Wednesday and a plan!

Had a nice Wednesday. Went out to the Science Museum to see if there was anything I could use for my classes. I found it boring and not great. Bummer. Don't think I'll be sending my students there. They do have a small math exhibit and a small CS exhibit, but nothing relevant to my courses. So, I'll pass on that one. But, then the day got better. I strolled through Hyde Park on my way home. Gorgeous! So need to run here one day soon. Stopped at the little cafe at the end of The Serpentine (Lake) and had lunch overlooking the water. I also had my first ever Pimm's cup because I was HOT and wanted something iced and large. The water glasses around here are tiny and usually not cold. Waste of liquid. I don't know if it was because I was thirsty or if it's that delicious, but I loved that thing. And it lasted all through lunch plus some! Lemonade, Pimm's and fruit and mint. Refreshing for sure.  I had two lunch mates. A lovely duck who stole some cheese that fell on the ground and a very sad pigeon that wouldn't leave me alone. I'm sure other customers thought I was ridiculous. They were nice companions. Great stuff. Took a nice walk back and spent the rest of the day planning out my brilliant idea I had earlier that morning.

The only thing I took a pic of in the museum. It was made of all kinds of materials (sandpaper, carpet, fabrics...).

Ran into Buckingham Palace on my walk home!

Oh and I went to the London Social Runners Meetup group that happens to meet Wednesdays right at the entrance to the National Theater which is like a 10 minute walk from my house! They run 7K and then go have a drink after. It was lovely. People were nice. I was able to keep up and not be the slowest (although I did run my fastest 4.5 miles ever for fear of being lost). No one ran right at my pace, so I didn't chat w/ anyone along the way but I talked w/ a few folks after and they were all very friendly. Running peeps! I'll likely join them for a 3 milers Saturday morning in Hyde Park. They go to brunch afterwards. Sounds perfect.

Now on to my brilliant idea. I wanted to go to the London Zoo. It costs almost 30 pounds! That's about $45. Ridiculous! So, I decided to get a 2 day London pass for 62 pounds to see as many of the paid attractions in 2 days that I could. Today was day one. I left the house around 8:30 with my lunch packed in my bag. I returned around 6:30ish. I managed the following list (note: I only missed one thing I had planned and I hope to do that first thing tomorrow AM):

Tower of London
Climbed the 311 stairs to the top of The Monument (to the Great Fire of London)
Toured the HMS Belfast (Navy war ship)
Tower Bridge Experience
Design Musuem
Cruise of the Thames (or part of it)
Westminster Abbey
Kensington Palace
Musuem of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising

BOOM! And I stopped at a tea shop to buy tea on my way home and had Yo! Sushi for dinner. I'm exhausted. But, did it! I don't recommend this to folks, but I thought it'd be good to see all these things to know what my parents and few other visitors should/shouldn't do while they're here. And, if anything was cool enough I might be willing to pay to go back. Here are my reviews (skip if you like). Pics to come tomorrow. It's late and I've got another busy day tomorrow.

Tower of London: Better than I expected. I spent almost an hour here.  You could easily spend 2 hours here. I'm not a real history buff and don't enjoy museums where I have to read a lot so a lot of these exhibits were too much for me. But, generally I was surprised by how much I liked it. The Crown Jewels were awesome. And the creepy towers. And the ravens. The armory was so-so. I'd go back. Maybe once.

The Monument: Exhausting, but quick and easy. Decent views of the city. I got a fancy certificate for climbing all those stairs!

The gold topped building is The Monument.

HMS Belfast: Again, pleasantly surprised. It was cool. But I haven't toured a lot of warships, so maybe that's why it was cool. My students might visit this bad boy. They have a Codes/Code Breaking thing this September.

Asbestos. Caution!

Tower Bridge: This was fun. But, not sure it's necessary. It's really just a chance to see the city from a high vantage point and there are tons of places to do that. The Engine rooms were kinda cool though, so if you're an engineer or something it might be worth your money.

Design Museum: I enjoyed what I saw, but I'd really depend on the exhibits they had if I'd pay to go back. They show 3 exhibits at a time. Today, was Louis Kahn (architect), Daniel Weil (all kinds of cool stuff), and the 2014 Designs of the Year (super cool stuff that exists and is useful!!).



City Cruises: Cheesy. Touristy. But, an easy way to get from Tower Bridge to Westminster. Not on foot! And it was fun sitting on top of the boat.

Westminster Abbey: Beautiful. Amazing. Must see.

Kensington Palace: So, apparently William/Kate/George live here. Who knew?! I'll tell you who...the British people. They had decorated the gates for George's 1st birthday. Obviously I didn't hang with the Prince, but I did tour some part of the palace. Just okay. If I knew more about the British monarchs I might find it more interesting. The gardens are gorgeous and The Orangery (restaurant) looks awesome.

Museum of Brands...: This was weird. And tucked away in Notting Hill. It was fun to stroll that neighborhood, but this tiny museum is strange. Just tons of stuff from the 1900s-2000s jammed into glass cabinets. Chocolate wrappers, dish detergent bottles, cigarette containers, toys, magazines. I feel like it would have been fun to go with my grandma or something so she could see all this stuff she once used and comment on it. I was bored until the 1980s. Plus this stuff was British which was both cool and annoying. I don't know anything about British brands! I guess I do now. I was thirsty and tired so in the cafe I ordered a coke. Because it was cold. And had sugar in it. First Coke I've likely had in years. But it was yummy. Must of been all those Coke bottles/cans in the museum!

That's it. Besides my awesome tea store (Whittards this time...don't worry I have a list of these!). I got some gifts. And something my mom will love. :)

Yo! Sushi was a fast food sushi train place. Good stuff. And they had individual filtered water taps at the table. And the water was cold. It cost 1.10pounds for unlimited water and I drank and drank that stuff. Worth it. SO tasty!

 
Tomorrow's goals:

ArcelorMittal Orbit
London Zoo
Kew Gardens
Pollock Toy Museum
The Courtauld Gallery
Brass rubbing at St. Martin

I'll need more snacks for tomorrow. Hungry Alison is no good and gets bored with stuff easily. And I need to sit more often. At one point I realized I hadn't sat down at all for like 3 hours. Not a good move.