A very touristy day in London

After finally getting enough sleep in the right time zone, we started off Day 4 fairly early. We had extra motivation to get moving since the Changing of the Guard was at 11:00. In the winter, the ceremony is only done on every other day, so it was now or never. I had actually seen the Changing of the Guard many years ago on my very first day in London. (We were all terribly jetlagged but our tour guide had her plan -- 3 or 4 different vantage points for viewing the ceremony with runs through the park in the middle so we could time it just right.) For this visit, Matthew and I just picked one viewing point and stayed put. We actually were able to get very close to the fence and had a decent vantage point. Unfortunately, we really didn't know what was going on and I didn't really remember much from that tour guide 10 years ago. Still, it was fun to see the pomp and circumstance. And now we can compare and contrast with the changing of the guard ceremony we happened to see during our trip to Madrid the previous year.

One thing I definitely didn't remember from my previous Changing of the Guard experience was the choice of music that we heard. At one point the guard band was playing show tunes, including one from "My Fair Lady" and "That's Entertainment."





Keeping with the more touristy theme of this day's adventures, we trooped off to the British Museum. I honestly didn't remember much from my previous visit to the British Museum years ago, but it seemed like a good tourist destination. It turns out the fact that I didn't remember anything but the Rosetta Stone should have been a tipoff that this wasn't a must-see on my list. The British Museum isn't necessarily things that are British, but rather are things that the British have collected through many centuries of being a world power. There's a lot of ancient stuff (mummies from Egypt, statues from Greece, pottery from Africa) and quite frankly much of the ancient history stuff at museums doesn't do much for me. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has quite a bit of this type of stuff, too, and I'm not educated enough on the topic to tell you that the British Museum's collection has better ancient stuff than what's right here in town.

So we skipped much of the museum and focued on the highlights. Of course we sought out the Rosetta Stone which was pretty impressive to see in person and to think about what it meant for our understanding of ancient languages and cultures. As we wandered a bit through Greece, we came upon something called the Nereid Monument. I don't recall anything about the historical significance of this specific monument, but what struck both of us was the fact that it was motly reconstructed, right there in the museum. Most of what you see of ancient Greek temples are pieces of the columns or sculptures, but not the whole temple.

We also wandered through the Parthenon Galleries. Of course I recognized the Parthenon as an important Greek ruin, but I didn't immediately realize that a large part of the Parthenon was in London. And I really didn't remember a "Parthenon Gallery" from my previous visit to the museum. Once in the gallery, it looked awfully familiar. Turns out I knew it by the politically incorrect name of the Elgin Marbles.

I think my favorite part of the museum was actually not an exhibit but a part of the museum building itself. In the middle of an atrium or interior courtyard that connects several older buildings is the impressive Reading Room. I have no idea how large the collection is compared to other libraries or reading rooms (certainly it isn't the largest) but to see that many books in one room (3 or 4 levels of books all the way around the round room) was impressive. It was just generally beautiful architecture!



Our final tourist destination of the day was Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms. During WWII London was, of course, heavily bombed within the city and people sought cover wherever they could, including Tube stations. Churchill's cabinet had an entire office complex and bunker underneath some government buildings near Parliament and that complex is now a museum. Much of the museum is largely as it was left at the end of the war, so you can see maps of battles and supply routes, memos, and other authentic hints into what it must have been like. Having never been in a war area, I don't think I'll ever comprehend what it's like to have bombs overhead and trying to lead a country through that, but it was a fascinating look into that part of history.

On our way back to the Tube station from the museum, we walked right past Parliament and I finally saw a decent Christmas tree. Trying to take a photo of it really doesn't do it justice, but I loved that festivity, especially since the city's tree in Trafalgar Square wasn't up yet.





We wrapped up the day with yet another evening at the theatre, this time seeing Solid Gold Cadillac. Since this was a Saturday night, there were fewer choices at the ticket booth, but we thought this one sounded interesting. It was starring Patricia Routledge, most famously known as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC TV show "Keeping Up Appearances." She was good in the play and it was nice to see a non-musical for variety, but overall it wasn't my favorite of our theatre this year. I guess that just goes to show that you can't trust the big names. Last year we saw a play starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith and were very much looking forward to it. Although both of them were good, the play itself was quite boring and I can't even remember the name of it. I think we'll keep picking random offshoots for our theatre adventures as that tends to go better for us and our taste.