1. Direct flight
2. English-speaking
3. In the budget
London won!
An amusing fact about our trip: It rained more in Chicago as we were flying out than it did in London. We were very lucky with the weather!
Our flight out ended up being delayed for multiple reasons. We slept on the way there (thank you, Zzzquil!) and arrived at Heathrow around 2:00PM London time. If time zone calculations make you queasy, that is 8:00AM Chicago time. So we were awake and ready to explore!
Of course we took a photo with the red telephone booth. Doesn't every tourist have one? I think it might be a law...
Our hotel was close to this famous bridge. Do you know its name?
Yes, Tower Bridge! (You smarty!)
Told you we had gorgeous weather! Jealous? We decided to walk along the riverfront path. *cough* Chicago, you could take some advice on this. *cough*
Our destination: Pieminister. Thank you, guide book, for a delicious recommendation! It was just a small store-front, but it was nice to sit outside and people-watch. A grabbed beer and wine from a festival nearby.
A had a beef ale pie with minty peas. (We decided minty/mushy peas are not our thing.) I had chicken-leek-cheese pie. Both very yummy!
We continued along the Thames and crossed over. We headed to the Theater Royal Haymarket to pick up our tickets for One Man, Two Guvnors. It came recommended from one of A's attending physicians (i.e. one of his many bosses).
It was the play's last night in that run, so we were lucky to get tickets! We had time to kill before it started, so we wandered over to Trafalgar Square. Along with all the historic buildings and monuments, we found this:
No idea what the point was, but it was amusing!
Finally, it was play time. As in, time for the play. You know what I meant! There was a band performing as we all took our seats. We thought it was just pre-show entertainment, but they were part of the play.
The theater itself was gorgeous!
If this play ever comes to the U.S., run, don't walk, to get tickets. And by run, I mean go on your computer. It was hilarious!
The next day was a Sunday, and we took an excursion to Greenwich. You know what's in Greenwich, right?
At the top of this hill is the Royal Observatory. This was the only hill they could find in the London area.
View from the top - you can see the river if you squint. The buildings are the Maritime Museum and the Queen's House.
At the Observatory they have the standards of measurement along with the true time.
All throughout the Observatory it is referred to as the "Prime Meridian of the World". In case you were confused and thought it was the Prime Meridian of the Solar System.
The line! Classic Eastside vs. Westside.
Do you want to know the truth? The line which today we call the Prime Meridian (of the World) is actually the fourth one! This is where the second one was.
They moved it each time the Astronomer Royal got a new telescope. Each one was successively bigger and couldn't fit in the building. So they built new buildings and moved the line. Makes sense, right? This was all explained to us by this guy:
Inside the original Observatory building, they have clocks from the 17th century! And they work!
This was the room the first Astronomer Royal observed from.
Since the Prime Meridian (of the World) was a reference point for sailors to use time to determine distance, the Observatory has a whole exhibit on keeping time. The big problem in the 18th century was carrying time with you. Watches did not exist! And clocks were huge! The British Parliament offered a cash prize to anyone who could invent a way to carry time on a ship. John Harrison did just that and won the prize. His first three attempts looked like this one. They were all over a foot high.
Then he had a breakthrough and his fourth (the winner) was the first pocket watch. You could hold it in your hand. Amazing!
Back in the day, sailors on the river would look to the Observatory to set their watches before heading out to sea. This red ball raises just before 1PM and then falls right at 13:00 Greenwich time.
After the Observatory, we headed to the Maritime Museum. Free and full of interesting artifacts.
Like Prince Frederick's pleasure barge, built in 1731. Gilded in gold. Just for him to cruise up and down the Thames.
We checked out the Queen's House. Originally built for Queen Anne (around 1616), it now houses some artwork but is mostly empty.
The most beautiful part is the tulip stairs.
The great hall is a perfect cube.
Their most famous piece is "The Battle of Trafalgar", a giant painting by Joseph Turner.
We then walked across the street to the former Naval Academy and saw the famous Painted Hall.
It's a huge hall and the walls and ceilings are all exquisitely painted.
The chapel across the courtyard was equally impressive.
It was time to head back. Instead of taking the train again, we took a river boat! They're pretty fast, and apparently a good number of people use them to commute to and from work.
Our destination: The Globe Theater. Not the real one, since it was torn down in the 17th century, but it's an outstanding reproduction!
Because we had tickets for a play that night, we also were able to see the museum and take a tour! These are props they use in the plays:
Queen Elizabeth costume:
Cleopatra costume (was worn and acted by a man!):
As I mentioned, this is a reproduction of the original Globe Theater. It's as close as they could get it and it's pretty impressive! They even somehow were able to get a thatch roof. (Remember that event in 1666... what was that... the great London fire?)
After the tour there was one thing left to do: Wait in line!
We bought "Groundling" tickets which meant the cheap seats. And by cheap seats, I mean no seats at all! You stand for the entire play. This is how the not-so-well-off watched plays back in Shakespeare's day.
We were lucky and were able to get a spot along the stage. Best place for short people!
We saw Macbeth. It was really great. There was even a famous actor: Billy Boyd! He played Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We were so close to the actors, A got hit by blood! And wine. And sweat.
It was late after the play but we were hungry, so we wandered looking for food. We settled for a pub (mostly since it was the only thing open!). A had fish and chips!
Next Up: "You're sure this isn't Disney World?"
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