The old brown cow, she ain't what she used to be!!

It is Saturday morning and we have decided to take the day off as we are meeting friends for dinner tonight. Throughout the last week we have settled into a routine which gets us home around 6-7 pm each evening by which time I am well and truly done! The old brown cow definitely ain't what she used to be and I'm blaming it on age and not on the fact that I'm really not as fit as I should be. The next few weeks might change this.

Yesterday was the best day yet I think. We went to the Museum of London. I had never even heard of this and, neither it seems, have many of my British friends. It is close to St. Paul's Cathedral and so we stopped there first. Michelle took a few photos from the outside and then we ventured in.

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Dome of St. Paul's Cathedral

Statue of Queen Anne, outside St. Paul's Cathedral

We had decided not to stay to look at the inside... you just can't do it all, however at the entrance before you have to pay to get in you do get a few glimpses of the place and we went into a little side chapel which was free and open for the public who would like to sit, pray, meditate, whatever. As coincidence would have it, yesterday was the anniversary of my father's death and so Michelle and I both lit a candle for him and enjoyed the place for a few minutes.

Front of the side chapel, St. Paul's Cathedral

doorway into side chapel, St. Paul's Cathedral

Ceiling of side chapel, St. Paul's Cathedral

Sue lighting a candle

On the way to museum we passed an old church, most of which has been destroyed. A garden has been built on the site with box hedges showing where the pews original stood and square arbours to represent the pillars of the church. It was lunchtime and local workers obviously use this garden during their work breaks.

Plaque showing the history of Greyfriars Garden

(formerly Wren Church)

Greyfriars Garden

Greyfriars Church

These little havens of peace amongst the hustle and bustle, and complete madness if I'm to be totally honest about London, are to be found all over the place, which is what makes it the place that people love. Somebody tends these gardens. I'm not sure who pays for it but I wonder about this all the time as we travel around. It stands in sharp contrast to Canadian cities where they may leave one "lot" out of a new subdivision to be used as "park". Most of what makes London beautiful is of course the old stuff. Michelle commented yesterday that the new buildings in London are just as ugly as the new buildings in Canada. However, there are many things like plants, trees, and the distance created by intermittent green space, that would be easy to replicate anywhere. On this trip I am noticing that so many major roads are hung with enormous hanging baskets. A petunia grower somewhere is making it rich!! Its gorgeous.

When we arrived at the museum we opted for a restaurant which was a strange mixture of new and old. It looked like it had perhaps been an old warehouse with very high ceilings. It was an open area with food preparation right in the same room. The windows were floor to ceiling, the floor was the old parquet tiles with scattered cow (?) hide mats. We speculated that the doors had once been revolving doors which had been replaced with circular curtain rings and long heavy velvet drapes and the ordering and cash station was on top of some old fashioned filing cabinets. Some of tables were small and new but we sat on the end of a very long refectory style table laid with linen napkins. Certainly enough things in there for us to talk about as we waited for lunch which turned out to very nice and a reasonable price.

The entrance to the museum is through a raised glass tunnel which takes you past the last remaining piece of the old London Wall. They have had to patch it over the years. Unfortunately Michelle did not photograph it. Sometimes it is hard to take pictures as there is a lot of glare through glass.

Once inside the museum the exhibits start with "London before London" and they explain what it was probably like before the Romans invaded. From this period they take you through the Roman, Saxon, medieval etc. etc. right to modern day. There are many interactive exhibits all designed in a very child friendly way with questions so the kids can guess the answers first.

Towards the end, one dark room where people stood or sat on the floor, had a WWII bomb suspended from the ceiling. A video on the walls contained a serious of comments by Londoners remembering specific days when a bomb fell in their neighbourhood, and perhaps a relative died, or survived despite the bombing. I'm not even sure if Michelle stopped there but it struck a nerve with me as I remember my mother telling me about how they went into the Underground when the sirens went off to announce a bombing raid.

A Collection of Stone Age tools

Roman Mosaic Floor

Early Medieval Crockery

Portrait of London's first Mayor Henry Fitz Ailwyn 1194

Court Dress worn by Mrs. Ann Fanshaw, c1752

(This dress took 6 months to weave the fabric)

Close-up of the fabric

Close-up of the Bodice

Victorian Decorative Wall Mosaic

Inside of the old Selfridge's Lift

Exterior Door of Selfridge's Lift

Old Car

Towards the end is an exhibit which I found very interesting which speculated on global warming and what would become of London if/when the sea level rises. In this time when north Americans are so into denial about our future prospects it stood in sharp contrast that an exhibit such as this would tackle the issue head on. I didn't linger as long as I would have liked as I had become separated from Michelle (lots of corners to disappear around in this museum) who was sitting and watching a video of people talking about some issues of their modern world....a father talking about the role of religion....a young woman talking about the pressure of dating. We'd stayed so long that the gift shop was closing when we left. I could easily go around this again. When I saw Michelle's photos I realised that I had missed many exhibits.

On the way back we realised that we'd missed the 5.30 show for an acrobatic group performing in an open area near St. Paul's Cathedral. It would have been fun but we'd had a great day so we hoped aboard the number 11 bus (giggle, giggle...see previous post) and headed home to nurse our aching feet yet again.