Steph goes touristy again, Waterstones, Schoolwork, and other things
Ok, last weekend I went touristy again... meaning my dad and stepmother came all the way to see me! Well, they came from Leeds. But before that they came from Houston!
On Friday, I gave them a grand tour, and saw on foot the things that I still hadn't gotten to see (the touristy things) like Buckinham palace, Hyde Park, the House of Parliment, Westminster Abbey (we got a really random tour from a guy with two front teeth- he told us some things that were true and some things that weren't- and he ranted mostly to my poor stepmother) and everything in between. They stayed at the Dorchester, on the corner of Hyde Park, in a very well-to-do part of town that I hadn't gotten to explore before.
On the second day, we took a highly-recommended cruise from the House of Parliment to the Tower of London. I had seen everything there before, but it was interesting at this angle. I had never gotten to see beneath the bridges. I think they had fun (but there's no compare to the London Eye... I think they were scared of the heights).
Then we went to the Tower of London. Very cool place. Built nearly a thousand years ago, it houses some of the most grusome (the Torture chamber) and glorious (the Crown jewels) aspects of this culture. We also saw where Ann Boylen died, a lot of armor, and the artilery. And don't let me forget about the bloody tower, where two young princes were murdered!
My father was a bit disappointed and shocked. He had been to the Tower a few twenty-or-so years prior. And when he was there the Torture room held many more artifacts from the time... water-torture, nail beds, and the like, and he specifically remembered feeling very queezy when he left. Now it only holds three artifacts, the rack (too famous to be ignored), the manicles, and something that was the opposite of the rack where rather than pulling you apart it compressed you. And on the wall, it said a ridiculous figure, like Only 48 people were recorded as being tortured. RECORDED as. Most of them weren't and my father got very upset that they were "rewriting history" and "making the disgusting politically correct". There's nothing PC about a torture chamber, so I don't know why they would even attempt. Although, there were many small children there. In any case, he claims that it went from a massive room with many horrible devices to three things and a little reminder that not so many people died here.
I think it's more upsetting than seeing the torture devices that they would do that, don't you? (Insert lively discussion here)
In any case, on Sunday we went to Harrods. It's friggin massive. Huge, really. We only got to examine two floors, and then I had to go to my rehearsal that night, but they shopped there all day. The dogs/pets had their own dressing rooms!
I'll have to go back, you can spend days in there.
I spent a lot of time on the tube going back and forth, but it was fun. The best part of seeing them though, was the diner conversations (though we dined at a few very nice places and got Turkish, Japanese, and Old English). We had a few fun moments:
"Are those coffee beans?"
"No, they put them in there"
"..."
and
"Is it yours?"
"Yeah, about two hours"
"..."
"Is it yours!"
and
"We went to Whiteface and drank this because it was so cold outside..."
"Gee, this seems like it would be great after skiing."
"..."
I love them! These probably make no sense, you just had to be there. They were so much fun just to hang around. And they did this thing where they ordered the same meals without realizing it like three times in a row. I was like O_o? It was hilarious. I mean they did it practically ALL WEEKEND.
And I went to Waterstone's alone on Tuesday. Bought Harry Potter of course.
Whoops, gotta go! But I'll post more later... I'm going to see a castle!
On Friday, I gave them a grand tour, and saw on foot the things that I still hadn't gotten to see (the touristy things) like Buckinham palace, Hyde Park, the House of Parliment, Westminster Abbey (we got a really random tour from a guy with two front teeth- he told us some things that were true and some things that weren't- and he ranted mostly to my poor stepmother) and everything in between. They stayed at the Dorchester, on the corner of Hyde Park, in a very well-to-do part of town that I hadn't gotten to explore before.
On the second day, we took a highly-recommended cruise from the House of Parliment to the Tower of London. I had seen everything there before, but it was interesting at this angle. I had never gotten to see beneath the bridges. I think they had fun (but there's no compare to the London Eye... I think they were scared of the heights).
Then we went to the Tower of London. Very cool place. Built nearly a thousand years ago, it houses some of the most grusome (the Torture chamber) and glorious (the Crown jewels) aspects of this culture. We also saw where Ann Boylen died, a lot of armor, and the artilery. And don't let me forget about the bloody tower, where two young princes were murdered!
My father was a bit disappointed and shocked. He had been to the Tower a few twenty-or-so years prior. And when he was there the Torture room held many more artifacts from the time... water-torture, nail beds, and the like, and he specifically remembered feeling very queezy when he left. Now it only holds three artifacts, the rack (too famous to be ignored), the manicles, and something that was the opposite of the rack where rather than pulling you apart it compressed you. And on the wall, it said a ridiculous figure, like Only 48 people were recorded as being tortured. RECORDED as. Most of them weren't and my father got very upset that they were "rewriting history" and "making the disgusting politically correct". There's nothing PC about a torture chamber, so I don't know why they would even attempt. Although, there were many small children there. In any case, he claims that it went from a massive room with many horrible devices to three things and a little reminder that not so many people died here.
I think it's more upsetting than seeing the torture devices that they would do that, don't you? (Insert lively discussion here)
In any case, on Sunday we went to Harrods. It's friggin massive. Huge, really. We only got to examine two floors, and then I had to go to my rehearsal that night, but they shopped there all day. The dogs/pets had their own dressing rooms!
I'll have to go back, you can spend days in there.
I spent a lot of time on the tube going back and forth, but it was fun. The best part of seeing them though, was the diner conversations (though we dined at a few very nice places and got Turkish, Japanese, and Old English). We had a few fun moments:
"Are those coffee beans?"
"No, they put them in there"
"..."
and
"Is it yours?"
"Yeah, about two hours"
"..."
"Is it yours!"
and
"We went to Whiteface and drank this because it was so cold outside..."
"Gee, this seems like it would be great after skiing."
"..."
I love them! These probably make no sense, you just had to be there. They were so much fun just to hang around. And they did this thing where they ordered the same meals without realizing it like three times in a row. I was like O_o? It was hilarious. I mean they did it practically ALL WEEKEND.
And I went to Waterstone's alone on Tuesday. Bought Harry Potter of course.
Whoops, gotta go! But I'll post more later... I'm going to see a castle!