Erin woke up early this morning to check the football scores; James was still recovering from watching the very, very late Michigan State v. Notre Dame game on the computer. Luckily, today was one of our planned "explore London" days, with only one time-sensitive plan on the calendar: we were scheduled to meet up with James's cousin Nate, his wife Joanne, and their daughters Evan and Jolynne.
We took the train from Highgate down to Waterloo Station, and walked down to the end of Westminster Bridge to
Portcullis House, a British Parliament "working space" only open to the public on Sundays. There, we met up with James's family and after stopping at one of the myriad
Pret A Manger restaurants, we headed into St. James's Park for some catching-up. Nate and James estimated that, if they had met, it had been well over 25 years ago. Nate and his wife Joanne have done well for themselves in the meantime; both Iowa natives, Nate is doing post-graduate work at King's College after completing his PhD in molecular biology at Yale; Joanne is busy doing computer and web development while taking care of their young daughters Evan and Jolynne. Nate did help support a common "Sherer" stereotype - they believe in over-education.
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| All of the Sherer's in London at St. James Park. |
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| A very people-friendly pelican allowed us to take a picture with it while we were in St. James's Park. (We were playing with some of the color functions on our camera, which is why the color of this picture may look different). |
After Nate and Joanne said their goodbyes, we headed into London's
National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, first stopping briefly outside to see exhibits from the
London Design Festival, including the Audi robot exhibit "
Outrace," where visitors to the site on the internet control the movements of a complex robot in the middle of Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery holds a truly impressive collection of art, including some very-well known pieces - the so-called
30 "highlight" paintings. We especially liked Georges Seurat's Bathers at Asnières, a pointillist painting done with thousands of tiny brushstrokes, and Vincent van Gogh's iconic Sunflowers.
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| The National Gallery of Art in London, which was filled with famous European art. |
Today was certainly one of our London museum days, and we next wandered next door to the National Portrait Gallery, which Erin professed to enjoy even more than the National Gallery. It was probably the modern work of Julian Opie and his drawing of the British band "
Blur" that really did it for her.
After leaving the Portrait Gallery, we wandered into the West End Theater District, where we saw the elaborate facades of London's current plays and musicals. James even (briefly) dragged Erin into London's
Kid Robot store. We then walked from the Theater District directly into London's Chinatown, which was bedecked with red and pink paper lanterns, and the hustle of people shopping for distinctly Asian groceries. This route eventually took us to Piccadilly Circus, London's response to (or perhaps the predecessor to) New York's Times Square. Piccadilly Circus is called London's "hub," due to the five roads that converge in its roundabout, and its close proximity to all of the shows. We certainly saw a lot of shoppers.
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| In London's West End, where many of the theaters are located. |
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| London's Chinatown district...lots of hanging lanterns, food markets, and restaurants.. |
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| Picadilly Circus - not quite as bright as New York's Times Square. |
We left Piccadilly and headed to
Hamley's Toy Store, London's largest, and one of the places James remembered best from his first trip to London when he was young. While we didn't buy anything, it was fun to browse the full five stories of toys from around the world. Erin also had the chance to spend some time in Hamley's Harry Potter Exhibit, and see wands, maps, and a full-scale "Dobby" up close. We stopped in another Pret A Manger restaurant for dinner, and while Erin ate healthy with a salad, James bought a sausage roll (imagine a sausage stuffed inside a McDonald's pie shell) from a grocery store and ate it on the way.
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| The Maruder Map, a special map which is used in the Harry Potter Movies. |
To finish up our day, we left the shops behind and started back towards the River Thames. On our way we passed King's College, where Nate is currently working, the Royal Courts of Justice, and even saw a Barclay's Bank Branch that was originally started in 1650! Eventually, we made it to the London Bridge as the sun started to set, for some sunset pictures of the Thames, Tabitha, and the loving couple - Erin and James. One tourist from Eastern Europe even asked to take his own picture with Tabitha! After our London Bridge photo stop was over, it was still a long walk back to Waterloo Station, but we made it home safe and sound.
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| Tabitha made her way to London Bridge! |
