Today was a more relaxed day than the previous two. We started mid-morning and found our way to the British Museum only to find a line that went about 3 blocks or more and we almost decided to skip it all together. Michael found a guard and asked him if the lines are always this long and the guard said the line is to get in tomorrow! (he of course was kidding) and suggested we walk around the museum periphery and try entering at the east entrance. We did as he suggested and that line was much shorter and so our visit to the British Museum was saved!
Now, the British Museum is older than any U.S. museum and most of it is not air-conditioned! So, we spent several hours viewing various exhibits until we were both quite wilted and decided to call it a day. I'm sharing a few photos from the Asian exhibit including a Budai who I could have confused as my handsome husband, but no matter. Another of Shiva Nataraja, "the Dancing Shiva" which was much larger than the one I have carried with me across many moves that was purchased in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, South India in the early 1970's when I was there as an undergraduate.
Upon our return to our hotel, we both collapsed on the bed for a short nap before heading out to dinner at Bizzarro's -- which has been serving the Paddington Station area since 1957! The owners are from Abruzzo and almost everyone there spoke Italian in addtion to English. Pizza's were quit good and then we strolled the streets for a bit before heading home for the night.
Tomorrow, we pack and check out by 11am and then head over to the Stafford Hotel where Sharon and Jim are staying and where we will be picked up by European Waterways for our cruise of the Thames. We start with a 3pm high tea at the hotel and then are tranported to the Magna Carta which will be our barge-home for the next 6 nights.
One more thing -- traveling public transport in London is now "contactless pay" so we had to learn how to use our "Apple Wallet". Once we did, it went very smooth. I have one last photo to share that is right outside of Paddington Station which we have passed each day -- kind of a fun "Paddington Picnic" of sorts!
More tomorrow!
This featured blog entry was written by Baroni from the blog Seattle_London_Ireland 2024.
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