2015 Gainor European Tour Continues.....Day 3

Day 3 of waking up in sunny London, England......oh yeah!

Woke up around 9ish again and leisurely got ready.  Of course, Paul had to have his coffee before we got off on our sightseeing.  But that also gave us the time to sit leisurely in the room and peruse maps, subway maps, sightseeing brochures, and the internet to figure out where we were going to go that day and how we were going to get there.

Here's an interesting factoid:  those of you who know Paul, knows that he likes half-and-half in his coffee every morning.  Well our room had one of those Keurig type machines, but only the packaged creamers.  We went down to the little convenience store and they don't sell Half-and-half in England.  The closest thing we found was Single Cream or Double Cream.....and this particular store didn't carry the single only the double.

It doesn't even look like a milk container.  But he ended up really liking it.....said it was a real thick cream.  Just another difference from another country.

We got out the door and our first destination was the British Museum.  It was only about a 10 minute walk from the hotel and of course walking the streets was so interesting and the weather was starting out to be a beautiful day.

You don't mind walking when you can have views like this!

We made it to the British Museum and there were throngs of people and kids on field trips.  Most of the kids spoke French, so we're assuming they came from France (duh!).  An interesting fact about the school kids we saw there.  They were all wearing uniforms and not just khaki's and a colored shirt.  The boys had suit jackets and ties and the girls had skirts with suit jackets and ties.  They were all formal and looked so neat.

This place was so huge it was hard to fit into one picture.

This was another one of those interesting finds.....and then you find out it's a FREE museum when you get there.

It's so big that it needed to publish a book to tell you what was all there.

 

The musueum consisted of 5 floors.  We started at the top and worked our way down.  Lots of very interesting and EXTREMELY old pieces.  I think the part I enjoyed the most (and the most crowded and popular spot) was the Egyptian mummies.  They had so many of them and it was really incredible to see them.

 

Something that Paul took a picture of.  It was in the Greece room, but I can't recall what it was.  Seriously, this Museum was HUGE and one of the guys working there told me they had millions of artifacts stored away that they didn't even exhibit. 

This was my favorite room in the whole Museum.  It was all wood paneled and wood floors and was filled with huge walls of old books.  Took a picture of my favorite guy by Hercules 

After spending 3 hours in the Museum -- it was time for lunch!  We walked around for about an hour looking for a good spot to eat.  We ate at Pret a Manger because of our interest in them.  They literally had tons of these all around London.  It seemed like every corner.  You picked your premade sandwiches, wraps, or whatever off of a wall and then paid for it.  It was more gourmet ingredients and choices than typical fast food.   We found a table out front and enjoyed a break and lunch.  Our impression:  it was reasonably priced (in that expensive city) and it was quick and easy. 

After lunch, we still had a valid ticket for The Original Bus Tour, so we found the nearest spot to get off and sightsee.  We rode for a little bit and then got off near St. Paul's Cathedral.  We determined our next destination was going to be the Imperial War Museum. 

We stopped awhile and perused our subway maps trying to determine the best way to get there.  Paul snapped this picture of me trying to not look like a tourist.  No actually, I said "hey Paul take a picture of me here!"

After two different underground trains and a 10 minute walk......we found our way to the museum. 

Lucky us.....another FREE museum!  We spent a couple of hours in here learning about England's side of World War 1.  It was an EXCELLENT war museum and we thoroughly enjoyed our time here.  We didn't even take any pictures, as we were so absorbed in the stories and exhibits.

It was about 5pm when we finished the museum and we had tickets to go see Wicked that evening....so the plan was made to head back to the hotel freshen up a little bit and then make our way to the theater.  This theater wasn't in the same neighborhood as we were, but it was about a 10 minute subway ride.  Personally, I was very excited about seeing this show!

The London theaters are MAGNIFICENT and The Apollo Theater was not disappointing.  Our seats were excellent......and were bottom section about 17 rows back.

The husband was not excited about it during the first half since it had just a little too much singing in it, but after the show ended he said that he really enjoyed the way it tied itself into one of his favorite stories The Wizard of Oz.  Personally, I LOVED IT, I LOVED IT....visually it was magnificent and the story was awesome.  I have waited so long to see this show and I think getting the opportunity to see it in London made it even more special. 

Of course, had to have my souvenirs to make my little memory books!

 

The show got out about 10:30 and we jumped on The Tube and headed back to the area near our hotel.  We knew it would be hard to find someplace to eat that late at night......but the area around our hotel would be no problem at all.

 

Our decision was to eat pizza, so we found this little Italian Restaurant about a block from the hotel and ordered pizza. Franco's Ristorante Pizzeria and it was open until 3am......perfect! 

 

 

Although, in London it was hard to find a pizza that two people could share.....you always had to order two of them.  Paul ordered a Quatro Formaggio, which had Gorgonzola as one of his cheeses and I ordered Canadian Bacon and Mushroom.

Yes you are seeing right.....the pizzas came uncut.  I loved the brick oven char and thin crust, although I felt like the pizzas didn't have much taste to them.  They use very little sauce on their pizzas.

 

So after a wonderful day of sightseeing, getting to watch an awesome show, eating a late night dinner.....it was time to head back to the hotel and unwind a little. 

 

After all.......we still had another day of sightseeing to plan!