Big Ben & National Gallery - Days 040 & 041

I went to the National Gallery.  There were some really good Rembrandt paintings, I was very excited about that.  Also, the featured highlight was a Leonardo Da Vinci painting that was very impressive.

These dolphin/merman statues are found in many cities.  Some have the person riding the dolphin.  I wonder if dolphins are easier to ride than manatees or if the statue maker likes dolphins more, but I think they ought to have a few statues of mermen or mermaids riding manatees. 

I walked down to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben.  The picture is of the Queen Victoria Memorial that is located just in front of Buckingham Palace.  Big Ben is in the background.

  

I drew a phone booth

I took a few photographs of one of the red phone booths found all over London and I drew it in SketchUp. I just thought I would share.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - Days 038 & 039

Monday was the opening day of the season at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I was very excited to time it so perfectly that the day I think about going happens to be the opening day. However, I didn't go Monday, I got all mixed around on the wrong side of the Thames and when I had about 15 minutes to get there I decided I was too late and I got some pizza instead. I tend to talk a lot about pizza. This pizza was from a pizzeria that displays and sells pizza right on the curbside and it was delicious! Also, for one slice it was only £1.50, not too shabby.

On Tuesday I tried again. This time I made it in plenty of time to the theatre. The 'r' before 'e' is the British spelling, by the way. Also, they tend to say "by the by" here, instead of "by the way." I haven't brought myself to say "cheers" to anyone even though I've heard it many, many times. I say thanks but everyone else says cheers. I want to say cheers but I'm worried they'd think I was an American trying to fit in; when really I'd just be an American trying to be polite and use local terms. Either way, I'm excited for France when I'll really be judged for what I say and how I say it. Well, that's what I've heard about it so far.

As I got to the globe, a line had already formed at the doors. Everyone gathered inside the globe and I happened to find myself standing right near the very front, 2nd row. When I go to concerts the tallest person in the whole audience usually chooses to stand right in front of me, thankfully, that did not happen this time. Vacations are always better.

The play at the globe was A Midsummer Night's Dream. I saw this play in high school and I don't think I understood half the jokes in it back then.  This time I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I think they have different plays going on and I might go to another one since I enjoyed it so much. I took some pictures on the way back.

London - Days 036 & 037

I learned I get lost in London very easily.  The streets seem to change names at the slightest bend in them.  Also a couple times I took the underground train to get to the bus station.  The cost adds up fast when you're paying for two different types of transportation.

On Sunday I learned how long it takes to walk instead of taking the bus.  Pretty long walk!  It's okay, I passed a few parks and it was a nice Sunday walk.  I also went to the National Portrait Gallery.

London! - Days 034 & 035

On Thursday, I arrived in London at about 7 in the morning.  I walked around and quickly realized how big the city is.  I stumbled upon a mall where a pizza restaurant had an all you can eat buffet for £5.99.  I was pretty hungry and this sounded like a good idea to me.  Sadly, it was really bad pizza.  Worse than Pizza Time in Tacoma, which was the cheapest pizza I've ever bought and was delivered by a guy who went by the name White Shark and would let you hear a tape of his rap demo if you were interested.  Anyway, the pizza was not pleasing so I had a lot more salad.  The salad was pretty good.

I headed out to the campsite that I found online.  I'm hoping to find more like it along my trip.  I got pretty lost and walked around for quite awhile.  Eventually, I found the campsite and was glad to get some sleep.

The next day I met up with my friend Chaz.  I joined her and her friends for a quiz night.  It was pretty fun, but I only did well on the music round.  I let them down on some of the American questions.  I'm embarrassed to even say one of the questions I missed.  Something about the Super Bowl... haha. :P

Edinburgh - Days 032 & 033

Tuesday was the day to see the last couple things I wanted to see in Edinburgh, and what a gorgeous day it was to see them!

The first thing I did was go to the National Museum of Scotland.  This time I was allowed to take pictures in the whole museum.  The museum's 7 levels were in chronological order of Scotland's earliest known history to the latest.  I spent way too much time reading every detail on the first 2 levels and then went quickly through the last few levels.  The top roof level had a very good view of the city.

After the museum, I picnicked then made my way up to Hollyrood hill.  It is a hill on the edge of town that looks over everything around.

Wednesday I spent most of my time trying to find the cheapest way to get out of Edinburgh.  I had been looking at buying a train ticket into England, but since I waited the price had gone up tremendously.  After hanging out at the train station for awhile, I walked down to the bus station where they had an overnight coach all the way to London for 18.50.  That was a great deal!  So then I hung around the bus station until 10:30 and then I was headed to London!

Edinburgh - Days 030 & 031

Wow, I've been gone a whole month! I went to church Sunday at St. Giles' Cathedral. I think I should've gone to the later service instead of the 8 AM service because there was hardly any one there and there was no music. It rained more Sunday and Monday. I remembered to call my mom Sunday night! <3

I didn't do much on Monday. Well, I read and I actually drew on SketchUp some, too. There is a website (http://ebookhood.com) where you can get free books to put on your iPod or other electronic device. Anyway, since this is a blog and I think you give links and talk about random things on blogs, I thought I'd mention that. So, I put Charles Dickens' David Copperfield on my iPod and I have been reading that. I was sad I couldn't find the books I left behind online, but Arthur Koestler isn't very well known.  Dickens is enjoyable anyhow.