Museum Hopping

Saturday was our dedicated museum day. We knew that we could easily spend the whole day in the British Museum, but also came across a smaller zoology museum--The Grant Museum of Zoology-- on the way there and decided to pop in for a minute.

It was just one room, but really cool.

The architecture alone was beautiful, along with all of the specimens that they had inside.

Lots of fun stuff to look at.

Then, we continued our walk, passing by more old buildings with signs about who had lived here once upon a time, like this one, the home of Charles Darwin from 1838 to 1842.

Then, we finally made it to the British Museum and after standing in a line for a bit (because even with tickets, the line went around the block), we were inside. 

We checked out all the Egyptian mummies

and other ancient artifacts. Who knows how long England will get to keep all of this stuff, but it was interesting to read some of the stories of how they obtained items.

We found stories and Olympians that we know from Greek mythology, like Hermes, Dionysus, Demeter, and Ares.

These statues from the Parthenon are beautiful.

(Bug was ordered to pose this way--not something he would choose, haha.)

And bits of the Mausoleum. It's crazy that these things we read about from 1000s of years ago are still around!

There's an exhibit on clocks through history and this was one of my favorites.

It's a huge museum and I hit my wall before closing time, so while the others rushed through a couple more exhibits, I went to get tea and relaxed for a bit in one of the cafes.

And then it was time for Bean's birthday surprise: tickets for Wicked!

We decided to surprise her with a second show (especially because leading up to it, she wasn't all that excited about Hadestown, even though she ended up loving it.) Wicked was the favorite of the two shows we saw--it was so well done and has such catchy music and great effects.

And then we began our adventure of trying to get home. We had a mix-up in the Paddington tube station and walked in circles for way too long, with everyone getting very tired and still had a longish walk to get home. We've had too many long days, late nights, and upset plans, with an uncomfortable night of sleep to look forward to--not gonna lie--it's been hard at times. I'm not usually ready to be done with a trip, but I'm feeling ready to have my own bed and to not have to plan transportation each day. I'll miss all the exploring and new things, but it's feeling like it's about time to go home. Just a couple of days left.

Exploring London

Waking up somewhat refreshed, we were ready to go exploring. And because we were staying right by King's Cross Station, first order of business was to visit Platform 9 3/4. 

The photo spot had a long line and we had places to be, but we did pop in the gift shop to look at all the things Harry Potter.

This was to become a theme of our trip--because that is probably the biggest change since I visited 25 years ago--Harry Potter has taken over the UK. We're not complaining.

But then, we had to hurry down to the Tower of London for our entrance time.

Another view.

It was a great dive into the history of London. The castle is massive and open for exploration.

We read about the people who have lived here, attacked, snuck in, been imprisoned. . .

I loved seeing the medieval graffiti from prisoners. 

We didn't do a tour, but it was fun seeing the guides get people riled up and excited at some spots of the tour.

One of the bedchambers from hundreds of years ago.

I remember being a little disappointed by some castle tours because there were only a few rooms restored, but this one really lets you see all the areas and get a feel for what it would have been like to live here. It's a great starting point for the history of the UK.

And then we started our long walk for the day.

We crossed the Tower Bridge and enjoyed the views of the River Thames.

On the other side, we walked along the river with more views of the bridge, and old buildings everywhere.

At this point, we had some hungry people and Peanut was still struggling from the motion sickness the day before--it tends to linger for another 24 hours or so for him, with a lot of lightheadedness and generally just feeling crappy. And riding the tube that morning didn't help. So, we walked on to our next stop:

the Borough Market.

Super crowded spot under the train tracks with lots and lots of food stands, mixed in with a few booths selling other items, too.

It was really fun to see,

and we were able to grab food from a couple different stands--meat pies, fish and chips, and pastries. The food was all really good and even if it was pretty crowded, it was a fun location.

And then it was back to more walking. 

We crossed back over the river, stopped by the site of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, crossed over the Waterloo Bridge, and made our way to Leicester Square.

Saw the famous lions, and then it started to rain--we'd been so lucky all day that the chance of showers hadn't amounted to anything, but this was perfect timing.

We had made it in time to spend a little while in the National Gallery.

Bean is probably the most interested in art museums, but we all enjoyed seeing the Van Goghs and Monets.

Lots of interesting paintings.

And the architecture in the building was gorgeous!

We saw the main things we'd wanted to before closing time, and then needed to find something to eat because we had plans for the evening. There was a noodle place not too far away that looked really good and was easily customized, perfect for everyone to get something they liked. Peanut's stomach was still a little iffy, so he didn't eat much, but everyone else was happy with it.

And then . . .Hadestown!

We had a hard time choosing what show we wanted to see while we were in London--the kids have favorites, based off the couple they have seen, and Daddy-o and I have seen a couple more that we thought the kids would like, but kind of wanted to see something new.

Hadestown fit the bill and was really fun. Peanut is a fan of Greek myths, and we all really enjoyed the jazz music. I think it lived up to the hype.

It was late and drizzly when we finished and took the tube back to King's Cross. We are definitely getting out steps and appreciated the ride at the end of the day!

And even though it was late, we ran back over to Platform 9 3/4 to see if the lines were gone. They were, but so was the trolley. Guess that's only out during the day.

At the End of the Day

I have so many back-posts to do, but decided the only way I'm not going to feel hopelessly behind is to spend a few minutes every couple days on the current events so I don't have even more to make up when I finally go back and fill in.

So, here we are--Saturday night, we got to fill a long time bucket list and go to see Les Miserables.

We had tickets in 2020, but of course that didn't work out, so I was really excited when I saw it was coming back.

(I love the Orpheum--my favorite place to see things coming through the area.)

It was just as good as I remembered and blew us all away. No matter how many times you listen to the music or watch a movie version, nothing can compare to seeing it performed live. The kids all loved it and now I'm on the lookout for more things coming our way. I'm kicking myself that we didn't plan better for our trip to NY last year because we ended up not seeing anything while we were there. Missed opportunity for sure.