Londinium

Lots of people ask me, "Jeremy, how do you decide what pictures go on the blog and which ones don't?" I reply, "Sure, I could put a photo of Big Ben up there, but then Big Ben is not really that interesting. So, I put up pictures that interest me and thusly should interest other people." That should explain why you see before you a picture of a rock under glass, me posed to look as if I am wearing a helmet, an innocuous table, Nicole and a Beefeater (well that one is pretty touristy thing), and a bit of masonry.

These are of course from our trip to London, and since I named this post Londinium, its probably best to start from the end. Londinium is of course the Roman name for London (how clever). The picture of the bit of masonry is none other than the original Roman city wall. It is now located on the grounds of the Tower of London. That is also where this Beefeater that posed with Nicole was. These guys are amazing, they are all former military (other than Navy). They give tours and such. They are very informative and funny. Sorry no photos of the Crown jewels, photography was forbidden. Photography is however permitted at the British Museum, which is where the two pictures behind glass were taken (what a great segue, I personally think the segues have been sublime in this particular piece).

The picture of me and the helmet (Celtic, not Viking) is just me being silly. Nicole and I actually had the idea at the same time and so there it is. We are often quite good like that. The other picture is one of the two coolest things I have ever personally seen (the other is also on the page but we shall get to that in a bit). It is the Rosetta Stone. Arguably, the greatest archelogical discovery in history because it allowed the translations of hieroglyphics. Its discovery is also very interesting... If you don't know it, you should look it up.

The other picture, of the table with fruit and lemonade on it is the other coolest thing I have ever seen. It is from the Middle Temple (kinda like a guild/country club for lawyers and certain others since the middle ages). Under the table cloth is a table made out of the hatch of the Golden Hind. That was Sir. Francis Drake's ship when he was the first captain to circumnavigate the globe (Magellan died before he made it all the way around). Seriously, how cool is that? Ok, you're right, Nicole felt the same way. Still though, its a little cool.

Thats about it as far as the tour of London is concerned. By the way, we will get all of those other touristy pictures developed and bring them with us when we come to visit. We also got to see Spamalot (totally hilarious, go see it) and Les Miserables (for reactions see my story about the Golden Hind and exchange Les Miserables for Golden Hind and transpose my name with Nicole's)(I'll put it like this, if I hadn't had to go to the bathroom during the first act, I would have fallen asleep).

Speaking of the French, (again with the segues, I must, at this point, pat myself on the back) they are lame. Our professor, Mr. Hopkins is very fond of saying, "Paris is great except for the French." I feel the same way about London. London is great, except for the French. They seem to like to stand in doorways, push their ways through crowds, and smell bad. They are uncivilized. They wear clothes that are a mixture of Mad Max, the 1980s, and some runway in Paris. It is a shame that inorder to save the world from the Nazi menace, the US and UK had to save France as well.

I guess thats enough for now.

Cheers