London History

June 10, 2013 Monday

Pete and I enjoy museums, especially history museums.  So Monday was our day for the London Museum.  We dragged Rick along with us, but it was a working day for Lisa.

Near the entrance to the London Museum, there was a photographic exhibit from the 2012 UK Picture Editors Guild Awards.  We especially enjoyed this photo of Prince Charles shooting a paintball gun on St. David's Day.

We picked up a wheelchair for me inside the museum.  I felt pretty silly, but my knee really needed a break.  The museum's exhibits covered the whole range from pre-historic times to present day.  Our main reason for going was to see the Roman era stuff, but it was all interesting.  We were amazed that with all the exhibits about the various wars, there was not a single word about the American Revolution.  Guess that war didn't affect London too much.  The information about the various fires and plagues was enlightening, as was the exhibit about the bombing of London by the Nazis during World War 2.  We in the USA have no idea how much our friends across the pond have been through during their history.

St. Paul's Cathedral is not far from the London Museum, so that was our next stop.  The WW2 damage to this structure was amazingly light.  Unfortunately, the admission price was steep so we did not go in. But we took lots of photos outside.

Two dignitaries on a pedestal in front of one of the entrances to St. Paul's:

Two more photos of St. Paul's -- Feed the Birds!

We headed back to Lisa's flat.  She has the top floor, so there a quite a few steps to get up to the third level.  She's made it very nice and homey, and has space to paint. 

Lisa's front door (on the right side):

Lisa made us a yummy dinner and we watched Stranger Than Fiction, a movie about an IRS agent.

At the end of the day, Pete and Rick took a little hike around the neighborhood while I iced my knee with frozen peas and talked with Lisa.  They went to Alexandra Park, where they hiked along the woods and saw two guys with radio control airplanes.  At least one plane is visible in this photo.

Alexandra Palace is a former royal holding that was converted to public use in the 20th century, most recently as a major entertainment center.  There's an ice rink, skate board park, soap box race track, concert hall, and more.

Alexandra Palace

View of London from Alexandra Park: