Doesn’t he look cool? What he’s wearing is their official uniform. He kept comparing our tour group to wild animals. We were “stampeding wildebeests in the blazing hot sun” and “swans gliding gracefully across the water on a cold January morning,” among other things.
After the tour was over, we headed straight for the line to see the Crown Jewels. It was loooong, but worth the wait. As we slowly walked through about 4 rooms before getting to the actual vault where they keep the jewels, we saw a bunch of movies projected on the walls showing Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and up-close views/info on each of the jewels. Then, we got into the vault. Here’s what I have to say about the Crown Jewels: So beautiful. Soooo sparkly! So so so impressive. This was an excellent addition to my trip.
Next, we headed to London Dungeon, which is basically an educational haunted house. Play actors take you through, and in the process of being really scary and jumping out at you all over the place, they tell you about the diseases, torture methods, and murderers of old London. It was informative but really freaking scary for someone like me. The brochure specifically said “Not recommended for young children or persons with a nervous disposition,” which I’m pretty sure disqualifies me on both counts. But luckily Cote and Rachel were there to save me. I literally grabbed onto them for dear life in the Sweeney Todd room.
The end of the museum/haunted house tour is a smaller version of the Tower of Terror, where you’re strapped into a row of seats and they drop you really quickly and unexpectedly. They took a picture of us as we dropped, and I wouldn’t have spent the 5 pounds on the copy they were selling at the end, but Rachel’s face was PRICELESS. I wish so very much that there was a way for me to scan it and upload it here for all to see. Because seriously…best face ever. Every time I look at it, I can’t stop laughing. She’s going to be really happy that I’m describing her face this way.
After being traumatized for life, we took the Underground to King’s Cross to buy Eurostar tickets to France, since the blocking group rendez-vous is only 6 days away! Then we grabbed dinner near the station (which I didn’t realize was so beautiful…just another opportunity to take more pictures! Of which I have 200…from 3 days…), went to the internet café once again, and went back to Dave and Kathleen’s mew. We’ve gotten into the habit of making a video diary each night with Cote’s video camera, which has been pretty entertaining.
Also, for whatever reason, I was especially excited about the Underground today. I know this is a stereotypical cornerstone of the London experience, but I love when we get off the train and they tell us to “Mind the gap, please.” I also love that the trains are so colorful. I’m just a big fan of the Underground system in general. Here are a few pics I took today in my excitement:
Whew, so after this blogging extravaganza, time for bed. On the agenda for tomorrow: the London Eye and a day trip to Oxford.
That's a really cool picture of the underground train, good work Victoria! I look forward to watching these video blogs you speak of. Or known more commonly in the world of social media, Vlogs.
ReplyDeleteToodles!