Painting and Chocolates

I'm (still) having an existential crisis. So instead of making important notations regarding life, I am reading young adult fiction, trying my hand at painting bears, and eating chocolates.

Though the painting isn't done… the box of chocolates certainly is. Score one for the artist and her now tight-fitting jeans. Don't pretend like you aren't extremely impressed.

B is for Bon Voyage: London (Thai Food and Stomp)

After our most disappointing encounter with the Tate Modern museum, we dashed across town to pick up tickets for our Broadway show of choice and dropped by the Courtald museum, which turned out to be about 5 steps from our hotel hidden in this little house/apartment building. In comparison to the Tate,  where there were literally thousands of people dashing about, it was intimate, quiet, and very peaceful.

We exhausted the Courtald in about 45 minutes, and moseyed on over toward the theatre where we would be seeing "Stomp", provided we could stay awake and avoid getting lost entirely before the show started. We found a Thai food restaurant that ensured us if we ate quickly, that we could come in. Who knew that Thai food in London would be AMAZING. It was SO good. Coconut rice is now on my list of favorite things. Next to Thai iced tea. And awesome siblings.

After practically tackling our waiter to get him to give us our check, we found ourselves with an hour before the theatre would open, with naught to do but wander. Fortunately for us, London puts a coffee shop on every corner for the wanderers, and we found our way to the absolute BEST hot chocolate I have ever had. It is literally like drinking warm pudding. And the sugar rush was helpful in keeping us awake for Stomp.

There are no photos from Stomp, of course, because the ushers were vigilant, and kept yelling at people for taking photos when they shouldn't. And I do mean yelling. So you'll just have to take my word for it- the show was amazing and I highly recommend it.

Next up- it rains. And rains. And rains. Until we purchase an umbrella. Then it stops.

B is for Bon Voyage: London (The Natural History Museum)

Afters oaring over the heights of London, we decided to take the tube back over to the Natural History Museum, which happened to be open extra late because it was a Friday night. We spent a bit of time lolligagging (not a google recognized word, by the way) outside, enjoying people watching and watching dusk settle over the fountain and lions. And Glen, the blue chicken.

 

 

The museum was really fun- they had a big room filled with different sizes of mammals. Blue whales are BIG you guys- so much bigger than pretty much anything else.

 

There was also an extensive dinosaur exhibit, which was an interesting read.

 

We didn't have time to explore as much as we wanted- we were in a battle with our very sore feet and tired legs, and they were on the verge of beating us into submission. We did catch the highlights though- like the enormous tree piece on the third floor. In grade school, we learned how to read a tree's rings- but there were handy signs for those who did NOT go to one of the very interesting schools in the great North West.

We stumbled off to a coffee shop to grab some dinner (and by dinner I do mean to use their wireless) and eventually made our way back to the hotel, where we topped the day off with a milkshake, and proceeded to have intense insomnia thanks to our late night coffee exploits.

B is for Bon Voyage: London (Tower of London)

After waking up bright and early and filling up on porridge (which, in case you were wondering, is the same thing as oatmeal) we headed off to the Tower of London.

Did you know that the Tower of London isn't actually a tower? Its more of an old castle. And by old I mean it was built in 1066 or something like that- partially by William the Conqueror.

The guards and tour guides still wear interesting apparel- I was quite fascinated.

There were a couple interactive bits, which I of course insisted photographing. Those helmets were HEAVY.

Did I mention the very large armor area? The armory had a large display of armor that was worn by various historic figures.

 

 

We also saw some crown-age. There was actually a hugely impressive area dedicated to the crown jewels, but as you may suspect photographs were discouraged with a stern look and a tackle to the ground, so photos from the less impressive (jewels removed, I mean) will just have to do.