One Day in London - 1 Aug 2007

Seeing as Im leaving London in a month I decided to take a mid-week day off work (instead of sleeping in I stuck to my routine of getting up at 5:30am) and crossed four things off my "have to do in London before I leave" list - London Eye, Tate Modern, Natural History Museum and Avenue Q - it was quite a day!

The day started bright and early with a few of my cubs. As part of 21st World Scout Jamboree held in the UK and celebrating the centenary of Scouting they had organised a sunrise ceremony (at 7:30am seeing as some of the kids are only 6!) for all the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers to remake their promise and then go on the London Eye so I was definitely along for the ride. The London Eye had recently been taken off my list of things to do since I did the math and figured out how much they make off it each day - ridiculous - especially when there are lots of free/cheap ways to get views of London - although not from 135m! But it was great to do this with the kids : ) It was a pretty clear day so nice views (although probably not worth the 15 pounds the 30 minute flight costs normally) It might be lovely at night but with the huge pods fitting around 30 people its not really that romantic. I know its the largest observation wheel in the world but I cant help thinking there are probably other cities that look more beautiful from above and that the smaller ferris wheels are pretty cute in their own right and not as sterile (nor the line as long) as for the London Eye. Still a fun way to spend a Wednesday morning though : )



















Walked up Southbank (kinda nice to do it the other way) from the London Eye and caught up with Anna (Swedish roommate) to check out the Global Cities exhibtion at the Tate Modern (as well as wandering around the rest of the gallery). The Global Cities exhibition looks at "the changing faces of ten dynamic international cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paolo, Shanghai and Tokyo" It used London as a comparison on size, speed, form, denisty, diversity and it was amazing. If you're lucky enough to be in London before the 27th of August check it out (remember Tate is free!) otherwise check out http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/globalcities/



















Next stop on this crazy London Day Trip was the National History Museum with Belinda (as she was heading home - via Italy - a couple of days later). The building itself was really impressive even before we got inside but the displays were amazing!! This was the first Natural History Museum I had been to as the one in DC was closed for refurbishment when I was there, so it was amazing to see so many dinosaur skeletons (not that I ever doubted they roamed the earth but this really hammers the impact of that home!) and other information about so many amazing creatures we still share the earth with - was a great afternoon!










After quickly calling home to eat dinner and open a new bank account I headed back into town to see Avenue Q with Brady. What an amazing show, its like an adult seasame street where the main character is 22, just graduated with a BA in English and searching for his purpose and along the way it addresses some serious issues such as racism, pornography and homosexuality with in-your-face-honesty but in a light-hearted way. You have to see it to really know what I mean. For more details check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_Q. With songs like "Everyone's a little bit racist", "Im not wearing underwear today", "The Internet is for Porn" and "If you were gay, Id shout Horray" I had to buy the soundtrack and you can definitely get an idea of the mood of the show, if you get a chance, definitely see this one! We had a great night and finished off with a couple of pints in the sofa lounge of Waxy's Little Sister - great way to end a crazy day - cant believe I only have a month left in this amazing city!