This weekend I chose not to go on the Lake District trip with the school and stay at the manor, get some work done, take a day trip somewhere. I decided on London, since there were four places that I really wanted to go see that I didn't have the chance to when I was there one weekend back in January. Since everyone is basically gone this weekend, I went into London by myself; not a big deal considering no one would've come with me even if we had gone into the city together, they wouldn't have wanted to go to the same places as me for as long as me. My travels started at 7:30, when a cab picked me up and took me to the train station. There, I grabbed some breakfast, since the Refectory wasn't open before I left (I don't think so anyways). Then it was an hour and 15 minute train ride into London King's Cross Station. I then took the Underground to my first destination: the Tower of London.
I absolutely loved the Tower of London! I literally spent 3 hours in there, just roaming about! I saw everything I could. I saw Traitor's Gate and the Royal Jewels (which were absolutely breathtaking) and Henry VIII's (and load of other people's) armor (you saw Henry get fatter and his codpiece get larger to compensate) and where they kept prisoners and the Tower Green where people like Queens Anne (Boleyn) and Catharine (Howard) were executed and where the Princes of the Tower were found and the chapel where they reburied all those in unmarked graves (traitors). I loved every minute of it. I had lunch at the cafe in the Tower, just odds and ends that were yummy. I also went to the Tower of London Store and bought a couple of postcards to send out, since I hadn't sent any of English stuff yet.
I went to get back on the Underground to head to my next destination, but, turns out my ticket doesn't want to let me in or out of the stations anymore. Luckily there's always an attendant there who'll let you through once you show them your ticket! Not the first time it's happened to me, but it is annoying. The Imperial War Museum definitely made up for it though. It was like the museum of my dreams. Literally over half of the exhibits were World War I and II!!!!! I was in historical heaven. Well, you know, scholar-wise, in reality, those wars were hell. But they had all this stuff that I had read about and to actually see an Enigma machine and a Hitler Youth uniform and to go in replica trenches and see Hitler's plans for the invasion of Poland and oh so much more stuff, I was literally like a kid in a candy shop. I couldn't stop smiling whenever I saw something that I knew about or was related to something that I'd read about. The people next to me probably thought that that was a bit weird, especially when I was smiling over and taking pictures of Nazi stuff, but whatever! I may not like them, but I think getting to see all their stuff is just about the best thing ever. I was surprised there was so much of it there! I guess since Germany can't display or destroy it, Britain took it. That's my guess. To top all this awesome stuff off in the museum, there was an exhibit solely on General Sir Bernard Montgomery! I was so excited! Mainly because I just spent a lot of time researching him and writing a paper about him and how he won the battle that turned the tide that won the war (or however Bujak so eloquently put it). He's the general of the British Army that won the first battle in 3 years against the Germans at El Alamein in North Africa, beating Rommel. As a side note, that's also the last major battle Britain won without American troops (we were just starting to get there and weren't in battle or anything yet). So that was really cool to see all his stuff.
By the time I finished up at the Imperial War Museum, I realized that I didn't have enough time to see both the Churchill War Rooms and the Sherlock Holmes Museum, so I decided that I'd probably have time to see the War Rooms next Friday after the field trip and before the coach ride home, so I just took the Underground to Baker Street and went to 221B. This was awesome. They have this really cool sign outside of 221B Baker St. and someone's dressed up as a policeman from the late 1800s, letting people into the house! So you go in and go up the stairs and Sherlock Holmes meets you in the study! That's right, they have an older gentleman dress up as an older Sherlock Holmes and he tells you what all the rooms are and points out some things. And I got a picture with him! Made my part of the day, that. So the study is really small. It now makes sense when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes about how a large man nearly filled up their study! There's Watson's desk and medical bag in one area of the room, and Holmes' chemistry set and violin in another. And on one wall is the bullet holes that Holmes makes when he's bored and needs another case! They're in the shape of 'V R', Queen Victoria's initials. Next door to the study is Holmes bedroom, which was cool to see. Then you go up the stairs and you get to see Watson's, which is a lot tidier than Holmes' was! Also on that floor is what I call the memorabilia room, with lots of Sherlock Holmes stuff in cases and on walls and a very impressive bust of him in one corner. Go up another floor and they've got scenes from the different stories! There must've been at least 10 different scenes, including ones from The Speckled Band, The Gloria Scott, The Red Headed League, and A Scandal in Bohemia. Next door to the museum is a Sherlock Holmes Store, which had so many really cool things that I really wanted to buy. I managed to limit myself to a Sherlock Holmes bear, which is absolutely adorable, and a matchbox that has Sherlock Holmes images and such on it. I'm pretty happy with what I got.
After meeting Sherlock Holmes, it was back on the Underground to Kings Cross, where I picked up some food for dinner before getting on the train back to Grantham, eating on the way. Then it was a cab back to Harlaxton and in for the evening, being very productive on things surrounding this day's travel! I don't really know what will be coming next, I believe my London field trip, as that's scheduled for Friday, and I don't have anything planned for that weekend yet, so we'll see what that ends up holding! 'Till next time!
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