Monday 6 July 2015

This morning, we woke up and headed to London Bridge; the boys went to the HMS Belfast, while the girls went to the old operating theatre. The museum was quite small, but once the school group got into the actual operating museum, we had the place almost to ourselves. We saw all kinds of cool surgical instruments, medical specimens, and medicines. The only downside was the tiny, steep spiral staircase, which was difficult to navigate for two uncoordinated ladies. We walked across London Bridge to our agreed meeting point near the Tower of London, stopping in for a Costa coffee. We lunched on Pret a Manger, Toria's favorite, while sitting on the Thames. We popped into a souvenir shop for a couple of gifts, and found a jacket on sale for Toria, which is very cute.

After lunch, we split up again; Toria and Hedge went to the National Portrait Gallery, while Gabe and I went to the Royal Horseguards' Museum. The horses were beautiful, and we learned all about how the horses and soldiers are trained, along with the history of the unit. Their primary purpose has been protecting the royal family, but they have also deployed to wars. The oddest thing we learned was that the (now) ceremonial axe they carry was used to kill their horses if they were badly injured and needed euthanasia on the job. They also had to use it to cut off their hooves, as they were used to update the register of horses. One of Napoleon's horse's hooves was on display, along with some of his tail.

Next, we met up in Trafalgar Square and went into the National Gallery for afternoon tea. It was all delicious; the only disappointment was the lack of Victoria Sponge, our favorite cake. The scones were very filling! Then we split yet again. Hedge and Toria went to the Science Museum while Gabe and I did Natural History. They adored their museum. Ours was really cool too, but pretty hot in some zones. We bought a couple of fossils, a book, and a bracelet in the shop. We ran across to the Victoria and Albert to see some of the fashion displays, but did not have much time, as they were closing.

We met the others, then walked to Harrod's to check out the food hall. Gabe got chicken kebab, Toria got an onion tart, Hedge got Chicken Kiev, I got salmon en croute, and we all shared a green bean/hazelnut/snap pea salad. Then we stopped at the bakery section for gingerbread, pistachio lemon cake, and some kind of Portugese custard thing.

We had a some issues on the tube: first when one gate didn't open when half of us were through (an employee let us through, but then we were worried we would have problems getting out, as you have to touch in and out) and then when Hedge missed getting on a train, which ended up being the wrong direction anyhow. We got off at the next stop, as we had planned in case we ever got separated. It was a long ride back, but our Bow Road station was finally open, AND we found out that the tube strike will start Wednesday afternoon. This is excellent news for us, as we worried about getting back from Harry Potter tomorrow. The guy we originally bought our cards from told us it starts Tuesday night. We were also able to get out of the station fine. As long as we go to King's Cross early on Wednesday, we should be able to get the train to Edinburgh.

We feasted upon our Harrod's, and are ready to hit the British Museum and Harry Potter tomorrow!