Euro 2016 Day 3: The British Musem

This morning Michelle and I walked along the river and through the city to go and visit the British Museum.  Along the way we stopped in at the Southwark Cathedral and finally saw the much talked about dinosaur poo.

We also passed the Golden Hind and this time there was a school group there with the tour guide dressed in period costume instructing the kids in the life of a sailor.  The lowly sailors used the bow of the ship for ablutions, where it was recommended to tie yourself to the ship before squatting over the edge lest you fall off into the foamy sea below.  Officers take advantage of the privilege, and extend their derrieres over the stern of the ship which is a much smoother and safer place to squat.

Some silly mudlarks, not watching the tide coming in.,.

We found one of many Red Lions to have our lunch in, finally working out that the dining room was upstairs, but one needed to order at the bar below before heading up.  I tried scampi and chips which seems a common pub meal, not expecting the scampi to be little breadcrumbed balls of scampi.  Very nice though washed down with a tasty beverage.

We arrived at the British Museum just as the rain started falling, so perfectly timed.

The British Museum is just amazing, and totally free to visit.  It is certainly worthy of much more time than we had to spend there.  The archaeological treasures from ancient civilisations are just astonishing to see, and I learnt that the Elgin's marbles aren't huge balls of stone, but rather the carved marble artwork from Grecian temples, the Parthenon in particular.

It's the actual Rosetta Stone. Frickin amazing!

Raided, no saved from the temples and brought back to England.  Though there is much controversy over them and the many other artifacts being removed and put on display in London, it is indisputable that they have been protected and are accessible for a great many people to now visit and admire.

There is so much to see, so many amazing pieces of art from throughout history words do no justice, so herre are some pictures:

We caught the tube back to Shazzy's and broke tradition by having Vietnamese take away for dinner.  I think it is called have a Vietnamese.  We relaxed on the couch and watched the last episode of Vikings.  Well tried to watch it.  I fell asleep about 10 minutes in.   I blame the G&T...

Euro 2016 Day 2: We arrive and the holiday is started

12 hours later with a tum full of Basa fish and some yucky other meal that I have thankfully forgotten and we were getting off the plane in Heathrow at 5:00 in the morning.

We caught the train through the suburbs to Greenpark and then tubed it to Bermondsey where Shazzy was waiting with a big smile and cuddle, and went back to their apartment to meet up with Shanny and Ken.

We had our traditional welcoming full English Breakfast in Shad Thames with Sharon and Ken before he headed off to work.

Ken went off to work, as did Shanny, and Michelle went back to the apartment to rest up, so Shaz and I went for a walk down to the Tower Bridge.

13th Century Medieval Postern - Eastern entry to the City of London

OJ at Katherine's Docks

Ballroom dancing at Katherine's Docks

It was the Queen's Birthday and in her honour we watched 62 rounds being fired from a 105mm Howitzer outside the Tower of London (well we got bored of that after about 10 rounds).

For some reason, I just love old city walls

We caught the tube to Baker Street to meet up with Shanny for a meatball and salad lunch at Filosophy and to check out her new offices.

Yep, Benedict Arnold lived here

Now those are some serious sugar crystals

Shanny works here

On the way back home we stopped at The Vault under Tower Bridge for a Pimms darling and Prosecco and chilled at Shaz and Kens place till dinner time.

We walked along the Thames to the Horniman's at Hays for some British pub fare; I went the bangers and mash, and will very full bellies we walked back along the Thames, stopping in at Shad Thames for some coffee and dessert.  A glorious day.

Euro 2016 Day 1: The start of a long journey

Should the day you hop onto the plane count as day one of your holiday, or should it start from when you get off the plane in your destination.  For me, it starts now.  Michelle was not looking forward to the flight at all, and for her the holiday would only start when she got off the plane at the other end.

I don't know what camera we used for this pic.  The backlighting is terrible.  Oh well.

There's not a lot to say about the flight, which can only be a good thing.  It was long, not very comfortable, but the first leg to Hong Kong went quickly enough, helped along by a tasty tender beef dish and a nice red, and two good movies: Joy and Mad Max.

The transit at Hong Kong was only 2 hours, enough time to stretch the legs and not much else which was good as we wanted to get this flight over with.

Second leg to Heathrow was on Virgin Atlantic.  Damn I wish we were sitting up the front with the bar.    After a G&T, with Bombay Sapphire and a nice tonic I was out till half way through the flight :-), and finished the rest of the flight watching the Hateful Eight and the Intern.

Oh, and I'm torn about writing this blog.  Which is why it is so far behind before I even start.  But I'll give it a go, and we'll see where it ends up.