First daylight brought a steady rain all over the city of London. Ah, a good time to sleep in, which we did, until about 8:30am.
My wife rose from bed very stiff and hurting. She has had a history of neck and back problems. I have lost count of the number of times I have massaged and "elbowed" her back to relieve her pain. She irregularly sees a chiropractor in Houston when it gets bad. In fact, her stepfather was a chiropractor who would give her and her two sisters regular "adjustments" when they were kids.
The flight over Friday last was rather brutal. The 3-hour wait to take off was bad enough, but trying to sleep during the 9.5 hour flight had really messed up her neck. I was hoping that would not happen, but alas.....she was uncomfortable on Saturday and Sunday, but by Monday morning, she was really in pain, so I began searching the internet for a chiropractor who could hopefully squeeze her in for an adjustment.
I found one at the London Spine & Joint Clinic, Dr. Ashton R. Vice, who was not far away. One stop north on the Bakerloo tube and a short walk past St. Mary's Hospital, which is where Kate Middleton had given birth to baby boy George only a couple of months earlier.
We rang them up and they could not see her today but could take her on Tuesday at 10:30am, so we took that appointment. My poor wife has suffered for so long, but she rarely complains unless the pain gets really intense. She could be a Brit. This was one of those times.
Despite her pain, she got up and began making coffee. The only coffeemaker in this flat was a French Press, which my wife had used before, and after a quick refresher on the internet (Sunday past), she whipped out some outstanding coffee. (Our flat has a very reliable and fast broadband internet connection).
Even after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bread and jam with coffee, the rain was heavy and steady. We did NOT want to get out in this. Funny thing about weather forecasts: they are unreliable no matter where you go. The forecast for London kept saying "clear" and yet it had rained some every day so far. No worries. A good day to cocoon. My calendar of scheduled activities could always be jiggered with.
We just lounged around and did some simple exercises while the rain fell. A very nice morning, actually.
It was still raining by lunchtime, so the wife whipped up a simple meal of toasted bread with Boursin cheese, toasted bread with her special pico de gallo (fresh cilantro, green onion and heirloom tomato), with some olives, grapes and strawberries on the side.
It finally stopped raining in the afternoon, so
we decided to make the best of it and head out to the British Museum. High up on our "must-see" list, it's said that this is one of the greatest museums on the planet.
Bakerloo south, exit Oxford Circle, change to the District line for one eastbound stop at Tottenham Court and pop up to the street into a rainy mess. Rain, again. London is not known for geometric street grids. In some places, six or seven roads all meet at the same intersection, so you better have your bearings straight.
After a few minutes, however, we made it to the British Museum around 3:30pm. It closes at 5pm, so we decided to try and follow Rick Steve's British Museum audio walking tour.
We were quickly disappointed, as his audio tour just jumped from one floor to another in one breath. The version we had was made two years ago, and obviously the Museum had changed a few things around.
Ramses was still in place.
This is an outstanding museum, but we only got to see a small fraction of what was there.
the Rosetta Stone:
the mosaic tiles of the ancient Egyptians:
the lion hunts of the ancient Assyrians:
Ancient kings liked to wear ZZ Top beards:
It's really amazing to see what remains from ancient civilizations.
5pm came around quickly, and the ushers shooed everyone out of the Museum. Just as well. It was difficult going in there. One problem with all the free museums is that schools take their classes there, and the number of swarming, chatting, yelling children is hard to take. I think I'd rather pay some money so there were fewer people inside.
As we left the Museum, sure enough, it's raining again. Surprise! We backtracked our path to the Underground train station and were back at the flat quickly, even during "rush hour."
After a bit of rest, we decided to make an easy dinner of it and walked a block over to the Sea Shell of Lisson Grove. It was quite crowded and incredibly noisy, but the wine helped. We skipped the "mains" (main course) and just had some "starters" as we were not that famished. It took a long while to get the food, which was mediocre at best. I think I should go on Trip Advisor and slam this place.
It was still raining by lunchtime, so the wife whipped up a simple meal of toasted bread with Boursin cheese, toasted bread with her special pico de gallo (fresh cilantro, green onion and heirloom tomato), with some olives, grapes and strawberries on the side.
It finally stopped raining in the afternoon, so
we decided to make the best of it and head out to the British Museum. High up on our "must-see" list, it's said that this is one of the greatest museums on the planet.
Bakerloo south, exit Oxford Circle, change to the District line for one eastbound stop at Tottenham Court and pop up to the street into a rainy mess. Rain, again. London is not known for geometric street grids. In some places, six or seven roads all meet at the same intersection, so you better have your bearings straight.
After a few minutes, however, we made it to the British Museum around 3:30pm. It closes at 5pm, so we decided to try and follow Rick Steve's British Museum audio walking tour.
We were quickly disappointed, as his audio tour just jumped from one floor to another in one breath. The version we had was made two years ago, and obviously the Museum had changed a few things around.
Ramses was still in place.
A section of cuniform:
This is an outstanding museum, but we only got to see a small fraction of what was there.
the Rosetta Stone:
the mosaic tiles of the ancient Egyptians:
the lion hunts of the ancient Assyrians:
Ancient kings liked to wear ZZ Top beards:
It's really amazing to see what remains from ancient civilizations.
5pm came around quickly, and the ushers shooed everyone out of the Museum. Just as well. It was difficult going in there. One problem with all the free museums is that schools take their classes there, and the number of swarming, chatting, yelling children is hard to take. I think I'd rather pay some money so there were fewer people inside.
As we left the Museum, sure enough, it's raining again. Surprise! We backtracked our path to the Underground train station and were back at the flat quickly, even during "rush hour."
After a bit of rest, we decided to make an easy dinner of it and walked a block over to the Sea Shell of Lisson Grove. It was quite crowded and incredibly noisy, but the wine helped. We skipped the "mains" (main course) and just had some "starters" as we were not that famished. It took a long while to get the food, which was mediocre at best. I think I should go on Trip Advisor and slam this place.
A short walk back to the flat and we crashed in short order.
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