electricity, though–even with mod cons they’re hard to heat!
I don’t think I would have been ready to go to Oxford for undergrad since I wanted somewhere local, but now I’m at a place where I would LOVE to spend a semester there or even try a graduate program. I got the sense that they have a deep respect for the older studies. It would be refreshing to not have someone immediately say “and what are you going to do with that?” every time I tell them my major.
I hope that you explore the idea. Yes, the ‘older studies’ haven’t been forgotten as the university’s historical backbone: until surprisingly recently, you had to get a degree in Classics or Theology before you could do anything else! It might have changed since I was there, but when I was here, Classics was definitely held in high regard… Great, authentic Indian (or Brit-Indian, did you know the Balti was invented in Birmingham UK?) food there too.
In terms of non-food, my favourite parts of visiting London last year were the tour of The Tower, as our guide was hilarious and amazing and yelled at everyone and it was glorious, and seeing The Habit of Art at the theatre 🙂
Either they’re all that way or we had the same tour guide. He totally made that hour fly by.
Mine was Bill: http://wayfaringchocolate.com/2010/02/19/in-which-i-discover-a-desire-to-darn-a-mans-frock/ 🙂
Aww, I had Dave
Clearly they’re all awesome then. This makes me happy inside.
I spent a semester in London in college and I was obsessed with the gift shop at the London Tube Museum. Totally random, but they had the best stuff, old tube posters and such.
I’m so glad you got to go to London! My trips there were some of my favorites-looks like the we had the same itinerary, although I didn’t get to see any royalty!
I haven’t been to London, but I’m studying abroad there next summer! I can’t wait, but I am kind of concerned about the food. I eat similarly to you (except not gluten-free), so I’ll probably end up cooking for myself a lot. Did you see any farmer’s markets?
There was actually one by our hotel on the day we left. I didn’t see it personally but my parents who passed by told me about it.
I am just catching up on all of your adventures… So glad you had a fantastic time and I am pretty jealous that you were able to make it to Stratford. That is on my bucket list for sure! We will have to chat soon, I want to know how your job is going!
So many things in common! So funny!
One of my all time favorites was Stonehenge too. It boggles my mind to think that Stonehenge was ancient when the Romans came around. To be around so much history made me giddy. 😀 I went there on the 13th. What day did you go?
We were there the 14th!
Did you see the Temple of Athena Nike in the Greek/Roman Antiquities Department? They removed the entire frieze from the temple and took it to the museum, when you visit the Acropolis there’s a fake!
I saw a complete temple, so it must have been that one. I just couldn’t get over wondering how they got it all there.