I know it has been a little while since I last blogged. (I think that's how you spell it.) I have been busy. Oh, well, here are some of my favorite things that we did in London last summer (in no particular order).
- The Tate Museum of Modern Art.
The Tate Modern is located in an old power plant. They have lots of sculptures
and paintings.
Before you ask, yes those are actually paintings. Not just my attempt at drawing.
They had a few kiosks inside the building in which you can attempt to draw modern art.
-Shakespeare's Globe Theater.
Close to the River Thames (Pronounced TEMS) there is a old theater, the third version of an old theater, it is called the Globe.
The original Globe was built by a famous play-write you might have heard of... If you guessed William Shakespeare you win a cookie!
It is an open air theater,
and the only building in all of London, since after the Great Fire of London, that is allowed to have a thatched roof. The columns that support the roof of the stage are not marble, though they look like it.
They are actually green oak, but they are painted to look like marble.
-Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is the palace where the King or Queen used to live when they came to London. Queen Victoria was the monarch who moved the royal residency in London to Buckingham Palace. The actual residency of the monarch is Windsor Castle. But, before Queen Victoria moved it, she grew up here. There are lovely gardens. It is truly beautiful. Currently William, Kate, George and Charlotte live in some newer apartments. Prince Harry also lives on the grounds.
-The British Museum
The British Museum has all sorts of cool stuff, and we didn't see all of it. My favorite part was the Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. They had columns that were taller than me!
They had all sorts of other cool stuff like...
Statues of Artemesia and Maussollos found at the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos.
Earrings from 330 B.C. My mom asked how it is they have been able to keep track of a PAIR of earrings for thousands of years but my sister and I are always losing them?!?
Athenian Pottery.
The Rosetta Stone.
and an obelisk in the front hall.
-London Transport Museum.
The London Transport Museum has loads of hands on stuff. They have a section on what they think cars in the future will look like, and some of them were really crazy looking. Also if you are under 15 you get in free and get a stamp trail to follow.
-Tower of London.
If you like torture and tragedy this is the place for you. You can go on a Yeoman Warder guided tour which was quite good. You can see the Crown jewels and royal regalia. For some reason they even have a coronation spoon made of gold. And you walk through heavy vault doors on your way in and out. You can see King Henry VII's armor. Imagine a six foot tall man that weighed about 300 pounds and you've got King Henry VII. You can visit the ravens and hear gruesome stories about botched beheadings.
-Science Museum.
The Science Museum has sciencey stuff. Yeah, that about sums it up. Fine--They have models of spaceships, and an entire section on genetics. YAY! They also had little shows you could go watch, on things like bridges and explosions that fun and worth the time. There is a floor full of hands on stuff called Launchpad that was cool but full of school groups on the day we were there so it was hard to get time with the experiments.
-ZFL London Zoo.
(pronounced ZED F L London Zoo.)
They have lions and tigers and penguins, oh, my. They also have little 20-30 minute shows on certain things at different times of day. For example, you can watch them feed the tigers.
So, they also have the reptile house where they filmed that one part of the first Harry Potter movie.
-Shrek's Adventure.
It was a combination of a bus ride over London and live actors that help you through Far, Far Away. The best part was the simulated bus ride over London with the DreamWorks characters that lasted about 5 minutes. It is geared toward younger kids (maybe 10 and under). If you are interested, check it out soon because it may not be there long.
-Emirates Air Line.
You go on a gondola over the river Thames. It is quite a view.
-National Gallery.
We saw paintings done by Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Degas, Cezanne, and Turner and we didn't even see 1/4 of the museum.
-KidZania.
Is a town run by kids. The money is called KidZos. You can earn KidZos by working different jobs. Best for kids between the ages of 4 and 7.
-Camden.
They have all sorts of stalls and food. We got henna.
-Borough Market.
This market is under a train bridge. They have delicious food and different things.
-Greenwich
You can go to the Greenwich Observatory and stand on both sides of the Prime Meridian.
Until next time. Cheers!
JB
So nice to see you blogging again. Missed your stories. Love the London adventures, can't wait to hear about what you are up to now. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Stay tuned, the Jellybean is wandering again! :-)
DeleteJB, I love that line! The Jellybean is wandering again! You should totally use that again!
DeleteI can actually (for once) say that I have already visited quite a few of these places, so I can agree with you on quite a few accounts, these places were really cool! I would recommend going there if you haven't already.
ReplyDeleteThanks! See everyone else: I am not lying! :-)
Delete