Exploring with Mike

It was great to finally have a visitor as Mike, one of my friends from college, made the trek over here. Mike has been travelling all around the world lately, reaping the benefits of working for Northwest Airlines. He had a couple days off and decided to hop on a plane to London, arriving Tuesday and staying through Friday. Since I still haven't been able to find a job, I was able to show Mike around during the days.

On Tuesday we started off by going to the British Museum, which Susan and I had already been too. Luckily most Museums in London have free admission, plus I can always handle more history. We then went on Rick Steves' London city walk. This is my favorite London walk and one of the first that Susan and I did when we arrived in London. We ended the day by meeting Susan after work for dinner at the famous old pub Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Tavern. It has been a tavern on that same spot since 1538, being rebuilt after the great fire of 1666 and is the second oldest pub in London. The pub is a maze of small rooms, creaky stairs, and low ceilings. It has boasted famous regulars such as Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Charles Dickens. Dickens even refers to the Tavern in A Tale of Two Cities.

Wednesday was a day of firsts for me as we started by going to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Being a Wednesday in November there weren't too many people there so we were able to get a good view of most of the activity. It is really a much longer process than I had imagined with the band playing quite a few songs and a few different groups of guards coming and going from different areas. The guards themselves weren't as disciplined as I had imagined either. Overall it was a good experience and one in which I'm sure that I'll be experiencing multiple times. Mike and I then went to the Imperial War Museum. This is a must for anyone with even the slightest interest in 20th century warfare. They have wonderful exhibits and artifacts from tanks and rockets to WWI trench experience and everything in between. Mike and I spent hours there and could have stayed longer except we had to meet Susan that evening. We had gotten half price tickets earlier in the day to see "Les Miserables" at the Queen's Theatre. London has great theatre, which has been described as Broadway quality, at a fraction of the price. It was a great performance and we're looking forward to catching more shows while we are here!

On Thursday we started by going to Westminster Abbey, which was another thing that I have not done yet. It is a beautiful church dating back to the 11th Century. Many Kings and Queens, writers, scientists, Poets, war heroes, and clergy are buried here. There is wonderful audio guide that they give you to tour the church. It lets you hear as much or as little information as you would like and you can do it at whatever pace pleases you. Mike and I were able to attend the service of the Eucharist while we were there which was a great experience. Following Westminster we went to the Tower of London and I waited for Mike while he did the tour. This is one of the London attractions where you have to pay a decent price to visit and it is well worth it to go at least once.

Mike left early Friday morning to head back to Minnesota. We had a great time with him and can't wait for more visitors!