London - Thursday

We found a place that had fish and chips. It took some doing, though. It apparently isn't the big thing here that us American blokes think it is. But I had some. I also had a spot of tea. Another misconception is that apparently London doesn't get that foggy. It used to appear that way because it had bad pollution. Now that is pretty much gone and so is the "fog". Sadly, they put hard working people like Bert the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins out of work.

Thursday had highlights and lowlights. (There weren't really any lowlights. Its just a relative term.)

Lowlights - The British Library Most of it not interesting, but they had one room that had all kinds of historical documents. No pictures allowed, which I didn't care for, but still things like one of the few existing Magna Cartas. I spent about an hour in there. And if I lived in London I would be there a lot as I love libraries.

The Olde Curiosity Shoppe There was a book of this name by Charles Dickens. This shoppe was built after the book, so really isn't much of an attraction. They were just trying to capitalize on the publicity. Also, you have to knock (my first sign I should have left), then an oriental guy who spoke no English came to the door and you go in to what is a shoe store of very old shoes. Stayed for a very awkward 30 seconds, said "thank you", which I'm sure he didn't understand, and quickly left. However, nearby was the London School of Economics. I've heard of that, and assume it is filled with really smart people, so that part was fun.

Dr. Johnson's House - It wasn't open and I'm not exactly sure what he did anyway, so not a big thrill.

Cleopatra's Needle - Something the British stole from Egypt, now proudly on display along the Thames.

St. Paul's Cathedral - You couldn't go in without signing up for a tour, which was like $25. Nope.

Highlights - None of the "lowlights" were bad, except for the creepy Olde Curiosity House. But the highlights were really good.

The British Museum - I had always heard of this and wanted to go there. I was there for 3 hours, but could have spent 3 days. If you are familiar with the Old Testament, it was filled with that kind of thing. Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, Shalmanezer, etc. Everyone was crowded around The Rosetta Stone. I'm guessing that was popular because people had heard the name. They really didn't know why it was important, I bet. That's fine. It allowed me to feel superior to them, which boosted my self esteem. The Rosetta Stone is a part of my next book as soon as I get around to it. Right now I can't, in part, because I'm taking too much time with blog posts.

Charles Dicken's House - A nice place. I would have like to have lived there. I've read three of his books, I believe, so I'm no expert, but it was a fun experience. They had a nice gift shop and a small eating area. I got a muffin and a Coke. And yes, I was sorely tempted to go back up to the server and ask her, "Please, may I have some more". I thought she's probably heard that before, so I restrained myself. They've done a nice job keeping it up. And where would the A&E Network and PBS be without his stories to make movies out of.

Fun day.