link-tastic! clickety click!

hi kids!

i just walked allllllll day around london (this one, not any of these). last night i wrote myself a little index card with 4 destinations on it and the streets required to arrive there - three museums, 50 pictures, and 10 hours plus 3 hours' r/t train later, i'm back at richard's and enjoying sitting down. i bought a map of london and drew a wee line on it so i remember exactly what streets i was on for your enjoyment later. i'll photoshop it or something i guess. i left my camera cable in scotland so you'll have to wait a couple of days for the pics but you can do that, can't you? i knew you could. here's a rundown:

1) started out at euston station and walked to the british museum - awesome. the new roof they put on in 2000 is WAY cool. the interior space is huge and bright and just... cool. one of the special exhibits was "the past from above", photographs by Georg Gerster. it's pretty much what it says, aerial photos of archaeological ruins. it was great - covered all six inhabited continents and was very thorough. they also had a ridiculous amount of greek and roman sculptures (very controversial), and assyrian/egyptian sculptures, including some glorious passageway lion/griffin thingies. amazing.

2) walked down holborne past st. paul's cathedral to see the lloyds building and the "gherkin". good stuff. also noticed that there is quite a lot of construction going on in london. lots of cranes and scaffolding.

3) walked across the london bridge and west along the south bank of the thames to the tate modern. that place is HUGE. they have quite a lot of exhibits going on, i didn't pay to see the special exhibits but there was still plenty to see. i think my favorite part about that museum (besides the awesome twisty slides in the huge open space at the back of the building!) was (were?) two books i saw in the museum shop - toilets of the world and f*** this book. i don't know if i'd want them for me but i quite enjoyed looking at them. also i got a cool snap of the millenium bridge from the galleries.

4) walked back east on the south side of the thames to the design museum. they had an exhibit on alan fletcher, which i quite enjoyed, and a whole bunch of 70s and 80s design firms with logos and letterheads and things. soooo up my alley. i was just disappointed with the non-representation of the exhibits in the museum shop - though i did come away with a super awesome mouse pad.

5) still on foot, i went across the tower bridge and back along the thames back to the london bridge, where i hopped the tube back to euston station and, after some train delays, home again home again jiggety jig.

i only have two regrets for the day: one, that i got a jolly blister dancing my ass off new year's eve and it's still horrible, made me hobble a bit around town; and two, QUITE sadly, that due to the last minute nature of this trip, i missed seeing the gorgeous, talented, and charming joanie baloney. i miss you and we'll have to hang out soon somewhere in the world!

tomorrow i'm back to london for the morning then back to perth via gatwick and edinburgh. whew!

love,
mcnabbs