Parting Shots

 May 1, 2012


Drove on the M40 from our B&B at Lighthorne Heath (south of Birmingham, north of Stratford Upon Avon) into London.  Great six lane divided highway and we waited til rush hour subsided.  Found our hotel near Heathrow, returned Avis car, then back to the tube to meet Kate. She showed us all through RADA with at least 4 floors of theaters, rehearsal spaces, classrooms and green rooms.  The halls are filled with photos (Joan Collins, Glenda Jackson, to name a few.) Sculpted busts of George Bernard Shaw and Sir John Gielgud. We saw very hard working undergrad students in studios, practice rooms. Kate's housemates were both there, one, Valeria in the design studio and the other, Nikka, working at the cafe. So good to see this place that has nurtured the world's finest actors.

Kate and Earl in front of British Museum

With all our time spent in Scotland, really seeing London will have to wait. But we did want to step foot into the British Museum.  Just the first floor Egyptian, Assyrian and Greek treasures could take weeks to absorb.  Someday.....Lord willing, we can take the time we want there someday. Earl did get to the Petrie Museum, just down the street, for a short look. According to it's p.r.:
The Petrie Museum houses an estimated 80,000 objects, making it one of the greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world. It illustrates life in the Nile Valley from prehistory through the time of the pharaohs, the Ptolemaic, Roman and Coptic, the Islamic eras.

The real Rosetta Stone which provided the key to understanding Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

RAMESES II

Ozymandius....

Parthenon model in the Greek exibits

After touring RADA, British Museum and the Petrie, Kate took us to a nearby College Pub for some great food and our goodbye meal. We feel so blessed to have been with her there.  
We hugged goodbye on Tottenham Court and went to our separate Underground Stations.  Again...all's well that ends well.

      


                   Off at the end of the line, Heathrow Terminal 5.  Goodbye London, have a great and safe Olympics. Enjoy the Queen's Diamond Jubilee; thanks for your hospitality.