Having left my ever faithful 1990 Honda Accord at home I’ve been thrust upon the mercy of the British public transport system and as they all say, they have really got public transport figured out here.

Michelle and I became quite adept at figuring out local systems. It’s all about getting unlimited go everywhere passes, reading signs, and picking up maps. Everyone here is in a hurry to get somewhere and so it’s best to step out of the way, perhaps against a wall so you can catch your breath, look around and get your bearings.

PLANE:

I realize that I don’t fly too often so I was rather impressed this last flight with the advances made in in seat entertainment, even for the Virgin flight from Seattle to LA. That and now after having hung with Michelle in the Air NZ lounge I’ve been spoiled for life. It was great to have someone to hang with on the long flight. I don’t know how Michelle managed two ‘overnight’ flights in a row. I think that tested even her travel savviness. We talked for nearly two hours then ate dinner and watched movies. We tried to sleep but it really wasn’t going to happen.

TRAIN: Directly by rrrail (name that movie)

I love trains! They are so fantastic. Over 2.5 million people here spend at least 3.5 hours a week on the train. Train stations are found in the centre of nearly every town. You can just step of the train and go exploring the town, which I’ve done in Bath, Oxford, Windsor, Marsden and Sheffield.

There are people who take commuter trains from town to town, longer trains down across the country to visit their mum and super fast international trains to Calias, Brussels and you know, Disneyland Paris.

Michelle and I bought BritRail passes which meant that for 8 days we could get on and off where ever we wanted. Our BritRail took us from Leeds to Holyhead, the length of Wales, into London and back up to Leeds.

Now that I’m here I have a discount rail card and can pick up tickets at the station before leaving. If you buy your ticket in advance you can reserve a seat otherwise the train pulls up and you hop on.

FERRY

Being from Seattle I’m no stranger to ferries but the ferry from Holy Head to Dublin is a little more than a jaunt to Kingston. It’s 3.5 hours and the ship feels like it’s part ferry, part cruise ship. They have shops, restaurants, even a little theater. But mostly I just fell into a comfy seat and slept, for about two hours. [Insert incriminating picture taken of me while I was sleeping here.] I did the same thing on trains and Michelle just couldn’t get over it. Just ask Heidi and Missi. When we were in San Diego in January the second we got in the car I was asleep. Travel wears me out.

TAXI

In Dublin and Cardiff we took taxis to our hotels and the first night in Leeds we took one to my flat. Sure we could have figured out the buses but sometimes it’s worth it to just get there. The cabbie in Dublin made fun of me, the cabbie in Cardiff complained about how they’re letting anyone get a cab license these days! And in Leeds I was so delirious with jet lag and the fact that I felt like I was driving through a much visited portion of google maps that I don’t really remember what happened.

THE TUBE: Mind the Gap

I love the tube. It gets you where you want to go, no waiting. Just find the right platform, get on and you’re there. We bought Oyster cards which you just scan coming and going at each station. I tried to count one day how many Tube Stations we’d been on and off at but I couldn’t keep track. It’s all about you’re intended destination and then everyone just hurries there.

There are loads of posters all over for you to look at while you’re waiting or riding the escalators. Make sure if you’re going to stand on the escalator that you stand on the right. Our first Tube trip was from Heathrow to Kings Cross which was REALLY tricky with lots of luggage and I nearly got trampled. After that when we were just sight seeing it was much easier. I’m totally biased but I liked the Tube stations better than the Metro stations in Paris. I will say that some of the Metro trains are double decker and that was pretty insane.

Sometimes the trains get really full, the worst was in Paris and you just cram yourself in and hope for the best. It’s the usual practice of public transport where people are practically, or literally sitting on top of each other and yet politely not making eye contact. I had to laugh when I read on a blog that people don’t talk on the Tube, don’t acknowledge each other but if they’re reading a paper and can tell that the person next to them is interested they’ll hold it so they can both read.

One of my other favorite features of the Tube station were the buskers. When I think of buskers they’re sometimes dodgy looking folks, singing or playing non-descript music for change in an area of town where you wouldn’t necessarily want to stop. Well in the Tube stations I heard all kinds of fun music and it echos down the halls and makes you smile as you walk away with a new song in your head. Apparently you have to have a license and there are time slots for different Tube stations. I heard acoustic and rock guitar, Bye Bye Blackbird, Candle in the Wind on keyboard, recorder, a singer doing “On the Street Where You Live”, a sax player doing Desifinado and Nature Boy. You don’t often draw a crowd but you frequently get quite the crowd passing in a hurry to somewhere else. How great would that be to just stand there for a while singing what ever you want. I think if I was a busker my favorite spot would be the long pedestrian corridor that leads from the South Kensington station to the museums.

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BUS: The Wheels on the bus

Ah the bus. Not a lot of glamour but my new traveling companion. We did ride a red double decker bus one night in London because the Victoria tube line was closed and we were trying to get to Wicked. We were going so slow that it felt a bit like riding the CT down 45th when you see pedestrians from the freeway entrance beating you to campus. In Dublin we walked into the city centre and took the bus back to our hotel. There you pay depending on how far you’re going to be going which is tricky when you have no idea where anything is.

In Leeds I tried to figure out the bus system before I got her but it was really confusing because there are a variety of carriers. It’s a little like Metro, CT, Sound Transit etc but more mixed up and all going to the same place. Nearly all the buses here are double decker. Just picture that every articulated bus in Seattle was double decker and that’s about it. I bought a year academic pass and I ride the bus into town every day then walk about a half a mile to school, well not quite that far. They also have a free city bus that loops the city all day long that I ride from the bus station next to school to the Institute out by the Universities. Nearly all buses go into town so if you want to go over you have to go in and then switch buses. This meant that it took my an hour to get to church, but now I have a ride :) The one think that I think the buses are lacking here is bike racks. In Seattle you can snap your bike on the front, get where you’re going and ride away.

WALKING

It’s a good thing that I’ve been walking everyday to get ready for life on my feet. I love my trusty little pedometer that tells me how far I’ve walked everyday and how many aerobic minutes I’ve walked. I’m keeping track and there will be a grand total at the end. For example I walked 135 miles in September, 18 hours aerobic.

We do this funny thing in Seattle. We wait for the walk sign. Here it’s just look both ways and go for it. And that means everyone. I've seen people in wheelchairs, on crutches, with small children in strollers just go for it. When a traffic light is red, it adds the yellow light before turning green so you know if you’ve got a little window. The centre of the city is all retail and no cars so it’s easy to take the bus in, do your shopping and bus out again.

BIKES

I don’t see a whole lot of bikes around. I looked into it a little before I got here but really when it’s rainy like Seattle it’s not much of an option. I was tempted by the rental bikes on the streets in Paris. In Oxford however bikes were EVERYWHERE! They were just leaning against any and every spare space. Adorable bikes with big baskets. And in the spirit of bikes the funniest thing I saw at a Tube station was a lady in a skirt suit, nylons and sneakers carrying a razor scooter. Not kidding!

CARS

I haven’t had a whole lot of experience with them except for our rental car adventure in Ireland. I’m still not adjusted to this whole other side of the street thing. I just had no idea how programmed that was in my head. And they heavily favor roundabouts over intersections. I will say that on the whole cars here are smaller and newer. Every single one is still shiny, no clunkers. And they drive a little crazy. They’re used to little tiny spaces and just parking helter skelter up here and there.

So parents take care of my car for me but until then I'll try to find ways to entertain myself on the bus. According to my calculations I'll spend at least 5 days on the bus this school year. I think I'm going to need to download more "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" podcasts.

For our 18 days on the road we had a great time trying out lots of food at different places, pubs, take aways, cafes, restaurants and even (gasp) McDonald’s. Since everything is so expensive we did go to McDonald’s a few times and they have this great sandwich there called the Chicken Legend which is actually on a bread roll not some flimsy bun. Michelle laughed that I was so impressed. The sodium content however could probably do some damage. [Can I claim delirium from hunger as my explanation for this picture?]

In Oxford at the street fair we had some wicked Caribbean jerk chicken or was it pork?

Breakfast in Cardiff was scones, cream and orange flavored hot chocolate. Once again, I was not aware that I was actually in this picture.

Take Aways of every variety are everywhere: Asian, Chinese, Fish and Chips, “Southern Fried Chicken”, ‘burgers’ etc. I was underwhelmed by doner kebabs but love chips in every form. I’m not a big fan of fish but seeing that it’s deep friend and patriotic I have some now and then.

Next up in the line of culinary patriotism is the full English breakfast. An odd conglomeration of foods but anything that includes chips for breakfast is okay with me. In Missi's honor I did not finish off the fungi in the bottom left corner.

Probably nearly as iconic are Cornish pasty’s. These handy meat pies are super yummy. The crust is the best.

In Dublin we had burgers and fries at 'Eddie' Rockets. It felt a bit treasonous.

The grocery stores around here are more prepped for food to go which was really convenient as we travelled around. We brought along milk and cereal when we first set out for breakfast. They have long store milk that doesn’t have to be refrigerated. Most of you know I love milk and I drink a lot of it, which makes me a bit of a milk snob. I was rather impressed by the fact that I actually thought it was okay.

It’s not that I haven’t had to shop for myself before but it’s really fun to get it all figured out in a new place with grocery stores of new things. Michelle and I had a great time walking around the Cardiff Bay ASDA exclaiming over all the different foods. It’s funny because things don’t have to be very different to be interesting and novel. It’s also the absence of things that you took for granted. No Reese’s cups and no canned pumpkin being the current examples. The grocery stores have more prepared foods that aren’t as processed as at home. At home everything is highly highly processed. This also means that I have to eat it in a timely manner. I enjoy all kinds of veggies, corn, squash, green beans and roasted potatoes of every variety are a staple of my diet. They have really good Indian chicken and veggies- tastes nearly as good as Cedars leftovers. They also have a wide variety of desserts crumbles, puddings, trifles, eclairs etc. And in the bakery ciabattas, croissants, crumpets, scones etc. I will say that thus far I am not impressed by their candy bars.

I have learned that there is a difference between milkshakes and thick shakes. One made with milk and the other with ice cream. And their definition of a smoothie is often different. They sometimes mean just crushed whole fruit, so basically thick fruit juice.

It’s been a lovely little adventure trying things out, sometimes being pleasantly surprised and other times making a note to not buy that again. I'm currently addicted to, and at this moment, eating these quadruple chocolate chip cookies from Sainsbury's.

My London highlight, hands down, was seeing a play at the Globe. As we stood in the theater on the tour I couldn’t help but think back on my Shakespeare education particularly my 8th Grade English teacher Ms. Sparks. I don’t remember how it was related but we read a speech from Henry V in class and watched the Kenneth Branaugh version that was then shortly after on Mobil Masterpiece theater. Some how I ended up with a poster of it that was on my wall for years. It captured my imagination. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Emma Thompson in French and tried to translate.

I think I also started watching the Mel Gibson Hamlet that year. I discovered that there was something about Shakespearian language and opens up and stretches your brain and makes it happy.

After that it was pretty standard High School fare. We did Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade. I just don’t quite get what is so exciting about that one. The school put on Midsummer Night’s Dream that year and I had my first glimpse of why they’re plays- SO much better on stage! Branaugh’s Much Ado came out that year- more verbal fencing- and we moved on to Julius Ceasar in 10th, MacBeth in 11th and Hamlet in 12th. Also in 12th we performed a scene from Midsummer in class which I had forgotten about until I was watching some of my students perform earlier Midsummer ala Woodstock last year and I thought, “Why do I know all of Quince’s lines?” By the time I saw Midsummer again, live in Everett I was rolling in aisles laughing, and consequently totally disappointed that film version was all lust and no laughs. Not all film versions are quite up to snuff. They take out some of the spontaneity of live theater. I really appreciated the design of the Branaugh Hamlet

and As You Like It

but was a little confused and underwhelmed by 12th Night.

At community college I took a Shakespeare course where we read Othello, Measure for Measure and Merchant of Venice. It wasn’t the most exciting class. My friend and I sat in the front row and knew all the answers and eventually gave up volunteering them. He had us listen to a recording of Othello during which I nearly fell asleep and dropped my book. I made up for this dreadful course by checking out lectures on CD from The Teaching Company to listen to during my commute.

Last year one of my students asked me what my favorite store was. Not thinking about her motivation I answered a Shakespeare Festival gift shop. I had been to one in Ashland and was just fascinated by all the fun things they had there: costume books, jars of ink and wax seals.

As a thank you for playing for her for Solo and Ensemble she got me a sheet of Shakespearean insult magnets. Apparently there’s a Shakespeare gift shop in Edmonds. Who knew?

When I arrived in Toronto as a missionary I was delighted to find out that first area that I would be serving in would be Stratford. Stratford-Upon-Avon Stratford? I think I may have actually said that out loud. I was delighted.

It was just a little the-Lord-is mindful-of-me moment. Stratford Ontario, population around 30,000 swells to about half a million during the summer Shakespeare Festival. We used to go down and walk along the river all the time.

We got permission to go and see Henry V and Twelfth Night and I was ecstatic.

It was also on the mission that I saw Omelet- the Veggie Tales version- so silly but fun.

I remember once growing up going to see Much Ado in the park. One summer after college I remembered that and looked up shows and it became my new favorite summer entertainment. There are three companies in Seattle that do Shakespeare plays in parks all around the Puget Sound, the open space of Volunteer Park, the woodsy seclusion of Lyndale and the canopied overlook of Woodland above Green Lake. It’s just magical what they can conjure up with some space and limited suggestive set pieces.

For my parent’s 25th Anniversary I took them to see Taming of the Shrew at Volunteer park. The next year I saw As You Like It and Hamlet, then Merchant of Venice, then Hamlet and Twelfth Night and this year Merry Wives of Windsor and Comedy of Errors. Having studied Hamlet quite a bit I was delighted to notice that I had a whole new take on the characters and motivations.

As You Like it was delightful and hilarious as was the cross dressing Comedy of Errors.

So you can imagine that I was more than a little excited and ready to see the Globe in London. We came in the morning to see the exhibition and get the theatre tour.

It’s a fantastic space and more than a little surreal to see things that you’ve been reading about for 15+ years, but then that’s basically been the theme of this whole adventure. It’s a lovely wood space, no frills for the audience and some great painting on the backdrop and ceiling of the stage.

Our guide to great delight in telling us about being a groundling. You can get cheap tickets but you have to stand the whole play, even lean up against the stage if you like but you must remain standing, it if rains you will get wet and you never know when the show may come right up to interact with you. There really wasn’t too much to see on the tour but there was a group of American drama students who were on the stage doing theater exercises.

We returned that night to see As You Like It. [Check out this link to the production with reviews and pictures.] We payed the £1 for seat cushions as had been recommended to me by the Koenigs and sat right on the front row in the first balcony. Somehow I managed not to buy anything in the shop between acts. I was tempted by the “All the worlds a stage,” hoodie but I didn’t know if I could pull off hot pink. The show was fantastic. I am so in awe of these fantastic actors who are able to communicate exactly what they are saying, or what their interpretation is of a line, so that even if you don’t understand the words you know exactly what they mean. Orlando was great but the fool, Touchstone, was even better. He was able to bring a bit of modernity in but in a natural way. The most silly and surprising moment was at the very end they were all dancing, hurray everyone is married, then they busted out of their period appropriate dancing into a party samba. There was a small group of three or four musicians up in the balcony over the stage providing the music and the cast launched into a fully choreographed dance finale. It was hilarious. I know it really has not much to do with the show but it was so entertaining and the whole audience left dancing. And I thought, “This. This is my favorite part of London.”

So what next? Well for starters my new favorite actor, David Tennant, played Hamlet opposite Patrick Stewart in Stratford last year. It’s been filmed and they’re showing it on BBC on Christmas Day! And my Easter Break? Stratford and the Royal Shakespeare Company here I come! Anyone wanna come along?

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Tetradecahedron?

Part of Michelle’s brilliant London master plan was a smorgasbord of live theater- a play, a musical, a jazz show, a classical concert and Shakespeare! Good job Michelle!

JAZZ

Ronnie Scott’s is the jazz club in London and I thought it fitting that we were there to see Claire Martin who is one of the biggest jazz singers in England. We had spent the day in Bath and rushed from Paddington to Soho in the pouring rain to arrive just barely in time. We scooted, sopping wet, into our seats to see the opening act, a tenor sax player who was quite good. My favorite thing he did was a cross of Lil Darlin in the style of Cute. It was really great. Claire was a great performer but her selection of tunes didn’t hold my attention. Turns out I think they’re mostly from her latest album which is a lot of pop covers and originals. It was also interesting that Geoff Gascoyne was playing bass for the tenor sax player. Geoff is Jamie Cullum’s bass player and so it was cool to see him up close.

THEATRE

“For over 56 years The Mousetrap has been thrilling audiences in London’s West End. The longest running play in the world. The origins of the play prove Christie was a favourite with the British Royal family. Sir Peter Saunders, the original producer of The Mousetrap wrote:

"When the late Queen Mary was approaching her eightieth birthday she was asked by the BBC what she would like to celebrate the event - anything from Shakespeare to opera. Queen Mary said she would like 'an Agatha Christie play' and Mrs Christie promptly wrote a thirty-minute radio production called Three Blind Mice. This was eventually to become The Mousetrap!”

The West End is a dizzying maze of streets and theaters. It was funny because we had tickets for one of the balcony’s and there was an entrance from the street. So we walked right from the street to our seats. There was next to no leg room so we were a little cozy but it wasn’t long before the show began. I love live theater, it’s fantastic.

WICKED

It seems as though everyone else in the world had seen Wicked but me and so I thought it appropriate for it to be our Broadway show in London. It was playing at the Victoria Appollo not far from our hotel. I’d actually read the script and heard the music but of course it was way better in person. Fantastic. They had cool London t-shirts too that I should have sprung for.

PROMS

“The Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, London. Founded in 1895, each season currently consists of over 70 concerts in the Albert Hall, a series of chamber concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the United Kingdom on the last night, and associated educational and children's events. In 2009 the total number of concerts will reach 100 for the first time.

“Proms is short for promenade concert, a term which arose from the original practice of audience members promenading, or strolling, in some areas of the concert hall during the concert. Promming now refers to the use of the standing areas inside the hall (the arena and gallery) for which ticket prices are much lower than for the reserved seating. Single-concert Promming tickets can be bought, with few exceptions, only on the day of the concert, which can give rise to long queues for well-known artists or works. Proms concertgoers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers". Prommers can buy full- or half-season tickets instead for guaranteed entry, although not the assurance of a particular standing position. A number of Prommers are particularly keen in their attendance, and see it as a badge of honour to achieve the "grand slam" of attending every concert of the season (a "little slam" being every concert at the Royal Albert Hall)." Wikipedia

I didn’t know any of this, I just knew that Michelle had planned for us to go to a classical concert at Royal Albert Hall- great. Well we turned up and they were sold out so we joined the gallery line. We had just come from the V&A and didn’t have time to grab dinner so we got some type of unidentifiable ‘burger’ from a cart outside and ate them while we waited in line.

They way it works is that the evening of the show lines start for the arena- floor are, like the ground at the Globe, and the gallery a large platform balcony around the top of the theater. Tickets are £5.

The gallery is a large round kind of hallway. As we entered people had started to take up tile space along the railings so they could see the show below. Other people, like us, grabbed the few chairs up against the wall which provided no view of the stage whatsoever. The gallery turned into a bit of a picnic. There were loads of people there dressed from casual to dressy. They were sprawled out all over the floor complete with blankets and picnic lunches. Some people sat reading books or looking at their laptops of just chatting with their mates. During the interval a man came through an sold Häagen Dazs.

During the concert I grabbed a piece of scratch paper- directions from earlier that day and started writing. It was the end of our first proper full day in London and my brain was ready to explode. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Unfortunately that paper got lost in the shuffle somewhere along the way. The main thing was I was delighted to be able to listen and write. I wish I could do that at all concerts, listen and write. You would think that as a musician I love to go to Classical concerts and I understand everything etc etc etc. This is not entirely true. While I understand and appreciate a lot of music I mostly really love classical pieces that I have played myself, or that I’ve been exposed to a lot and know well. This concert served up a few of those, Mendelssohns Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture and Incidental Music and Beethoven’s 6th. Despite the fact that I was scarred by having to rehearse the Mendelssohn for Instrumental methods I still enjoyed it.

I couldn’t just sit there and so when I spotted a free couple feet of railing I hopped up and looked down to watch the conductor. Later as I sat there listening and writing I pondered upon how well behaved the audience was. Everyone was sitting or lying down concentrating wholly on the music. I didn’t have to make eyes and anyone or shush them. It was then that I realized teaching had taken over my brain. I imagine it might be a little like going out without your children.

And Shakespeare you ask? He gets his own post :)

There was a great poster in the tube stations in London announcing the opening of a new exhibit and the tag line was, “Announcing the grand opening of your mind.” This is so appropriate. Museums can be rather unassuming places that sneak up on you rather unexpectedly and open you mind to the past. They can be dead dull or totally fascinating and in London there’s plenty to choose from- over 300 museums and art galleries. What is it about these large collections of things on display that expands your world view? Makes you feel a little more cultured? Helps you understand the people who went before? Not all museums are created equal. Some I can just walk through and say, “well I saw it.” Others must be poured over, every plaque must be read and each artifact pondered. I’m a big fan of audio guides that help flesh out the meaning and importance of displays but my brain can only take so much and there were days when my brain was so full I could feel the audio commentary spilling out of my head and onto the floor. And did mention that most of them are FREE? Bam.

VICTORIA and ALBERT Museum of Art and Design.

Our first museum stop was the V&A, and I think it proved to be one of my favorites.

They had a great fashion exhibition- I love historical clothing. The exhibits, for the most part, are divided by material: stained glass, silver, gold, jewelry, paintings,

photography, prints, theater, sculpture

ironwork etc.

I really loved the silver exhibit, not particularly the over done pieces of plate but seeing little personal effects that people might have carried around in their pockets- combs, brushes, razors, notebooks, ink jars etc. I wish we could have taken pictures in the jewelry gallery so this will have to do.

The NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

It’s probably my favorite. What can I say? I love people and there’s so great ones here. We really only took a walk through before dinner one night and so it’s on the top of my list for my next trip to London. I could just sit in the 19th century gallery for a good while and soak it all up. I’ve downloaded and audio guide from itunes U so I’ll be ready when I head back.

TATE MODERN

Filling a large reclaimed power station on the south side of the Thames the Tate Modern was one of Michelle’s ‘must sees.’ Being a historical romantic girl myself modern art isn’t exactly up my alley but I was up for it. I likened my experience to studying 20th century music.

When I was taking a music history survey at UW our professor made some comment about how he would always know when it was atonal day because the whole vibe of the class would be different. There would be less chatting and people would leave class quietly looking a little bewildered. Later when we studied Berg’s Opera Wozzeck I was a little alarmed as I studied it that his musical choices started to make sense. Not in a classical, predictable, let’s-listen-to-this-beautiful-music kind of way but in a expressionistic kind of way. These were artists who were trying to react to the chaos of change in society around them due partially to the effects of World Wars. They weren’t looking to reproduce, they were looking to express. As I looked past the crazy sounds into the intent behind them I understood them better. I found the same to be true of modern art.

It was an incredibly draining experience walking through the Tate Modern because I felt like I had to read all the little plaques to try and grasp some sense of what the artist was going for. It was a lot of art, a lot of thinking and I came out way over stimulated. The galleries were big and open and industrial. And there were different smells in different areas ranging from paint to fruity. There was a teacher leading a school group through- mostly primary grade aged boys- I wonder what they thought of all of it.

A few of the wackier pieces that stood out to me was a giant wood plug, a log carved to look like a tree and a long cable strung with a rainbow of bars of soap. Other pieces of note were Thirty Pieces of Silver and Authority to Remove Brilliant.

BRITISH MUSEUM

Once again, GIANT collection, limited time and attention span. My favorite part was the Greek and Roman galleries. So much of western education, the enlightenment and Romantic ideals are based on the Classics. I’ve listened to a few courses on Greek and Roman mythology but I just don’t get into it. The stories are rather sensational and on the whole violent and immoral. I suppose you could say that of most societies but why does it feel more so in these? Perhaps because there were so unashamedly so. They had no pretense of modesty and a different morality. Regardless I do have an interest in better understanding a civilization that informed the aesthetic of the Romantic age- the draped clothing, curled hair, sculptures, stories and themes that have been used over and over again.

My favorite pieces were seal rings. They had little relief images carved in the stone of the ring that could be pressed into wax as seals. I really wanted one.

In other news, they also had a great exhibit on the history of money- from the earliest forms of currency to a wide variety of coins right down to a deconstructed credit card. There was also a gallery of clocks and the Lewis Chessmen which inspired the Wizard Chess set from Harry Potter.

LOUVRE

Do not try to see the Louvre in under and hour.

Basically we ran in to see Mona and ran through the other wing trying to find my preferred era and we had to get back to the train station. Fail. There were a lot of people there. What is it about needing to be in a picture with Mona? I of course just sang Nat Cole all day.

DICKENS HOUSE MUSEUM

We had a heck of a time finding this place, and it was all I could do to not say we had a Dickens of a time. See how literary references pervade into our consciousness. I love it! It was just an unassuming row house in which Mr. Dickens lived for a few years early in his married life which has now been turned into a bit of a museum. I love Dickens’ characters but his own life story is a bit sad. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t really have the best relationship with his wife. The bottom floor houses a library of every edition of Dickens’ books. The ground floor had a little shop, dining room and front room. Upstairs the had his drawing room and sister in law’s bedroom. I think there was another floor but it wasn’t all set up.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS

Of course since I’m such a romantic I love my pre-Raphaelites and was delighted to discover that there was a Waterhouse Exhibit on at the Royal Academy. It was the last weekend and so it was open late on a Friday evening and it was a ZOO! It was just a small series of rooms on the top floor and there was an absolute crush of people. Good luck getting close enough to see things let alone study and ponder pieces.

"The exhibition, which features over 40 paintings...includes such highlights as The Lady of Shalott, 1888 (Tate), Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896 (Manchester Art Gallery), Circe Invidiosa: Circe Poisoning the Sea, 1892 (The Art Gallery of South Australia), and from the Royal Academy Collection, A Mermaid, 1900.

These works are accompanied by studies in oil, chalk and pencil; period photographs; sketchbooks; and the volumes of Tennyson and Shelley in which Waterhouse drew sketches.

It includes almost all the paintings which made him one of the most successful and critically acclaimed artists of the day.

This is the first major Waterhouse show to be presented in the United Kingdom since the late 1970s." RAofA Website

JANE AUSTEN CENTRE

There are a few different Jane Austen spots and the JA Centre in Bath is one of them. Similar to the Dickens house museum the JA Centre is housed in a town house very near to one Jane lived in in her short stay in Bath. They have really great guides who do an Austenian overview before you head into the exhibit. The guide was great and the exhibit was small. The shop was also a bit small but hey we’ve checked one more place off the list. They did however have a great letter from Emma Thompson with some photos from Sense and Sensibility. We were three days premature for the Jane Austen festival. Bother. I was of course delighted to see the places that she talked about in her novels and where a few of the movies were filmed: The Roman Baths, the Pump Room, the assembly rooms and the Fashion museum. The fashion museum only had one or two representative items per era in my window of time which was a bit disappointing.

So on my next visit to London I’m still due at the Tate Britain and the National Gallery proper. Not to mention an illusive Who Shop that we missed last time.