Something Sensational to Read In the Train: September 2013

Okay, I know I've been really terrible at updating this blog with my goings on, but I've been really busy - honestly!

The day following our visit to Buckingham Palace consisted of a visit to St Paul's Cathedral and to the National Gallery. I have to say, whilst magnificent and stunning to look at, St Paul's wasn't really my cup of tea. I think I set my expectations really high and was expecting for a historical perspective on the cathedral - when really it was 5% history and 95% 'we hope you have a spiritual experience whilst here'.

The National Gallery, on the other hand, was right up my alley! It took us about four hours to walk around the entire gallery. Seeing 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein the Younger was probably one of the most exciting parts of my trip so far. That sounds really nerdy, but it's true! I've always loved that painting. If you don't know what it is - google it, and play close attention to the white mark on the floor.

Unfortunately both of the places we visited on the Thursday don't allow photographs.

On the Friday, we went to the British Museum - which was both amazing and enormous. The section on Ancient Egypt really is one of the most comprehensive exhibitions I've ever seen. Unfortunately, their modern European section was closed (cue sad face), but hey, this just means I'll have to visit again some time.

Here are a few photos from that day:

British Museum

Statue of Rameses II

A really crappy photo of the Rosetta Stone (it was hard to get a good photo, everyone was crowding around it)

More Ancient Egypt stuff...

Natural mummification

On Saturday we took a trip to the Aldwych Theatre to see Top Hat. I think the only word to describe the show is fabulous. Sometimes a bit of old school glamour combined with show tunes is the perfect way to spend the day. It was all tap dancing, big voices, big smiles, beautiful costumes, ice creams at interval - just wonderful. I also ate a really good sandwich that day, so yeah.

Sunday provided the perfect opportunity to indulge my inner nerd. I say inner, when really I mean, I'm a huge nerd - and proud of it. The best way to do this was a trip to Hampton Court Palace! Now anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE history, and anyone who knows me really well knows that I LOVE Three Men In A Boat (both the book and the TV series), so Hampton Court Palace was of course the perfect place to visit.

Hampton Court really is huge, and beautiful. And for any history nerd evokes an overwhelming sense of...I can't quite describe it...passion? Importance? Disbelief that you're actually there? Yeah, a mixture of those three.

For those of you who don't know, Hampton Court Palace was one of the homes of King Henry VIII. A hundred and something years later it was also the home to King William III and his wife, Mary (who added to the palace considerably). It's plain to see that Hampton Court Palace was built to impress - and impress it does. I'll spare you the historical details...

Hampton Court Palace

The flipside of Hampton Court Palace

Guy cooking lamb in the kitchens of the palace

Outside the kitchens

Pretty

Wow

Some guy and I

Charles I

Henry VIII

The Great Hall

Some serious stained glass windows

This guy was there too...

Some very pretty gardens

A view of William III's extension from the Fountain Court Yard (I believe?)

William III's extension from the gardens

Trees that look like mushrooms/broccoli

Now, one of my favourite moments in Three Men In A Boat (the book by Jerome K. Jerome) is when Harris claims that the maze at Hampton Court Palace is basically not even a maze, because it's so easy, and then subsequently gets himself and a group of tourists lost for hours.

The TV version of Three Men In A Boat (aka Griff Rhys Jones, Rory McGrath and Dara O'Briain) didn't take quite as long to navigate the maze as Harris and his group of angry tourists.

But surely I'm the winner because I completed it in less time than all of them.

'We found the Maze Centre at Hampton Court Palace'

This week hasn't been anywhere near as hectic as the last. But we did take a visit to Bodiam Castle. Which, though pretty hollow on the inside, was quite impressive - a proper medieval castle.

Bodiam Castle

That's all I have to say for now - so toodles until next time.

It really has been a while since I've posted on this blog - I probably should make more of a habit of it. I promise I will! But you know, I've been busy.

Following a fourteen hour flight to Dubai, and then a six and a half hour flight to London, we finally arrived. Customs was cleared and we made it to our hotel. Luckily, they let us check in at 8:20am rather than the normal 2:30pm, which meant that we didn't have to walk around in our aeroplane clothes all day.

Nothing really exciting happened on the first day - we just sort of moseyed around the area and ate Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon - aka the meal of the gods.

On the second day we took the tube to Westminster and behaved like proper tourists. We took photos of anything and everything. This includes Big Ben, Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square etc.

We took a bus tour (I know, proper tourists), leaving from Trafalgar Square and took the entire route. I have to say, it was pretty excellent. The weather was lovely and the view from higher up made taking photos easier. Here are a few of the photos from that day:

Big Ben

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

Admiralty Arch

National Gallery in Trafalgar Square

This is pretty self explanatory.

The London Eye and the Thames

St Paul's Cathedral

The following day saw Mum and I embrace the Royal Family by visiting Buckingham Palace. We took a tour of the palace visiting the State Rooms and the Coronation Exhibition. I have to say, it was all probably one of the most fabulous things I've ever seen. I've never seen anything so ornate and grand before, and the artwork contained within the palace was in my Mum's words 'spectacular'.

I have to say, the only downside of the day was that it was so bloody hot!