Instead, we left Rosebury to find lunch at LSE and to then walk to Buckingham Palace. For lunch, we bought cheap foot-long subs from 'Hot,' and place catering to students. En route, we passed through various side streets and quads at at the School. As with Trinity, the campus is marked by several older structures and far interesting architecture than the concrete slabs at AU.
Afterwards, we headed through Trafalgar Square and along Saint Jame's Park to reach Buckingham Palace. The scale of the park evokes the Washington Mall with its wide boulevards on either side, but is notable for its multitude of trees and a pond filled with various wildlife. Although I wanted to see the Palace, it was more for the expectation of others when one visits London.
Arriving outside its gates, I was not impressed by its somewhat bland architecture relative to expectations for the accommodations for royalty. Its design appeared similar to the main gate of and front buildings of Trinity, fine for a University, but less majestic for kings and queens. Still, the several gold-plated gates that displayed the magnificent Windsor Crest are lacking at the University, along with the triumphant statue thrusting from the rotary in front of the palace. Notable was the scaffolding surrounding many of the nearby structures, perhaps in preparation for next year's Olympics.
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| Queen Victoria with Victory in Gold atop the Monument in the Rotary |
After meeting Ty at the Station, Erik led us passed the turn for the Museum, but a quick turnaround later and we were entering the massive building. The scope of the place is astounding. Exhibits seem to branch off in every direction with treasures from around the world and from the former Empire. Certainly many of the objects were taken without consent, but without such action it is likely that many people would never have the opportunity to experience such a multitude of cultures.
At first our main objective was to locate the famed Rosetta Stone, discovered by forces of Napoleon in Egypt and used to translate the hieroglyphs. Even so, we permitted ourselves to wander the upper floors with minimal guidance, and so came upon works ranging from the Vikings, Ancient Rome and Italy, Babylon, Assyria, and early Christendom. In the process, we came across a relic purportedly displaying a thorn from Jesus' crown and the unopened sarcophagus of Cleopatra. Unlike Museums in Dublin, the British Museum permits photography, so Ty and I captured tens of pictures of the pieces.
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| Rosetta Stone |
We passed through the Egyptian exhibit on the upper floor without locating the Rosetta Stone. It was then we realized that a lower gallery was dedicated to larger artifacts from such places as the Parthenon and Ancient Egyptian Temples. Near the entrance to that gallery we discovered a crowd hovering around a large dark stone inlaid with various script, otherwise known as the Rosetta Stone. Among the stone was huge statues from across the Ancient World and one piece that seemed to be the entire stone facade of an Ancient Greek building. If the scope of the collection is not sufficient to peak one's interest, consider that unlike many tourist sites in the city, the Museum is free.
Leaving the Museum just before 5:00pm, we headed to a nearby Spoons to grab a drink and talk until Ty needed to leave for his dinner reservations with his girlfriend, and I needed to head out for my bus to Gatwick-London Airport. Since I would be traveling until just before midnight, I opted for an affordable dinner of fish and chips as well. As a mark of our conversation, it was just before 6:00pm when realized the time and had to quickly depart.
In the process, Ty headed to an overcrowded Holborn Station that we were later told was closed due to the surge of people, and Erik and I were separated boarding a bus back to Rosebury since his Oyster card malfunctioned. Riding up the street at night, I left the bus at the start of Rosebury instead of near his dorm, so I needed to sprint up the street so as to ensure that I could make my 7:00pm National Express bus.
Getting off the elevator, after having thrown my belongings into my bag, I stumbled into Erik who had caught the bus behind me. He then ushered me towards the door, and ran me across the street to an approaching bus that I could take to Angel. In the chaos, he said that there are trains to Gatwick from Victoria Station if I missed my bus, we said goodbye, and I jumped on board.
In spite of the significant lack of time, I had earlier discovered the fastest route to Victoria Station. I forced myself onto a near-full train at Angel, switched to Victoria at Euston, and arrived at the station with 10 minutes to find the bus terminal. After asking two security guards and one desk receptionist, I made it the couple blocks from the station to the terminal and boarded my bus with a minute to spare.
As I was boarding, the driver had announced that since the bathroom was broken he would be giving everyone five extra minutes before leaving. He turned to me and asked if I had run there, of course since I was covered in sweat, he already knew the answer. Still as I sank into my seat, I was thrilled to catch it for the one hour ride to Gatwick. Since I could still text friends in Ireland, I had Brittany send Erik a Facebook message to assure him that I caught my bus.
After an uneventful ride, I arrived at the airport for one of the last flights of the day. The security at the sizable facility was more noticeable than at Dublin or Luton, as they took a picture of you when scanning your boarding pass to enter security so that when you arrived at your gate the same picture showed up when your ticket was scanned again. Despite the hectic nature of trip to bus, I arrived at my Ryan Air terminal to be second in line to board the plane (non-priority), snagged a front row seat, and enjoyed the short trip back to Dublin. We arrived 30 minutes early, and after a trip by Air Coach, I was back in my room before midnight.
At the moment I was not thinking of organizing a Cork trip for the following weekend, but fortunately my friends here took all the steps needed so I only had to buy a bus ticket to join them.
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