Friday night, my friend Olivia invited me to a poker night with some of her work friends. Before we headed to the party, we met up at the Covent Garden Hotel for a quick drink with some other friends. We only stayed for one drink and later found out that we left one drink too early. The people we were with phoned later in the night to let us know Clive Owen came into the hotel for a drink and stood right next to where we were sitting. OMG! The poker night was very reminiscent of my book club parties in that there was no poker, just a lot of chatting all night.
After an early morning hair apt. on Saturday, I planned out a big weekend of visiting museums all day Saturday and Sunday. The plan was to start on the East side of town and work my way West. What I didn’t reach on Saturday would then roll over to Sunday. It seems my plans were somewhat too ambitious as I planned to hit ten museums. On top of that, once I got to the salon on Saturday morning, I realized I forgot my map at home and two of the main tube lines were closed for repairs all weekend. No tube line meant I had to find a new route, but no map meant I had to use my memory of the city. I knew of two museums around my neighborhood so I headed back that way.
The first museum was the Victoria and Albert in South Kensington. They have works from all over the world and are currently showing a special piece on fashion from the 60’s. I did the fashion area as well as the Middle Eastern rooms which were all amazing. The Middle Eastern room was so amazing and was so reminiscent of Saudi. The side of the V&A holds a lot of history as well in that it shows many of the scars of WWII.
From there, I crossed the street to the Natural History museum. While it was really cool, it was also really packed with kids and strollers. I walked the science portion for about an hour and then had to give up. I made my way home, took a cat nap and then hit the road again having picked up my map. This time I decided to ditch the museum idea and head up the road to do a little shopping and visit Harrods. Note that I didn’t say shopping at Harrods. Harrods was definitely more than I expected. In my mind, I figured it would be something like Macys in NY. I had no idea it was also a food market with rooms for meats and cheese and chocolate. WOW! I also didn’t realize the number of people who would be there. You could barely walk, it was body to body.
Sunday I awoke to a beautiful weather day and decided I would try and fit in the remaining eight museums. Again, wishful thinking. With the main tube lines down, I had to rework my plan to find museums which were on alternate lines. My first stop was to the London Dungeon. I figured it would be a history museum of the terrible things that were done here over the ages. Little did I know it was actually more of a haunted house where the workers dressed up in costumes and scared the crap out of you. While there were moments where I was a little scared, I would say it was well worth the money (it is one of the few places you have to pay to get into). I also got picked on a ton for doing the tour by myself. I figured museums and movies were things everyone could do on their own. I guess that is not the trend over here.
From there, I figured my soul needed a little cleansing so I headed over to St. Paul’s Cathedral. My timing was impeccable as I arrived just as they began their Sunday afternoon service. The choir was amazing.
All in all, it was a packed weekend but I didn’t really come close to my ten museum visit. Next time I will know better. Oh yeah, and yesterday marks the beginning of week three. It should be a good one. Miss you all!
V&A Main Entrance
WWII Notice
V&A Wall Damage
Natural Science Museum
Harrods at Night
The London Dundeon Entrance
Inside the Dungeon
St Pauls 1
St Pauls 2
