London, Day Two

Well, the weather here is still wet! It apparently has been all summer. We did have a reprieve when we went on the London Eye - it was cloudy, but still an experience. You could have done it, Mom, as it goes so slow that, unless you look directly down, you don't feel like you're moving. Just really high. In a glass bubble. That's all. I waved at the queen, but she's rumoured not to be home. After the Eye, I left Darrin and his mom as they did not want to spend hours at the British Museum and the National Gallery. They were going to try to join the crowds at Buckingham Palace instead (and also buy tickets for Wicked tonight) (and probably shop some more).

Avenue Q was stupid. It's an obscene parody of Sesame Street, with people moving the puppets on stage. Don't bother with it! Luckily, the tickets were half price.

The British Museum has changed its exhibits since we were there last. The Rosetta Stone, for instance, is in a major doorway and has crowds of people all around it. It was still interesting to go through it and admire all the Greek, Roman, & Egyptian things. There were tonnes of "Don't Touch" signs around, but I still managed a quick handshake with an Egyptian statue. It was warm...others, I guess, had done the same. The museum is still free, although they suggest a donation amount..."to keep it free."

The National Gallery (also "free") had a (not free) display of Rembrandts (and other Dutch painters) that was worth paying for. After that, I wandered through the rest of the (free) exhibits and revisited the Monets.

So long as Darrin managed to get tickets for Wicked, that's where we'll be tonight. Don't worry...I'm only going out alone during daylight, and I must successfully blend in with the locals (unlike everywhere else I've been) as several people asked me for directions today. I was able to help one of the three.

I'm now on my third 2MB photo card. Which means I've taken about 1000 pictures already. Who's up for seeing them all in a digital slide show next week?!!! It'll be free, but I'll suggest a donation of $10, to keep it free. (So long as I get my computer back.)

I shall go and hang out at the hotel room (which, come to think of it, reminds me a little of Fawlty Towers, except the "hired help" is Russian, instead of Spanish) and read (I conveniently timed the finishing of the book I brought with the purchase of my new book from Foyles, so have started that one) and perhaps watch something from a selection of eight - yes, a whole eight! - English television stations! Four of them are NEWS!!! After this trip, where CNN or BBC World was the only English station in the majority of hotels we've been in, I am never watching CNN again. Not that I did before, anyways, mind you.

I have nine minutes left (I like this 30 minutes for one pound thing...on an English keyboard!), so I should be signing off. I think I might be back before Dad has his appointment. Wouldn't it have been easier for them to have called you?! Darrin, by the way, had Dr. Belle when he was a baby because his feet were all twisty and he needed to wear one of those metal bars attached to his shoes. His mom told me.

Cheerio,
Trace