Metal Meredith

Fish and Chips

It was our last day in London, since tomorrow is a travel day. Although our shins were tight and our feet were aching, we decided to take off again and visit a museum, get an authentic British lunch and do a little shopping.

Phil wanted to go to the British Museum, which was free. All the other attractions cost quite a bit. The London eye was 14 pounds per person, which is about $28. The Tower of London, which we opted not to go in, was 15 pounds or $30, Westminster Abbey was 10 pounds per person. Phil started talking about how expensive these tourist sites are considering how the Smithsonian is free. We could only come to the conclusion that since they were so old, they had monetary seniority for asking price. Just as we were done talking about it, three Americans passed us complaining “Tell me, what in New York costs $30 to visit?” Phil wouldn’t let me go share the ‘old’ theory.

The museum was exactly what you would expect. Well, kind of. It was all old stuff that Phil liked and I thought was pretty boring. I do understand how important these things are in the history of the world, but it seems like they exist solely for my father and husband’s pleasure of explaining them to me. (Dad, I know what the Rosetta Stone is now). There were some nice things about the building that kept me interested.

It originally had a large courtyard which was enclosed with a glass top and a large round building in the center. Then, one of the rooms looked more like a large personal library than a museum, with bookshelves filled with old volumes of books interspersed with collections of ancient statues, art, fossils, and stuffed animals (real ones, not like teddy bears).

There were more exhibits that I took some photos of. Big scary costumes with masks, and Easter Island statue and a very large Buddha-thingy. After, we went to Munchkins and both had a traditional British lunch of Fish and Chips, Mushy Peas and Bangers and Mash. We also had pints of Diet Coke with no ice. The mushy peas were good, even though it doesn’t sound like they would be. I am not sure what kind of sausage “Bangers” are, but they were very tasty. Fish and Chips were exactly what you would expect.

We took a walk to Russell Square and looked for some shopping centers, only to find that it wasn’t opening until summer 2006. We jumped on another tube and went to Oxford Circus Station. This was by far the busiest area we have been to yet and I can only imagine what the shopping districts of New York must be like. It was wall to wall people, buses, shops, restaurants and horns, sirens and cars. At every block we were hoping to find the store we were looking for, but ended up walking another 10-15 blocks until we found yet another station. By now, we are tube experts.

With my arches about to fall and Phil staggering along behind, we made it back to our hotel. We ate some noodles for dinner, had more of that horrid chocolate crazy thing and packed for tomorrow. Flight is at 1030am. By 1pm, we will be in Amsterdam with a whole new city to learn, another language to a giant new hotel. It is supposed to be 35 degrees the entire time we are there. I am sure my next post will be about how cold it is and how I can’t pronounce one single thing.