Saturday, January 28, 2012

Lazy Last Saturday in London

After my late dinner last night, I was desperate for a lay in and as such, I woke up at 8, and then again at 10.  :)  I love getting to go back to sleep.

Once I was awake, Laura came into my room to see if I was ready to make pancakes.  She and Joanne and I had pancakes for breakfast and sat chatting for a little while.  They made me close my eyes and handed me a parcel.  They made a calendar for me with pictures of our times together.  The captions are full of jokes we've made and beautiful quotes.  I love it.

Laura and I got ready for the day and on the spur of the moment, headed into central London for a leisurely wander through the city.  We made our way to the Museum of London, and I'm so glad we did.


The Museum of London is not far from St. Paul's, and it tells the story of London.  I've never been before.  It is a small museum, but definitely worth the visit.  I learned that by 1714, London had more than 500 coffee houses.  Good heavens, how many does London have now????  I also learned that Caesar had a camp where London Heathrow stands.  The London Wall was built around 200 AD, parts of which can still be seen today.  London was first called Londinium by the Romans, who conquered in 54 AD (I think that's the right year!).

Laus and I were very entertained by the museum but also by a young couple walking through the museum.  The girl was very stylish and.... for lack of a better description, blonde.  The bloke was fairly average, but he could really have used some fashion tips from the girl, considering his trousers were a few inches too short.  He seemed quite knowledgeable about the history of London and the girl...well she seemed bored.  We are guessing it was a first date and they probably won't have a second!  At one point, she was on her phone, speaking to friends.  I'm guessing she isn't a London native, considering she didn't understand that there would not be mobile phone reception on the Underground.  Overall, I think she didn't really appreciate the Museum of London.


Then we set off on a rather long walk, intending to go to the Petrie Museum of Egyptology.  (Sir Petrie was an Egyptologist who excavated the Great Pyramid outside of Cairo in 1880.)  Sadly, we didn't plan our time accordingly, and didn't make it before closing.  However, the walk was a beautiful one.  Well worth it!




I particularly love the last picture.  This city is truly beautiful.  We stopped for a hot drink near the Petrie Museum, because although we couldn't see the artifacts, we needed to warm up!  We went to Carluccio's.  Laura got a hot chocolate and I (gasp)... got a mint tea rather than coffee.  I know.  It's shocking.  

After we were sufficiently warmed, we made our way home, stopping to get the ingredients for paneer korma for dinner.  We made dinner and settled in to watch Johnny English, a movie that I hadn't seen yet.  I laughed so very much.  It probably was bad to combine a full meal and lots of giggles, but it made for a lovely night.  

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