God I am loving these excuse-for-nostalgia posts! : )
1. If you go to London, you have to see a show. That's a rule, surely. Last time I went I saw the Mary Poppins musical (Sonia's choice) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Christian Slater and Alex Kingston
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The British Museum is top of my list of things to see. The Changing of the Guards is worthwhile. A stroll through Hyde Park. A train trip through and out of London, to get a feel for the very different landscape and style of city. Soho Markets.
That experience with the Elgin Marbles is the one I get with most of the exhibits at the British Museum - it's like the evil house of British imperialist thievery. To be fair, they should be shipping back all the Greek treasures to Greece and the Egyptian ones to Egypt, and the only reason they don't is because they're worried their museum will be less cool without all that stuff. (As if they couldn't fill a museum with cool British stuff - Viking stuff, Roman stuff, medieval stuff, etc.)
I don't entirely get that -- though I appreciate that my belief is far from trendy/acceptable in these times.
From what I see, Greece's government of the day let Elgin take that stuff. Probably a good thing, too, at the time, given the ballyhoo the place has been through since. I remain unconvinced that if they had remained in place, they would have survived to this day in their present condition.
It's nice to have the warm buzz from saying, let's give it all back, but sometimes there's no 100% right answer. You'll also find that the British Museum is bound, by law, not to give these things back.
Ooh yeah. When in any overseas city, try to buy a piece of clothing - a funky pair of pants, a t-shirt with a cool design, whatever. Then when you wear it back home, people will say "cool pants where did you get 'em?", and you can smugly say "Oh London."
I think we've discussed this muchly before and can again before you go but I am in the mood for trying to think outside the box a bit so... Walking Charing Cross Rd for the bookshops (unless they have closed them all down by now). Do a walking tour or borrow my walking London book - I have a great one for walking the square mile and seeing the history up close. I did it on a weekend and the place was so dead it was kind of spooky. :) Spend time by the Thames - down at Hammersmith is lovely but also Greenwich with the added bonus of the observatory and Cutty Sark. Avoid the underground, catch as many buses and walk as much as you can. Try and get on a tour of the Houses of Parliament if you haven't managed it before. The Wallace collection http://www.wallacecollection.org/ is way cooler than the big art galleries. I love the vibe of a collection in a house. Might have sent you there last time?
Thanks for these -- was hoping to get some ideas that weren't the usual...
you suggested the Wallace last time but didn't make it there. Have more time in London on this visit. Am aiming for Greenwich -- not sure if I'll get to see the Cutty Sark after the fire.
Yeah, the Cutty Sark is is all wrapped up while they restore the damage from when they left a space heater in when they were restoring it before and it caught on fire.
I love the Greenwich Observatory, though, and the Naval Museum is pretty cool.
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1. If you go to London, you have to see a show. That's a rule, surely. Last time I went I saw the Mary Poppins musical (Sonia's choice) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Christian Slater and Alex Kingston ( ... )
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I looked to see if there was anything on in Hong Kong when Sonia and I are there - seems all there is is a production of Hamlet in Cantonese.
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From what I see, Greece's government of the day let Elgin take that stuff. Probably a good thing, too, at the time, given the ballyhoo the place has been through since. I remain unconvinced that if they had remained in place, they would have survived to this day in their present condition.
It's nice to have the warm buzz from saying, let's give it all back, but sometimes there's no 100% right answer. You'll also find that the British Museum is bound, by law, not to give these things back.
Reply
Reply
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Walking Charing Cross Rd for the bookshops (unless they have closed them all down by now).
Do a walking tour or borrow my walking London book - I have a great one for walking the square mile and seeing the history up close. I did it on a weekend and the place was so dead it was kind of spooky. :)
Spend time by the Thames - down at Hammersmith is lovely but also Greenwich with the added bonus of the observatory and Cutty Sark.
Avoid the underground, catch as many buses and walk as much as you can.
Try and get on a tour of the Houses of Parliament if you haven't managed it before.
The Wallace collection http://www.wallacecollection.org/ is way cooler than the big art galleries. I love the vibe of a collection in a house. Might have sent you there last time?
Reply
you suggested the Wallace last time but didn't make it there. Have more time in London on this visit. Am aiming for Greenwich -- not sure if I'll get to see the Cutty Sark after the fire.
have got good shoes for walking.
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I love the Greenwich Observatory, though, and the Naval Museum is pretty cool.
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