Day Four: I had a lot of Dates, but I Decided to Stay Home and Dye my Eyebrows

I know it is an Andy Warhol quote, but I didn’t know that until seeing it at the Andy Warhol Exhibit while visiting Madame Trussuad’s Wax Museum today.

We met Sarah over near the Northwick Park Station again this morning only today we headed over to the University of Westminster Harrow Campus instead of heading into the City right off. Sarah got us in through Reception and we were able to see the Resources Area (Library), Student Union, and the Studio areas. She needed to sign up for some studio time next week to work on her Master’s project so it was a great time for us to tag along. I also got a couple of shots of the undergraduate dorms and Sarah in front of one of the entrances.

We then sent Sarah back to her place to get some rest. She is fighting a cold and the only way for it to get better is for her to rest…while Cheri and I go sight-seeing.

The Tube dropped us off at the Baker Street Station and we went to the same coffee house as yesterday. No jack hammering today, so we could enjoy people watching from our outside perch at the cafe. It was then on to Madame Trussaud’s.

Touring the museum was…okay, not great but okay. It is one of those things that you often hear about, but it isn’t the kind of place I would necessarily go again. On top of the ‘okay-ness’ this week is also half-term for the schools—the quaint British term for February vacation—so the museum and most areas were packed with kids. Fortunately we have plenty of time and it was somewhat enjoyable to see the kids having a good time (and some parents having to keep up…but not us).

From Madame Trussaud’s we went back to the Whiskey Shop I mentioned in yesterday’s blog. The shop is called Cadenhead’s and again, I could spend quite a bit of time there, only today there were no libations.

Here are the two bottles that I picked up in the shop. My scotch drinking friends will appreciate that these are both straight from the cask, no filtering or coloring added. The Mannochmore is one of only 500 bottles and the Tobermory one of 691. These will be enjoyed with a few drops of water—not surprisingly since they are 46%—and with appreciation.

Cheri also managed to catch a shot of me coming out of the shop with my new possessions.

Of course once Cheri had the camera, she couldn’t resist getting a shot of me with the almost always present Blackberry. But then she did say, “You’re almost never lost if you have that thing with you.” Well we weren’t lost, but it certainly was taking us quite a bit longer to get from Baker Street back to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. We did stop for lunch at the Lamb and Flag pub, where we ate in what we always imagine is English style—Fish & Chips and Beef & Ale pie. After that we thought it was a short walk, at least it had been when we did it with Sarah (who knew where she was going). After about 45 minutes of walking we gave in and dove into an Underground Station. Ten minutes later we came up at Trafalgar Square and we were just in time to take the 2:30 tour.

The tour was great and we learned quite a bit about some of the art and the art history. By the time we finished it felt good to meet up with Sarah and sit for a while.

Originally we planned to grab a quick supper and go the free concert at St. Martins-in-the-Field, but when I looked up the concert time (on the ever present Blackberry), we discovered that the lunchtime concerts are free and the evening concerts required tickets. This evening the performance is the Faure Requiem which I have sung before, but I also think it is something that Cheri and Sarah would have only tolerated. Instead we found out that you can go into the Crypt of St. Martins-in-the-Field for Afternoon Tea…so that’s exactly what we did. Nothing like have your tea in a Crypt; reminds me of my Academy days singing in the Chapel Choir. After Sunday morning rehearsal we would go into the Crypt below and have coffee and donuts with John Paul Jones.

After our tea, we decided to walk down Whitehall Street past the Cabinet Offices and on to the Parliament Building. This picture is the view from Trafalgar Square looking down Whitehall to Big Ben and the Parliament Building.

It was starting to get dark as we reached the end of the road, near Westminster Abbey, and we were able to get a few good pictures of Big Ben and the adventurous tourists.

From here we walked along the Thames and found our way to a nice Italian restaurant near the Embankment Station. We had a great meal and then took the Tube back out to Northwick Park Station. Sarah walked part way back to the hotel with us and then split off to see Andrew for a few minutes and Cheri and I headed back to the hotel. One more adventure in the books, and one date I’m glad I didn’t miss to dye my eyebrows.