Klaudia's Farewell

Well, my time here is wrapping up and in the way of goodbye, I wanted to leave my Klaudia Shaw top list of things to do here, in no special order:

(1)  Buckingham Palace, parade to the changing of the guard.  (Wouldn't stand at BP and wait to see them there, would try to be near the parade route to hear the music....sends chills up my spine everytime)   See the video Ben posted....well actually don't watch the video, it makes you sick a bit with all the movement, but listen to the awesome audio!!!

(2)  St James Park - if a man with a machine on his hip approaches you, run - advice from our tourguide, to avoid paying chair use fees

(3)  The British Museum - Elgin Marbles and Rosetta stone for sure.  The Elgin Marbles are those very controversial Parthenon sculptures of horses and riders.  (see video on this blog site)  England took them, most say fair and square - now Greece has come into the 21st century with the capability of housing them.....has created a Parthenon Museum where they have some of the sculptures. Greece wants them back, England is saying no way.  (note here: the British Museum flyer on the subject quickly throws it's European counterparts under the bus by pointing out that the Vatican and the Louvre BOTH have these sculptures as well.)

(4)  Picadilly Circus - Young, kind of trashy and everybody seems to be looking to hook up?  But it's fun and bright and loud and it's only minutes from Trafalgar Square and Regent Street.

(5)  Trafalgar Square - Yesterday - Site of the Gay Pride parade concert, never a dull moment!  Trafalgar is great, beautiful and magestic.  It's been so warm and sunny, they've had to work at keeping the algae off of the fountains there!

(6)  Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster....Churchill Statue, he looks so burdened, it was a tough time for England, that's for sure

(7)  Watch a Rugby match in a pub, full of aggression and testosterone and liquor.   I was not afraid,..... howwwwever,....I'd say my senses were on alert.  The fight on the rugby field (whew, that is the toughest sport ever and when they fight, it's something!)  led to a huge roar in the crowd, drinking, drinking, drinking, yelling, HUGE wrestling looking men in the bar screaming....when it was over, I was ready to go and I knew I'd never attend a game in person.  It's something, like out of Gladiator days.

(8)  Shop Regent Street and Bond Street

(9)  The Tower

(10)The bridges

(11)The City - Financial district with the symbol of a Dragon, awesome

(12)And lastly, take in a show.  The photo here shows Ben and I before the play we (I) picked, The 39 Steps.  This was a production of the Alfred Hitchcock comedy (yes, comedy, I couldn't believe it either).  We laughed and laughed.  It was 4 actors playing about 10 parts, and as I'm sure you can imagine, hilarity did ensue.  (OK Tucker Max fans)  We howled, the production called for great acting, but also the use of crazy props (doors, windows, wacky costumes) as well as the liberal use of a kind of puppetry where the figures were lit from behind and projected on the wall - Loch Ness Monster - hard to describe but zany and wonderful and a great night out.

I hope your summer trips are every bit as wonderful as mine has been.   If you get the chance to spend it with your family, take the time to slow down, go for a walk, sit on a park bench and just talk.  I highly recommend it.  As our very cute and friendly waitress said last night - Ciao