Museums and Maggie's

April 12, 2010

Of course I put writing this off until the very last minute. And now I can barely remember what I did this weekend. It has been so crazy. Nonstop running around, trying to cram everything in before we leave, saying goodbye to Mom and Grandma, and doing all the homework I left for the very end. Bah!

The last full day of Mom and Grandma’s visit was definitely the busiest of them all. We got up early and got on the tube, like always, and road across town to St. Paul’s Cathedral. After paying the admission charge, we just kind of wandered around, looking at the massive dome, the gold mosaics on the ceiling, and the hundreds of monuments lining the sides of the church. So much to look at! After a bit of time just sitting in the nave and cramping our necks looking up, we headed down to the crypt. Always my favorite part of these old churches. Lord Admiral Nelson and the Duke of Wellington are buried down there – Britain’s big war heroes. The gift shop was okay… not enough books for my liking!

After St. Paul’s and a stop at the bathroom, we hopped on a bus toward Holborn and the British Museum. Because the museum is free, we thought we might splurge on the 4 pound audio guide. And let me tell you, that thing was intense. There was so much information on there, but it was a bit difficult to run. We listened to about 3/4 of the “Highlights of the British Museum” commentary before we had enough. Somewhere around the Egyptian mummies and the Viking chess set, we got tired and hurried through the rest of it. I think Grandma could have spent all day, maybe all week in that museum alone. Eventually we managed to drag her out, but then it was on to the British Library. Now, I hadn’t been there yet, so it was quite the adventure for all of us. They have a bunch of old pointless documents in this one gallery… let’s see, what did they have? The Magna Carta, Darwin’s Origin of Species, Beowulf, handwritten lyrics by the Beatles including Yesterday and I Want to Hold Your Hand, Bronte’s Jane Eyre, a few of Shakespeare’s plays, a Beethoven Sonata, and, my favorite, the original copy of Alice in Wonderland! Well worth the 5 pound taxi ride it took to get up there. We couldn’t figure out the bus system from the British Museum because they were doing all kinds of roadwork on Tottenham Court Road.

After our long day at the museums, we did a bit of shopping on Oxford Street. I showed Mom Primark… I don’t think she’ll be going in there anytime soon. Pushy teenagers, frantic moms, and big crowds just really aren’t her thing. Finally, we got on another bus headed for home. And Mom and Grandma almost didn’t make it off the bus. The doors closed just after me and they were stuck. Until the driver opened the front doors again. I almost lost them! After a bit of relaxing at the hotel, we hailed a cab and rode the five minutes to Kensington High Street and, more specifically, Maggie Jones’s restaurant. I’d been there before on a class trip, but it was all new to Mom and Grandma. The entire place is built out of old warped wood, the building has to be a few hundred years old. They have a million kitschy decorations on the wall and ceiling, including baskets full of grass and wheat hanging all around. It definitely has this country charm, especially noticeable when you throw in the hundreds of candles and lanterns that light the place. Talk about a fire hazard. Mom was freaking out the whole time we were there. One spark and the whole thing would go up in about fifteen seconds. But the food was good and quite expensive. Of course, Grandma wouldn’t let anyone else near the bill. I joked that I might have made money with Mom and Grandma here – buying me things, paying for my meals, giving me all their change when they left.

I forgot, so when we arrived at Maggie Jones’s, the host said he could seat us, only if we were out by 9PM. It was only 7:45, so we thought we would have plenty of time. Well, almost an hour later, we were finished eating, but still wanted dessert and our waiter hadn’t come to our table in quite some time. The host came up, a bit flustered, and asked if we were finished. Mom mentioned that we’d waited awhile for dessert, knowing we could fit it in before our time was up but no one came. The host offered us a compromise. He moved us downstairs, because someone had specifically requested our table, and brought us our dessert at that table. It was perfect and the desserts were delicious. I thought so anyway. But on the way downstairs, I heard the host yell into the kitchen, “Who left the ladies alone in the corner?” And before Mom and Grandma came downstairs, our waiter apologized, “Madame, I am so sorry. I’m so sorry.” Ah, they were so funny and considerate. Even when Mom accidentally elbowed the host in the stomach, he joked about it and gave us half our desserts for free. I just love Maggie Jones’s!

Saturday, Saturday. I packed up over half of my clothes in the morning to send home with Mom and Grandma. Somehow, my wardrobe at least doubled on this trip. Wonder how that happened? Anyway, I filled one of my suitcases and an extra on that Mom brought along. Now, I’ll only have one to worry about for my flight home. Poor Mom and Grandma had to haul my overweight luggage through the airport. Somehow, I think I got the better end of the stick. After packing, we ate breakfast downstairs and then I said goodbye as they got in their car for the airport. I’ll see them in three weeks, but it was still hard to say goodbye. I got a few texts from Mom during the day. One saying that all the bags got through check-in, none were too heavy. And then one saying they were on their plane! I’ll miss them soooo much! I won’t have anyone to share my stupid London fun facts with. Grandma won’t be there when I turn around to see if she made it through the ticketing machine at the tube station without any trouble! Mom not asking me if I’m all right every five seconds! I’ll be home in three weeks!

So, on Saturday, I thought I would have this great relaxing day inside. Doing a very little bit of homework, maybe watch a movie. But it was a beautiful day in the city and I just had to be outside. So I went for a run in Hyde Park. And after that, Viv, Hal and I got on the tube toward Piccadilly Circus, Regent and Carnaby Street. Viv and I checked out this exhibit dedicated to 50 years of Carnaby Street. It was kinda lame. But then we stopped at H&M and the day got a whole lot better. Next, we tried to get into the Royal College for Arts Van Gogh exhibit, but the line was massive and we didn’t want to wait. Instead, we popped into Fortum and Mason, this giant department store similar to Harrods, and bought cupcakes. Yum!

On the way home, we found a tiny arcade that was the length of an entire city block. Glass ceiling, only about 10 feet wide and lined with shops filled with jewels, neckties, hats, and chocolate. We even found a jewelry store in there that the queen shops at – her crest was over the door. Not that we could ever afford anything in there, but it was just fun to window shop. We also found sushi on the way home at a place called Itsu and it was delicious. After all this, we were a bit tired. I went to bed at 8:30 just exhausted.

Be back soon,

Love, Kelly