….after 4 days with Mom and Papa we decided to give the girls a break
Today Kevin and I ventured out on our own while Andrea and Josie did their own thing. We got on the Tube and made our way to the Bloomsbury District of London. The Tube by the way is the name of London’s subway system because it is shaped like a tube.
- The Underground is divided into nine zones: central London is covered by zone 1.
- There are 11 Tube lines.
- The Tube fare depends on how far you travel, time of day, and how you pay.
The Underground platforms lie anywhere from 41m to 58m below street level. The longest escalator at the Angel station is 60 m or 200 ft. long. All day long the PA system sends out PSAs warning people about the dangers on the escalators and advising commuters to keep to the right side.
The first stop we made on this day was at the British Museum. We were there in the middle of the week and so were hundreds of school children. This museum was built in 1753 and is a public institution dedicated to human history, art and culture.
Some of the objects that we saw included Japanese art forms from Manga cartoons to wood cut prints and sculptures made from clay, bronze and glass.
We also visited the Iraq display where we saw the Cyrus Cylinder.
We passed on seeing the Rosetta Stone because there was a class of children in the line ahead of us and my husband just wanted to leave at that point. We made our way across the street and decided to grab some lunch at a pub.
One of our biggest disappointments in London was the lack of independent pubs. Many of the pubs belong to a chain called Greene King and when you walk into one it is pretty obvious that it is part of the chain. It seems they all have the same menu and alcohol selection. The first one we ate in was situated across the street from the museum. The food was good but later during our trip we found it difficult to find a pub with a different menu.
Around the block from the pub we discovered this wonderful art gallery called the Contemporary Ceramic Centre. We were immediately drawn to the window by the display of Sophie Favre’s figurative sculptures. At the front and back of the gallery dozens of her animated sculptures greeted us with their human-like qualities.
These creatures certainly brought a smile to my face.
Mama Cormier 