The Events of Wednesday, June 8, 2011 

                Darkening shades. How hard is it to get darkening shades? Oh well, I was up. The rest of the family soon joined me in the routine processes of preparation. Before we knew it, we were on our way to Bermondsey Station for our morning Tube ride. Because we were so early, however, we actually ran into some problems. Abby, Lindsey and I (Ben) couldn’t get through the turnstiles. When Dad purchased our child day passes yesterday, he purchased them for off-peak times. So we’d have to wait for 15 minutes until 9:30 so we could enter or pay ₤1 each to enter. Instead of paying ₤3 extra, we decided to wait. To our surprise, a uniformed Tube attendant came out toward us, took out his wallet, and scanned his special universal access pass to let us through. What a great guy!

                Soon we arrived in Leicester Square station and surfaced. Flashing lights, big billboards, scrolling text, discount ticket shops—this was the theatre district. Our first stop was the TKTS booth on the square, where we quickly joined the queue. Dad and Caitlin went to a nearby board to investigate our options and came back dismayed. Les Miserables, which we were looking forward to, did not have any discount tickets on sale; the only tickets available for the show were full price and only available half an hour before the show. Yikes! At ₤70+ each, that would make for a pricy outing‼ Our next option was the box office at the Queens Theatre. When we arrived there, Dad and Caitlin went forward to figure out our options. There still were a couple groups of six seats available at different price ranges. We could pay ₤75, ₤40, ₤30 or ₤15 per seat. Since the ₤30 seats came with a restricted view, not able to see the full stage and the views from the ₤15 seats were severely restricted, we opted for the ₤40 seats, high up in the balcony. This was great as this was exactly what we had hoped to pay for the half–price tickets at the discount booth.

                Tickets in hand, we headed back on the Underground to the British Library. Once inside, we pulled out our iPods, plugged in, and began the Rick Steves podcast. The Library is huge, with thousands and thousands of volumes. Our half hour audio tour took us to the highlights which are all kept in one room: the Sir John Ritblat Gallery. Since we had a lot to do today, we agreed not to pause and read every word but just follow the audio tour as quickly as possible. As we wandered we saw some truly fascinating books.

                In the section on religious texts, we saw several Bibles. The most famous of these are the Codex Sinaiticus and the Lindisfarne Gospels. The Codex Sinaiticus is possibly the first Bible ever published as one volume, not each book as a separate volume. The Lindisfarne Gospels is a “monk-uscript”, a book of the four gospels painstakingly handwritten and “illuminated”, or illustrated, by monks. In a separate room, we viewed one of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta, or the Great Charter. This effectively created the English legal system. By this document, written in small-print Latin, the King was limited to written laws.

                We went back into the main gallery and viewed the Printing exhibit. It compared early Chinese woodblock printing to a Gutenberg Bible, the fourth we’ve seen on this trip. The next area of the gallery contained scientific texts, everything from Isaac Newton to Leonardo da Vinci’s backwards Italian. Circling clockwise, we entered the Literature section. The texts were arranged in chronological order: Beowulf to Canterbury Tales to Shakespeare’s folios to Dickens to Jane Austen to Alice in Wonderland to Oscar Wilde.

                The final section, which was my favorite, was about music. In front of us were a dozen hand-written scores from all the famous composers: Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann … and the Beatles. All the scores were full of scribbles and notations. Right next to Handel’s Messiah (open to The Trumpets Shall Sound) was Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. Fascinating.

                Our audio tour was over, so we packed up and headed to the lobby. There was so much more to see here, but it was time to move on. Caitlin, our tour guide, asked a library staff member how to get to the British Museum. He gave detailed instructions on which bus line to use, where to catch it, and how far to go. What a great guy!

                We hopped on the bus, rode until Great Russel Street, and alighted towards the British Museum. Like the Library, the collection here is huge. To guide us, we again trusted in Rick Steves to show us the best of the best. The audio podcast we listened to was an hour long and led us through the three ancient civilizations: Egypt, Assyria, and Greece. To Dad and Abby, it was a trip through 6th grade social studies lessons. For the rest of us, it was a walk through priceless artifacts from the early civilizations of the world.

                First came Egypt, with thousands of stone decorations. The first highlight was the Rosetta Stone, a giant “traveler’s phrase-stone”. A couple lines of text were inscribed on the stone in three languages: Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Medieval Egyptian, and Greek. Using the latter two known languages, scholars worked together to decode the hieroglyphics. From there, we toured the stone statues, saw mummies and their sarcophaguses, and then moved into Assyria.

                The exhibits about Assyria were very well done. The entrances were guarded by twin statues of lion-men, which used to decorate the king’s palace. Then we saw several stone carvings that would have decorated the walls of the palace. Depicted on the stone were a lion hunt, a battle scene, and a parade after a victorious battle. The audio tour of this section was filled with obscure place names, long and hardly pronounceable names of people, and lots and lots of information.

                Finally we entered Greece. After viewing a couple small statues, we entered Golden Age Greece: the Parthenon. Years ago, the British stripped the Parthenon of its original statues. They are housed in a long room in the general layout of the temple structure. It was incredible that most of the art on this iconic structure is now here in London! The Parthenon’s stone decoration consists of three sections. The lowest, at the top of the pillars, is the frieze. This series depicted a procession of horses, men, and chariots to the temple. Then were the carvings above those known as the metopes, which show a battle between centaurs and man. On top, in the famous triangular roof, is the pediment. This was certainly the most detailed and impressive. The large statues look incredibly realistic. The sculptor did such a good job that the back of the statues, which was never meant to be seen, was carved with as much detail as the front!

                After a speedy but exhaustive tour of the “Parthenon”, our audio tour ended. There was so much more to see here, but again, it was time to move on. Just outside in a courtyard was a garden full of exotic Australian plants. Amidst the Magenta Lilly Pillies (their real name) and bushy trees, we enjoyed an otherwise un-extraordinary picnic. Where on earth can you sample four countries (Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Australia) in the same complex? Only in London.

                Caitlin led us on a speedy walk to the Queen’s Theatre. There was a bit of a line outside, but we were soon inside the warmly lit interior. A man directing traffic pointed us to the “Stalls” area, and we headed into the lower level of the theatre. As we found our seats, we were more and more and more confused. Hadn’t Dad purchased seats in the Upper Gallery? Hadn’t the man at the ticket office said our seats would be high and far away? Weren’t these lower seats ₤30 more expensive? Where were we supposed to be? Were these really our seats, only six rows from the front? They were. Seats F13-19 were ours! Sitting down, we kept waiting for someone to come and say that we were sitting in their seats. But no one did. Soon the lights dimmed, the orchestra started, and Les Miserables began.

                The show was certainly impressive. Lindsey, who has been reading the book (by Victor Hugo) for the last three months, was able to match the musical’s events with the book’s events. The rest of us kids had only seen the Music Circus version and the movie. This was a whole new experience. With dim lights, sound effects, talented singers, and impressive sets, the actors drew us into the story. Strangely, almost every word was sung. Except for the occasional interjection or yell, the musical had a very, well, musical feel to it.

                At intermission, Dad headed to the box office, determined to find out why we had gotten such fabulous seats. It turned out to be the salesman’s “fault”, a purposeful act of generosity. He had offered us seats in the upper galleries, but booked us (at the upper gallery price) in the seats in the sixth row. He suggested to Dad that it would be “our little secret.” Dad believes this man was simply living out Victor Hugo’s message. What a great guy!

                The second act soon began, and we were back in Paris watching the students’ revolution fail. The drama and excitement held our attention for the next hour until we spilled out into the streets of the theatre district. As we walked to the Tube, we discussed what we liked and what we didn’t.

                Our train was crowded again, this time with hundreds of tired, sweaty businessmen in suits. Squeezing our way in, we held on tight for a quick but suffocating ride. When we exited, we were met with a blast of cool wind. Such a relief after that packed car.

                Once we were home, Mom prepared a delicious meal of noodles, meatballs, and sauce. Then we rotated through the computers, extracting the last bit of internet time from our free WiFi here. Our next lodging, in Belgium, doesn’t have WiFi, so we used every last available minute. Before we knew it, the bells of St. James Church tolled nine times, and it was time for us to head to bed. There is so much more to see here in London, but it is time to move on.