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Allison and Mom headed out early to The
British Library and the British
Museum. For Lisa and myself, we started the on the Original
London Sightseeing Tour. Our bus was very full, but after a
while, we managed to get the front row seat upstairs. The bus
takes you by all the famous places in London, such as Westminster
Abbey, Parliament, Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, and Hyde Park.
Near the London Eye, our bus broken down and we had to transfer to
another bus. To get the our walking tour, we hopped off near the
National Art Gallery and zoomed over the Russell Square on the
tube.
Lisa looking cool |
Parliament |
The London Eye |
Trafalgar Square |
Wesminster Abbey |
Our tour guide for the 'Old University Quarter' walking tour
was Kim. Both Lisa and I agreed she was one of our favorite
guides. Here is a description from their website:
Full gush mode for
this one. It's Disneyland for grownups.The university
quarter itself is a patchwork quilt - London doesn't come any more
higgledy piggledy. Which means the walk is right down the alley -
so to speak - of what everyone loves about London Walks: it
gets you into nooks and crannies that you wouldn't find off your
own bat. But it pushes the envelope. Because we're not just
out on the street - we're going into buildings to see
several of the university's "collections". More than
see them - we'll get a curator-guided tour of cabinets of
curiosities, many of them extinct or endangered species: a
Dodo, a Tasmanian Tiger, the stuffed body of a famous philosopher,
the world's first calendar, the world's oldest (papyrus) wills,
etc. It's like beetling around in an enchanted forest, coming upon
a clearing...and finding a cromlech! But be careful - be
very very careful - because this one comes with a whale in the
bathtub!
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After dinner, Allison and I went on a 'Haunted London' walking
tour. Although it was interesting, I think I would have preferred
either of the other tours available that evening. The tour had
many interesting stories, but nothing which tied them all
together. Unfortunately, it rained on us the entire time. Here is
a description:
It's blue dusk.
Feeding time. Time to pierce the veil which hides the future after
death. The time when rooftop cats look down - their eyes green
as ringstones - and see things that maybe we shouldn't see.
Down here in the creepiest part of London...in alleyways so narrow
you can't open an umbrella in them. And so old they're cobwebbed
with time. And cobwebbed with something else too. Cobwebbed with
events that occurred long ago - events that under certain
conditions can again "become dynamic". So when
you see the unholy Trinity - and you will see it - and when silver
dragons leer at you - and they will - and if you hear footsteps up
a deserted alleyway - or voices of persuasion that whisper in the
darkness - or catch a glimpse of a hooded, staring transparent
figure - congratulations - you've just fed a haunting.
It'll be back. And one day...so will you. Now who's for a
really cozy pub? |
