Londres: Part Two.

Another full day! According to weather.com, the forcast for Friday was rainy, so we had made plans to make that day our museum day. In order to get to the Natural History Museum, we first made our way through Hyde Park. It was a beautiful park, and to my excitement is where some scenes from one of my favorite movies, Finding Neverland, was filmed! It's no surprise, then, that the statue of Peter Pan was in the park. The memorial for Princess Diana was there as well, and, going along with the theme of birds throughout London, there was a goose protecting its chicks right on top of the memorial- which was a fountain that was meant to represent her life.

The Natural History Museum was one of the most renowned, and was really neat. However, compared to the museums in New York and DC, I didn't learn anything new :). 

I might be related to the renowned archaeologist, 

Othneil Charles Marsh. Who knew! So serious.

We then made our way to the center of the city, stopping for lunch at one of our new favorite places- "Eat"- and also popped into Harrods. I hadn't known anything about Harrods myself, but my friend- who is quite the fashionista- let me know all about it and its status worldwide as a high-end department store. Needless to say, I didn't purchase anything- somehow I didn't feel like spending 1000 euros on a pair of shoes... From here, we went to the National Gallery to see paintings by Picasso and Monet to an art exhibit on the red light district of Amsterdam (Horengracht, 1980s). 

Outside the National Gallery. One of my favorite

photos from the trip...

From an experience of standing in front of works such as Raphael's Madonna with the pinks, we left the National Gallery for a wholly different experience. We had reservations to go to the Absolut Ice Bar for 6:15 in which we entered a bar made of ice (the walls, the bar, the cups!) for 40 minutes- just enough time before our body heat would begin to melt the ice. It was something to do just to say that we went to an ice bar, and worth the 17 pounds we paid. I'm glad we restrained Kelly from dancing on this bar, because I'm sure it would have ended badly.

Kelly and I at the Ice Bar!

After the bar, we had plans to meet up with Jacklyn's friend from home who was studying in London. While outside the meeting place (Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum in Picadilly Circus), I was harassed by none other than the Ripley's mascot itself! At first, the man next to him said that there was no man inside the suit (it was a blow-up suit) and that it was motion sensored... trying to persuade me to give it a hug. I was taken a little off guard when the blow-up mascot hugged me- I definitely felt a man in there. Then, the man told me to lift up its skirt. Underneath... well, you can guess. And the man wanted me to hold it! AAH! Never going back to that museum.

Me, screaming, with Jacklyn.

After that ordeal, Jacklyn's friend arrived and said that she could hear someone screaming from inside the museum... that was me. Anyways, from there we headed to a restaurant called Porters to enjoy some real British food. Originally intending to get the fish and chips, I ended up with a Shepherd's Pie, which was amazing. To top it off we had some hard cider, and the night ended in good company at around 11:30pm so that we could be rested for the next day. 

Shepherd's Pie

Funny quotes from the night: 

• "Just lift it up and hold it"-- The Ripleys man to me. Don't like him!
• "You're gonna DIE!!!!!!!!"-- Man on a bicycle who almost ran me over. Along with a taxi. It was hard getting used to the direction of traffic in London... especially combined with my already-terrible street-crossing skills.
• "I just wanted to say goodbye to the baby!"-- Scary old man to Kelly after she said she was pregnant in order to send him away from our table. He didn't get the message.
• "You are not a dig, sir!"-- Kelly to a homeless man who was barking. He thought he was a dog. We saw his station earlier, with a dog bowl and biscuits.
• "Why don't you just stay up there?"-- Me in my sleep to Jacklyn when she was getting out of the top bunk in the middle of the night. She thought I was angry with her.