Highlights of London

Tonight we are settled in our new hotel in Mainz and tomorrow we go to Heidelberg for two nights. Looking forward to it! But first, here are some highlights from our three days in London (Monday-Wednesday).

St Paul's Cathedral

We didn't go inside St. Paul's Cathedral this time, because we've visited a few times before, the admission is overpriced and they don't let you take pictures. Lame. But it is a lovely cathedral and we had a nice time taking some photos of the outside as we passed by one evening.

St Paul's Cathedral, London — South transept

British Museum

The British Museum is one of the greatest museums in the world and one of my favorite places. It's huge, it's free, and it's all laid out beautifully.

The Round Reading Room (1854-57) and Great Court enclosed by a ceiling of glass designed by Norman Foster (2000).

Hinton St Mary Mosaic — The Hinton St. Mary mosaic, found in perfect condition in a Roman villa in Britain. It's one of the oldest surviving images of Jesus, dating from the 4th century. Those are pomegranates on the sides.

An ancient ivory Crucifixion - I'm sure I've seen this on the cover of one of my books at home.

Book and artifacts illustrating an Enlightenment antiquarian's fascination with Stonehenge and Druids

Victoria & Albert Museum

I hoofed it for over an hour through the heart of London to get to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I like even more than the British Museum because it has a friendlier vibe and they encourage photography rather than merely tolerating it - they've hosted Flickr events and everything. Rare in a museum. Thank you, V&A!

/Tacoma artist Dale Chihuly in the foyer

They've also opened new Medieval and Renaissance galleries since my last visit, and I've been dying to see them. It didn't disappoint. I spent almost two hours in just the medieval galleries!

Unfortunately I wasn't feeling totally well by the time I finished with the medieval galleries - I had weird intermittent dizziness that started that day and still comes and goes now, but seems to be just a minor inner-ear thing because I'm otherwise fine.

I felt so wonky that I was only able to pop briefly into the ancient Buddhism gallery rather than spend the time I'd planned, which was sad, but I was mighty tired by then already. Thankfully, there's a taxi rank right outside the museum, so I took a long cab ride home. Most of the ride was spent stuck in traffic, but it was sure better than walking!

And look what I saw from the taxi! Chipotle! This is one of our favorite lunch joints back home and I had no idea it had gone international. Sadly, we didn't have time to go back and check it out, as it was pretty far from the hotel and we left the next day.

Tate Modern

While I was at the V&A, David was hoofing it down to the Tate Modern museum. He was intrigued by the industrial building and I had thought it was interesting on a previous visit, despite not generally being into modern art. His assessment: it was OK, but too crowded with people. He added that it might have been a total waste of time if it weren't for the Picassos.

People enjoying the latest temporary installation in the big Turbine Room - 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds. It was created by a Korean artist using Chinese labor over two years. Since each one is a mini work of art but they were mass-produced, it says something about the group and the individual. And you can play in it. David said he was creating a lot of dust.

Radisson Bloomsbury Street Hotel

We had a really great hotel room at the Radisson Bloomsbury Street, which added a lot to our enjoyment of the city. When we arrived they offered an upgrade to a king deluxe room on the top floor, which we couldn't pass up, and it was huge and so nice. It's a lot easier to deal with the crowds and the noise out on the streets when you know you have a nice quiet place to retreat to! Further bonus (and one of the reasons I chose it): it's right around the corner from the British Museum.