Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Wee Wycombe, Loony London & Classy Cambridge

So, Re: My Broken Camera, Ruth suggested last night that I might have killed the battery on my camera and not realized it. I'm positive that the battery said nearly full but whatever. I charge the battery all night, get up in the morning and test it. It Works! I LOVE RUTH! and oh man am I retarded. Apparently there is a battery icon that represents how much battery power remains and ANOTHER battery icon representing how full of pictures the camera is. Kinda Silly. But my camera works!!!

After Ben and Chloe wake me up in the morning, I have cereal in the kitchen with them and go with Clara to take them to school. I take the picture I wanted to take yesterday.


The. Cuteness. Is. Killing. Me.

After we drop the kids off, Clara shows me around West Wycombe. We drive up the hill from the school where there's a really old church and mausoleum. It's a bit creepy in the misty photographs but it was actually really beautiful to be there.


Gravekeeper 2 Location Anybody?


Wycombian Countryside. Lovely.



Statuesque-itude


These graves. They're just so...pretty.




West Wycombe=Ridiculously Cute. Clara=Cuter.


England is so PRETTY everywhere!


Does anyone actually believe this is a Saloon Bar?


Clara and I also check out all the funky tiny Wycombian shops. I forget to take a picture of the real English Candy Store. Danger Will Robinson!


Everyone. Be very happy I did not buy you these. Eeek.


After I've worn Clara out running around West Wycombe, she drops me at the train and I speed into London to meet Karen, Ruth and Sarah for more adventures, after which we will all head to Cambridge and I will crash on their friend Leo's floor, so they can show me Cambridge tomorrow.

After some fairly ridiculous setbacks, we all finally meet at (of course!) Monmouth Coffee Company, my new favorite London coffee shop. We get our fabulous coffee to go and sit on a monument in the middle of a little roundabout to have our late breakfast.

Ruth and I Rock the Monument.


Then we decide to try and squeeze in a ride on the London Eye before doing the V&A Museum and the Museum of Natural History, where Sarah's friend Maria works and will give us a backstage tour.

In case anyone didn't know what I was talking about: The London Eye.

Becca on the London Eye. WHEEEEEE!

Ruth, Karen & Sarah on the London Eye.


And, of course, the view:


Simply Spiffing!

After the Eye it's off to Museumland! First stop: the Victoria & Albert Museum!

Emboidery is Sexy.

Robynne so wishes she was in England right now.


Whoa Nelly.

Detail of Nelly's Embroidery.


Things which are not clothes are cool too.


Then we head to the Museum of Natural History and meet Rose and Maria (who everyone calls "Bat"... or possibly "Bats"...odd...) and they take us all around the Museum. We see several things which are not on dispay to the public, in addition to a bunch of really awesome displays which are. However, despite having worked there for some time, Maria leads us on several wild goose chases, so, presumably due to the maze-like layout of the place, we also see quite a few empty corridors and dead ends, making it a particularly disorienting backstage tour.
At this point there is no space left in my camera, but imagine the Natural History highlights as they should have been:

Skeleton of a Giant Sloth! I smoosh you in a lump!
In the precious stones exhibit: Alexandrite changing color under the light.
More Skeletons!
More Rocks!
And an Animated Dinosaur!
And then we head back to Cambridge.
We make it back just in time for Ruth's 7pm phone interview for a Really Cool Job in San Diego and I immediately forget what it is. After the interview Sarah guides us to The Maharajah for a decadent Indian feast! Woo Hoo!
After dinner we wander cambridge (really cute) and end up having dessert at a cafe decorated with tons of clowns (really weird).

Back at Leo's we hang out and chat and about midnight Leo comes home! I actually get to meet the person whose hospitality I am enjoying! Excellent!
Coming Soon: Porters may be prickly but still qualify as smooshable. (It's the way they dress, you see...)

2 comments:

Robynne said...

Backstage tour of the NHM! How incredibly cool!!
Wasn't it great how the modern stuff was integrated into the older stuff?

I am glad you made it to the V&A. I would have been VERY PUT OUT if you hadn't seen it.

Robynne said...

Also? I TOTALLY HAD A DREAM ABOUT NELLY.