London 39* and Sunny

The Tower of London viewed as we exited the tube.

Monday we managed to take the bus to the Reykjavik airport, fly to London and then take the tube to Tower Hill where we then walked the few blocks to our VRBO.  We did all this by only asking 8 people for help and not being robbed.  I mention this because we have been robbed while enjoying European public transportation.  It can put a damper on the fun.  At any rate, the VRBO is nice enough.  The first morning I did manage to dislodge the hot water faucet from the tub.  It's hard enough to reattach a faucet knob without tools, but add to that hot water is spraying hard and fast and you've got one trying ordeal.  All is well now thanks to Wayne.

We are in a lovely area, near London Tower.  It's active with residents and shops, most importantly, based on the drip coffee I prepared first morning, Starbucks.  It is called the Minories area.  The name is derived from the former Abbey of the Minoresses of St Mary founded in 1294.  It was in the ancient parish of St Botolph and said named Church is at the top of the street.  A major bus terminal is just a few blocks away.  We have taken advantage of this very efficient and easy to use system. We think it much better than the underground as we can see all the areas of London as we travel along.

Yesterday we traveled uptown to a mall where we shopped for food and acquired a SIM card for my phone.  The population of the area was very diverse.  We smiled at all the varied peoples living side by side, bustling around shopping, working, going home.

Today we took the bus in the opposite direction to the British Museum.  The collection is a massive collection.  Of course, this collection results from decades of foreign rule by the British Empire.  The empire upon which the sun never set was able to collect and bring to London some 8 million works.  Most impressive of what we saw today were the Elgin Marbles and the Parthenon sculptures, the Rosetta Stone, the Lewis Chessmen,  the Sutton Hoo burial artifacts, and multitudes of Roman, Greek, Egyptian vases, coins and sculptures.

Wayne with an Anglo Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo burial site.

Elgin Marbles

More pictures at flickr.