The ramblings of Steve-0Posts RSS Comments RSS
We spent some of our Sunday in Leicester Square in London, which is the heart of Chinatown. The celebration was pretty huge, although we never really saw what was going on - too many people were there.
From our weekend:
Museums and Churches
Tower of London
Here’s some photos from my weekend trip 
Barcelona Photos
Another post to come
Yesterday I ended up touring London’s museums, which I must say are some of the best in the world. I had planned to hit four museums in one day, but I was a bit tired of museums, and tired in general at the end of the day. I went to the British Library, British Museum, and National Gallery.
The weather was classic British weather, cloudy, cold, and wet - but luckily most of the day was spent inside. The British Library was my quickest stop, as I really just wanted to see the “Treasures” room. The documents on display were a whirlwind tour through history, including an original version of the King James bible, the original Magna Carta, original scores by Bach and Chopin, original scientific papers by Da Vinci, and even the original lyrics for quite a few songs by McCartney and Lennon!
Next stop was the British Museum, definitely my favorite for the day. My travel guide says this is the greatest collection of historical artifacts in the world, and I’m inclined to believe it. Among other things, they have the Rossetta Stone, which allowed translation of Egyptian heirogliphycs into other languages. The Assyrian collection was a bit boring, but the Greek collection more than made up from it. I bet the Greek people aren’t too happy about that one - they pretty much sliced up the Panentheon, and took the pieces back to England. Come to think of it, that’s probably how all of these treasures got here…
Lastly, I hit the National Gallery, housing many original Monet, Van Gogh, Raphael, Michaealangelo (pretty much all of the Ninja Turtles), and the like. I’m not usually a big fan of art, but many of these paintings were simply amazing.
Photos to come…
Saturday I headed out into the city, with the mission of hitting the major tourist spots. I must say I was successful, and my tired feet and legs are proof of that. I probably walked at least 7 or 8 miles.
I first headed to Westminster station, which is right next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Both are quite amazing, and its definitely fun to hear Big Ben call out the new hour. Even more amazing, in my mind, is the Westminster Abbey church - the architecture is incredible (and so is the £14 fee to get in!). I walked around the outside, but didn’t get the chance to go in - I’ll wait till Angie gets here for that. From there, I headed up Whitehall St. to Trafalgar square, another beautiful site site. I’m not quite sure the significance, but the square is a nice open place in a crowded city.
One thing I’m not used to seeing, the square is filled with pigeons - although they’re called “London’s Rats”, I found it to be quite a beautiful sight - see pictures to come.
Finally, I thought I’d go see the famous Tower of London. Lacking my tour book, I figured the “London Bridge” tube stop was the logical place to go. Unfortunately, soon after I found out that the pretty bridge you think of in London is named the “Tower Bridge”, and London Bridge is actually about 2 miles away :). I ended up walking through “The City” proper, which is now the financial district. I made it to the Tower, and the Tower Bridge - both beautiful, and a stark contrast to the financial district they border.
I arrived in London on thursday in the afternoon, and figured it best to stay awake until nighttime here, and I was actually able to adjust in 2 days. Since the country speaks english, its pretty easy to get by, although I have learned a bit of vocabulary. “Car park” instead of parking lot, “water closet” instead of bathroom, etc. The weather here is pretty much what I thought, cold but not freezing, raining but not pouring, grey but not foggy. Pretty dreary - no wonder those UK people are so white :).
Noah, the other US employee out here, met me at Paddington station, showed me to my apartment, and showed me a bit of the town. We wandered around Picadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, and Leicster square, including chinatown. I bought a scarf and we grabbed some pub food, but I was generally tired, and headed back to the flat.
The flat - well, I must say thanks to my employer, the flat is quite nice. Hardwood floors, tasteful, modern decorations, and a full set of appliances, dishes, etc. I hear the rent for this place is somewhere around £1500 / month - the place is only about 600 or so square feet! The parking lot downstairs looks like a porsche dealer, with a bunch of BMW’s and a couple of Ferrari’s mixed in. Take a look here - Chelsea Bridge Wharf
Work here is a bit strange, for now, it is only two of us in the office, and we’ll be joined by another employee next week. Not quite the big team environment I’m used to, but not so bad. And its not too busy either, so that’s a plus for sightseeing ;).
After a bit of a delay caused by the previous plane at our gage, we finally were able to board and get on our way. Virgin atlantic is a bit different than any airline I’ve been on — where else do you hear The Doors “Riders on the Storm” as boarding music, and an entertaining 3-d animation safety video? Well, the flight was bundles of fun, as I wasn’t aware I was supposed to confirm my flight and reserve a seat 3 days early. I had a middle aisle seat in the back of the plane, in between two rather large women. Lets just say a 11 hour flight without an armest isn’t my idea of fun…
It’s been a while since my last post ( coming up on 6 months! ), but, gladly, I’m back. I just started a 5-week stint working in the UK, so in the coming days & weeks, I’ll have lots to post about, and will likely keep the site updated a few times a week. Check back soon (I’m waiting for my new camera card reader to arrive).