I popped into Parliament on the Thursday to get my computer set up before hauling my stuff to Waverley, which left me surprisingly out of breath and realising that I need to hit the gym again once I'm healthy. Nothing particularly eventful about the train ride, although the taxi driver had a late-night brain fart and wasn't sure where the street I was looking for was until I told him the area. My moneysaver for the weekend was to crash at my cousin's place in Kensington instead of camping at a hostel. I was initially worried that I would be in the way, but it turns out that he often works until 2am, being an intense CompSci professor, so as long as I didn't mess up the place or change the channel from the Olympics it was ok. We did have some nice conversation the first night though over a late dinner.
I'd arranged to meet Jenn the next morning at Piccadilly Circus, where she was staying at a hostel. Jenn is the fellow intern whom I spent the summer with picking our way through old naval documents and enduring the verbal barbs from highers-up, and since she's in Belfast this semester, where else to meet up but London? So after meeting up with her (and her pet octopus Otto) we went for a full English breakfast while figuring out what to do next.
Now I hadn't exactly planned what to do on this trip. Jenn, bless her, had a list of landmarks AND restaurants of interest, so after consulting the map, we figured we'd start further out and work our way back to the centre. First port of call: the Tower of London.
Trebuchet in the grounds.
Yup, that's a hand. Someone had a sick sense of humour.
Barney, our lovely Yeoman Warder or Beefeater.
This is the Bell Tower, where Sir Thomas More was held after Henry VIII got pissed off at him. Also held here was Elizabeth I, since her sister Mary I didn't trust her, being a Protestant and Mary a Catholic. We all know how that ended.
You can't see the sign that well, but that's the gate to the Bloody Tower.
This pretty glass monument marks the spot for many private executions, including Anne Boleyn. Back then, if you were rich enough, important enough, or the king decided to have mercy on you, you would get...not a pardon, but a private execution. Otherwise you got beheaded on Tower Hill in front of all and sundry.
The ravens of the Tower. Lord knows what they do all day, the only thing that matters is that if they leave, the kingdom falls. Although one could joke that devolution is already helping that process along.
This is me holding the legendary Otto! Gnomes are so last year.
Classic shot of Westminster Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, and a red double decker in the background.
On our way back to Leicester Square/Piccadilly, we decided to walk the path that would take us next to the Horse Guards and Trafalgar Square. It doesn't show that well, but this was a really grumpy horse. I think it got a little antsy with the kids running around as well.
Trafalgar Square! But no legendary flocks of pigeons. :(
The rest of the day was spent wandering the area doing touristy window shopping in places such as Chinatown and Shaftesbury Avenue. While running around looking for Fortnum & Mason's, we stumbled upon Forbidden Planet, which is a dream of comic books, manga, graphic novels, Studio Ghibli DVDs, and a huge-ass Enterprise model hanging from the ceiling.
We then had dinner at an Indian place which looked pricey until they offered the set dinner for £9, which was a pretty good deal. We also ended up with a leaflet for a burlesque cabaret show. Now, we were actually quite interested, but due to our mediocre sense of direction, we never actually found it. Instead, we were back at Leicester Square, surrounded by cinemas. Solution? Let's watch Sherlock Holmes!
I had had my reservations about the movie when the trailer first came out, since I usually preferred my Holmes fully clothed and a little less scruffy. But Jenn, also a Sherlock Holmes fan, had seen it, and she loved it, so I was persuaded. (Jenn, I swear there's a pattern going on here...first you convince me to watch the new Star Trek movie, and now the new Sherlock Holmes movie?) And I actually really really enjoyed it. I was terrified for a while that Guy Ritchie was going to go crazy and use something of the supernatural, so I was very glad when there was a explanation for everything. But what made me really happy was the Holmes-Watson dynamic. No blundering, blustering Watson here. We have someone who's capable in his own sphere, actually serves some use as the detective's assistant, appreciates the friendship while criticising Holmes's faults, and can hold his own in a fight. I think we'd have to credit House for that, though.
We parted ways for the day, after that, I went back to Kensington. Surprise, surprise, it was midnight and my cousin wasn't home. No matter, the figure skating came on at 1am so I watched it for a bit before heading off to sleep.
Stay tuned for Part 2!
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