London, Day 2 (Monday 7 December)

Highlights of my first full day in London:
1. King's Cross Station
2. Madame Tussauds
3. Sherlock Holmes Museum
4. Regent's Park
5. London Zoo
6. British Library
7. The Blue Lion

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1. King's Cross Station

My first order of business after I had the hostel-sponsored breakfast was to visit King's Cross Station, because I heard from other friends that they had a fake brick barrier set up between platforms 9 and 10 that acted as a photography point for Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter books. Unfortunately, there's been construction at King's Cross, and I couldn't reach platforms 9-11, so that photo opportunity was lost. On a side note, though, I no longer wonder where Peter Jackson got the idea for what the nazgul's cry from Lord of the Rings should sound like. Just listen to the whistling of the brakes and gears of electric trains and you'll get the idea. The high-pitched electric squealing sounded so much like that special effect that I actually got a chill down my spine. (Who knows? That might have actually been what they used.)

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2. Madame Tussauds

So, I did kind of a dumb thing and again walked everywhere. It wasn't such a big deal as Sunday, because I wasn't wearing my backpack any more, but it was still quite a lot of walking. I walked about three tube stops before I reached my first touristy place of the day, Madame Tussauds. The line wasn't that long to get in when I was there, because I got there about when it opened, but it was very expensive to get in. To anyone traveling there in the future, I really wouldn't recommend it unless (1) you're a fan of celebrities or (2) you have children that would really like to take pictures with the wax models. Sure, I was fascinated by everything, and I even have a rather dashing photograph of the Daniel Craig picture, but there was still something missing from the experience because I didn't get to photograph anyone I was with along with the models (or, you know, have pictures of myself with them).

A few strange things before I leave off with here. Their sports room in the UK was filled with rugby, football (read: soccer), and cricket models and only a few other sports figures that I recognized. I got pretty exciting when I saw a cycling plaque on the wall and thought I might see a figure of Lance Armstrong or something, but of course not.

Also, they had a wax figure of Shrek. Not quite sure how that one's supposed to work, since he's not real. I walked around the figure to see the back of the vest, which supposedly was supposed to have been stamped with the imprint of ND's golden dome (since the creators were from ND), but the done wasn't there, so I was disappointed. Not sure whether that's an error on the part of the modelers or wishful thinking on the part of Shrek fans.

The third really strange thing was that they had a short ride at the end of it that reminded me of the inside of the Epcot ball at Disney. It was a ride that supposedly took a visitor through a brief history of London, but it was just freaky. Kind of like a mixture of "It's a Small World" (which even I think is creepy) and the weirdest parts of London's history, like fires and the surrealism of Beatles songs. I really don't know how else to describe it. It kind of really unsettled me, a little, the way the cars would jerk around on the track and force you to stare at whatever.

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3. Sherlock Holmes Museum

So, as you nerds may or may not know, the address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (a creation of Arthur Conan Doyle) is at 221a Baker Street. It wasn't too far from Madame Tussauds so I figured I'd make a visit. I didn't count on there being a price for admission to the house, so I actually skipped it, but the gift shop in and of itself was worth a few minutes. The staff were dressed in period clothes and actually used the handpiece of an old-fashioned telephone to make their calls.

After I visited the museum, I went back and caught some of the souvenir shops on the main street outside before I headed north.

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4. Regent's Park

I don't think I originally planned to spend as much time as I did at Regent's Park, but it was a fine day and I still had plenty of spring in my step. It was right in the same area of town anyways, so I figured while I was out there I might as well pay it a visit. I got many, many pictures, most of which will be on Shutterfly shortly, but for those who can't see the pictures right now, a brief run-through will suffice.

There's an Inner Circle and a Broadwalk that make up most of the walking areas in the park, but I spent most of my time at Inner Circle. It was some kind of garden that was maintained for Queen Anne, I think, and it showed. Around the perimeter, there were at least seventy kinds of roses, and a few were still clinging to life even in December. I also got some wonderful photographs of willow trees and ducks which were not mallards. I also saw a pair of black swans!

I also walked up the main broadwalk and saw a bandstand there, but that's of almost no consequence. What is, though, was the cute sausage stand I found to eat lunch at. It was like a hot dog stand, but inside this cute cottage in the middle of the park. So it made a good lunch, and I enjoyed the few minutes of sitting time while I had it.

While I was walking, I noticed on the map of Regent's Park that the London Zoo was actually embedded in the park, so I figured, why not go to the zoo since I'm here anyways?

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5. London Zoo

So I went to the zoo. Another exorbitant fee for admission, but I spent a few good hours there, so it was worth it to me. Their aquarium was impressive. They had one tank devoted to fish they had saved from negligent owners. Apparently, when those types of fish were young, they were smaller and more attractive, so people wanted to keep them as pets. Now, they're about the size of my torso and probably just as heavy, and they need a huge tank to survive. It was sad to think that those fishes had been taken care of by idiots, but at least they were rescued now. I also saw quite a few tanks of amusing tropical fish and even a tank of fish that are either near extinction or actually extinct in Madagascar, so that was cool.

After the aquarium, I hit the reptile house. For once in my life, I actually saw the reptiles moving when I was in there! One of the basilisks was so dumb he tried to climb the glass wall separating me from him, as if he were showing off for me. I watched snakes climb up trees and turtles scurry and swim. I got freaked out at one point because they had put projections onto the floor of reptiles crawling around, but once I realized it wasn't real I remembered how to breathe again. Interestingly, inside the reptile house, they actually have a plaque commemorating the fact that Harry Potter was fictionally there. (And I think they also wanted to remind visitors that the only way a snake can get loose is by an act of magic.) Side note: How was that python supposed to have gotten to Burma anyways? Wouldn't it, like, have to cross an ocean and stuff? Just wondering.

I also got to pet a snake! I don't remember what kind it was, but it felt smooth, like plastic almost, not rough like other reptiles I've touched. Kind of cool.

They had most of the other normal kinds of animals, like zebras, giraffes, warthogs (CHUPATHINGY!), tigers, gorillas, white-faced monkeys, boars, camels, llamas, etc., but the next thing that really stuck out to me was that they had a human-sized model of a termite colony constructed by artists who were trying to study the industrious habits of termites. Needless to say, this confused me. I was also amused endlessly by the family of otters that the zoo had. I spent about 45 minutes just letting them lead me back and forth across their cage, listening to their cries (somewhere between birds and cats, like squeaky babies or something), and watching them play with pebbles. I have a 40-second video of one particular otter batting a pebble against the glass as if that would impress me, it has to be seen to be believed.

Overall... I hate to say this, but I was kind of disappointed. I mean, I've also got ridiculously high expectations, because Columbus Zoo is ranked #1 in the country right now, but still, I was disappointed. It also made me rather homesick. At this time of year, the zoo at home has ZooLights, where they put up about six hundred thousand (LED) Christmas lights all around the place. It's very romantic and Justin and I usually go on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Well, obviously we didn't get to go yet this year. Hopefully we can go once I get home, but... zoos remind me of Christmas at home, that's all.

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6. British Library

The zoo closed around sunset, which in London right now is around 4 PM. Once I got shooed out, it started to rain a little, and I was generally grumpy, cold, and wet until I saw the British Library on my way back to the hostel. I stopped in, even though I'd only have about an hour and a half until the exhibits close (everything in the world closes at 6, I swear!), but it was worth it. Free admission, and I saw two of the coolest exhibits ever.

The first exhibit was any photography nerd's dream. It was about the early history of photography and how it was used in sociological contexts (like ethnography and in cases of class division, composition, etc.). I learned about calotypes, daguerrotypes, and silver nitrate (more than I expected) and some of the photographs on display were almost haunting. Thankfully I picked up a brochure, because I obviously wasn't allowed to take photos of the exhibition.

Then upstairs was the British Library's main collection. They split off from the British Museum as the Museum got to be too full, or something like that, I don't exactly remember the story, but anyways, the Library got to keep all of the rare manuscripts and everything like that. So, the main collection was a series of really rare and valuable pieces of literature. I saw pages of the Gospels with gold leaf on them, but they didn't just have Christian religious texts, they had rare items from other religions too. They had an original copy of the Magna Carta enshrined in its own room. (It's a big deal for Brits, just like the Declaration of Independence is important to us.)

Some of the other neat things that they had included some of the drafts and work done while Samuel Johnson was compiling his dictionary, a case devoted to the Bard (I saw a folio that might contain one of his very early 'lost' plays, even something that's been generally decided to be in his handwriting), manuscripts written by a Bronte, the original edition of Alice in Wonderland with illustrations by Lewis Carroll, part of a handwritten lecture made by Freud, a letter detailing how computer programming might be useful in the future... what was probably the coolest, to me, though, was Ravel's first manuscript copy of his Bolero. It was SO COOL to stand there and hum along to the main melody as I read along to something that was in his handwriting... but I might just be a nerd like that.

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7. The Blue Lion

So I left the British Library around six, but I didn't want to go back to the hostel just yet, so instead, I dropped off my souvenirs, grabbed my journal, and headed to a pub for dinner and a warm place to sit and write. I went to a pub called The Blue Lion, which had a great atmosphere and background music. I ordered the closest thing they had to fish and chips, which was salmon and haddock breaded cake things with chips and salad, and washed it down with a pint of Amstel while I wrote about my day. I must have stayed there for at least three hours, just sipping at my pint and scribbling away. One of the gentlemen there even asked me "How's the novel going?" I had to admit that it wasn't my novel... but I had that small, secret smile, because I knew, even though he didn't, that I had in fact just written a novel.

That's pretty much my whole day again.

- Jen -