Day 2: Exploring the Rainy streets of London

Today was much more typical of an English winter day, cold, damp and dreary. Jubie and I explored the city of London today via the Underground (or as they say, the “tube’) system. Easy to use with great maps everywhere to track your journey and destinations. The English accents are so much fun to listen to, that each tube ride becomes a musical experience. There is a rhythm to the speech that I love, and so many fun phrases that we are hearing. Jubie and I will smile when we hear something that catches our ear and lean over and quietly say the new phrase to each other, just to see if we can catch it. “Mind the gap”…you hear that every few minutes onboard the tube, reminding folks not to step into the space between the platform and the train!

 

As expeditions of discovery go, we set out to find Trafalgar square, but did not have a map. As we wandered about, we discovered the outskirts of China town, which had brightly colored lanterns hanging from buildings everywhere. Then found the theater district with many plays that looked fun to see. Much like the theater district in New York. We ate fish and chips so as to celebrate English food (it was great) and stopped for tea several times to escape the chilly rain. We found a walkway in the business district of London titled the Jubilee walkway! Of course we had to take a photo! Turns out that Jubilee is a popular word around here and turns up everywhere.

 

After much meandering, we finally found Trafalgar square and the portrait museum that we were hoping to visit. The museums are free and they were full of people, all ages, as it is winter break for school students here. We started on the third floor in the Tudor room and learned about the early monarchs and Lady Jane Grey, who ruled only nine days before she was killed for being a Protestant. None of the monarchs looked as if they were happy in the their given roles. The majority of the faces that we saw were extremely stoic and seemed to express very little joy. I loved the fact that we could cozy right up to the artwork and really take it in, rather than standing trying to view it from a distance or behind glass as we do in the states.