Oh, the Places You'll Go: London

Seriously, London rocks. I think it was partly because after weeks of travelling in non-English speaking countries, we could go up to someone and hug them yelling "DUDE YOU SPEAK ENGLISH YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND!" (For some reason, we didn't make many friends in London...)

One of the first things we did was go to Kings Cross Station (which was right across from the train station). (Also, there were pianos in the station and there was an older guy who was playing and he was just the loveliest piano player. Dude, wherever you are, whoever you are, thank you.) Anyways, Platform 9 3/4 was a store full of Harry Potter merchandise and they had a trolley halfway into the wall and you could pretend to run into it then buy the picture for 3000% its cost. 

We spent about fifteen million years running around Baker Street, searching for 221B. We went up alleyways, took wrong streets, doubled back and FINALLY found it. (We were even using the GPS on the phone, too. Which is just sad.) There was the museum through the doorway, but it was ten euros each ($11.50 US or $14.50 AU) which was a bit much for a two minute museum. The store beside the museum was really cool, though, even though it was a bit expensive. (That's where I got my bookmark from The Bookshelf Tag.)

One of my favourite parts of going to London was visiting the British Museum. (I know, nerdy, right?) It was huge and beautiful and there was so much history and knowledge seeped into every particle of that gorgeous building. Jabberwockies, I could have spent days lost in that place. (And it had the most beautiful room in the entire world, which is a story for another day...)

They had a whole room just for Japanese stuff.
THERE WAS A SAMURAI SUIT. 

One of my favourites parts was the African exhibit. First of all, the traditional weapons and clothing were so beautiful. My favourite part was the art. There was a civil war (1977-1992) in Mozambique, and after the war there were so many weapons lying around. The Christian Council of Mozambique started a program, "Transforming Guns into Hoes," where they collected weapons and gave people tools instead. Some artists take these weapons and make them into sculptures, like the tree below. 

It's one of the most beautiful stories I've ever heard. 

Then, of course, there were the landmarks, which were cool and generally awesome. 

Taken from the top of the Shard, the tallest building in London. 

We spent a morning enjoying Stonehenge, and if you ever get the chance I highly recommend going. It's so interesting because they don't actually know what Stonehenge is for, but they sure do have a lot of theories. I was impressed because people who are smarter than I am think the stones are from Wales. Wales is a long way from Londonish area, especially when you're dragging heavy stones five times your size. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't go into Stonehenge and it was all roped off. (Something about protecting a national landmark or something.) BUT it was the reason why there were no tourists in my shots, so you win some, you lose some, I suppose. 

Also, it was freezing (about 6 degrees C or 40ish degrees F) and raining and I couldn't stop shivering the entire time. We did meet a nice retired couple from Nova Scotia, though, so Dad had a good chat with them about this year's hockey. I tuned out pretty quickly, but it was nice to hear a familiar accent. 

We went to Harrod's, which was a mistake. We're always short on space (that's what happens when you travel with five people) and buying books is never really a good idea when you're travelling. I swore to myself that I wouldn't burden us with books, but I just couldn't help it. I ended up buying Patrick Ness' More than This and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. The whole trilogy of the last one. *facepalm* 

The floor of the British Museum. 

Have you ever travelled in a country where you didn't speak the language? Do you head to museums whenever you can? Any theories on why Stonehenge was built?