Day Five started with a train ride to the upstream section of the Thames. We were headed for Hampton Court, Henry VIII and William III's palace.
But first, a side note: We arrived at the train station around 9:00AM. There were thousands of people coming in from outside the city. The bus dropped us off near where everyone was waiting for buses to different sections of the city. We saw people standing in line. The lines continued down the stairs into the train station. There were at least 200 people. All standing IN LINE. In two lines, really. No pushing, no shoving, two orderly lines with plenty of space for people to walk around. And when someone arrived at the front, they walked all the way to the back to get in line. A and I looked at each other in disbelief. Seems one stereotype of London is true - everyone is very polite! (This would not have been the same in America!)
On to our outing... when we arrived at Hampton Court, we first headed for their famous hedge maze. We wanted to beat the tourists and also it was going to get up to 85° that day! (They had record-breaking heat for two days.) Unlike Disney World, they give you no hints on which way to go - you truly have to solve it yourself!
We stuck to our plan of attack and found the center!
Then we walked through the rest of the beautiful gardens. I tried to persuade A to commit to trimming our future trees in this shape. He wasn't too excited about it.
Something we did not realize is Hampton Court is home to the Largest Vine in the World! This is just half of it... they even have about a quarter-acre of land they never plant because it's home to the vine's roots.
Hampton Court is a very interesting building. It was built during the Tudor period and used frequently by Henry VIII to escape from central London. Then it fell into disuse and when William III decided to make court there, he wanted to demolish the entire building and start over. Thankfully for us, he didn't have enough money. So instead he added on a wing for his rooms in the Baroque style. It's a huge contrast.
I loved the Tudor chimneys! They were mostly unique - not many repeats.
We made use of the audio guides (free!) and took multiple self-tours. Here are some highlights.
This is Henry VIII's Great Hall. It's decorated with his hunting trophies as well as very old tapestries.
The first greeting room for William III held weapons to show off and also keep in easy reach.
William III had many throne rooms. The further along you went, the more well-liked you were by the King. You could end up in his public bedroom. It even had a bed and the King greeted his close courtiers in it!
We looked around for a boat to Kew Gardens, but were told the only ones were leaving much later. So instead we took a bus, which was quick and easy. Kew Gardens are huge! There are many interesting things, including a pagoda which some royal family member decided they wanted.
They have a treetop walkway. It's pretty high, but A was brave and we took a walk around.
One cool thing we saw were plants which looked like rocks. Amazing!
After heading back to the city, we walked and sat along the riverfront and watched it go from day to night.
The next day was dedicated to two famous institutions: The British Library and the British Museum. I have no photos from the Library (not allowed and it was very dark). The Library houses world treasures such as a copy of the Magna Carta, the original Beowulf manuscript, an original copy of Canterbury Tales, Jane Austen's notebook, and a Gutenberg Bible. Among many other precious works!
We walked to the British Museum next. While we are very glad we were able to see so many fantastic treasures, we had to keep in mind these are really the spoils of robbery. I wonder if there is a marker in Egypt saying "Here is where the Rosetta Stone was rediscovered." Because the artifact itself is in the British Museum:
I have many, many photos of the amazing things in the museum. I won't bore you with those (go see them yourself sometime!). But we loved the Egyptian artifacts.
They really do have the best mummies.
We took a break at one point and headed to our fancy lunch for the trip. We knew we wanted to eat at one of Gordan Ramsey's restaurants while in London. The Savoy Grill was our choice and it did not disappoint!
We stayed at the museum until they kicked us out. The entire trip we were very thankful for the clear walking directions.
We hung out in St. James Park until dark. Not being very hungry (giant lunch!), we wandered over to Leicester Square and found this guy cooking Chinese food in a glass box. It's called Wok to Walk (did you just laugh? I did). So we munched on take-out noodles and watched the people go by.
On Friday (Day 7), London finally broke it's summer weather and it rained. But just in the morning. Luckily, our plan was to head to Westminster Abbey.
Upon arrival, there was a line of tourists. But it was fast-moving. Having learned our lesson earlier in the trip, we opted for another private tour. There were eight other people in our group, and we were the youngest by far. The tour allowed us to go into the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, which is otherwise off-limits to visitors. I was bad and took a photo from the hip.
Many kings and queens are buried in the Abbey. Many famous people as well, including Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. There are so many people buried there, they ran out of room!
In one room, you could see paintings from the 14th century!
Next, we headed to one of London's most beloved museums: The Victoria & Albert. Informally called the V&A. There, we had afternoon tea. They had delicious food.
And beautiful tea rooms.
We joined a free tour whose guide ran us around as quickly as possible to show us some of his favorite pieces. The museum is huge! And has quite a varied collection. One of our favorites were Tipu's Tiger, a wood carving which winds up and then moves while playing sounds of a tiger and a British soldier crying out in pain. Well-loved by Tipu Sultan, an Indian ruler. And then by the British soldiers who conquered him.
Another amazing piece is a fully intact Persian rug called the Ardabil Carpet. It's about 35 feet long by 18 feet wide. Very beautiful. They only keep the overhead lights on for 10 minutes every hour to minimize damage.
After the clouds cleared, we walked to Kensington Park where we found the Albert Memorial. Can you tell how much Victoria loved and missed her husband?
The gardens were gorgeous.
Kensington Palace (home to William & Kate!) also had beautiful gardens.
We headed back toward Piccadilly Circus where we watched the street performers and picked up ads for comedy clubs.
We chose a club and headed there. Usually we're more fans of improv than stand-up, but all of the comedians were hilarious. Even the jokes about Americans. :)
Coming Up: A famous market!
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