Theatre Walk

This was another one of our "London walks" that we have to do as an assignment for class. I love going on these! Once I overcame the embarrassment of walking around with this guidebook that just screams tacky tourist, I really enjoyed myself. These walks are a really great way to learn about the history and learn how to get around London when you are above ground, as opposed to just taking the Tube everywhere.

This building has a really cool history. OXO was a company that manufactured beef stock cubes in the 1930s and when they acquired this building, which had originally been constructed as a power station for the post office, they had a dilemma. There were a lot of restrictions on advertising so they couldn't have lights or signs on their building to advertise their product. Their solution was to hire an architect named Albert Moore who redesigned the facade of the building in an Art Deco style that would conveniently have windows in the shapes of two outer circles and a middle circle with a cross...smart thinking huh? 

This obelisk is one of a part that was recovered from Alexandria in the early 1800s. The other one is in New York and I don't know how they got theirs but this one was sent as a gift by Mohammed Ali. Their is an inscription on the base of it that says that the obelisk dates back to two centuries before Ramses the Great came into power in Egypt, and it is from the city of On. There is a legend that suggests that On is where Mary and Joseph fled with the baby Jesus when they went into Egypt so they might have seen this exact obelisk in its original location!

On either side of the obelisk there were two huge sphinx. The close up shows little holes and stuff in one of them from when it was hit by shrapnel during the London bombings in World War II.

So this picture is a funny story...Elliot and I arrived at Charing Cross station and, following the instructions in the guidebook, we started searching for the Charing cross. We were under the impression that the cross would be pretty big but we looked everywhere and just couldn't find the cross! After wandering around the station for at least 5 minutes, and getting really confused and frustrated, we realized that we had been walking around the cross the whole time, it was just covered in scaffolding! We had a good laugh about that...scaffolding has never been so hilarious.

It's Gringotts bank!! This wasn't in the tour, I just thought it was super cool. Most of the movie was filmed inside the building but we definitely weren't allowed in, there were like three guards standing inside, so we had to settly for a picture of the outside. It's still cool though! Pictures of platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station are coming soon :)

Home of BBC!

Ok so do you see those three white steps? This gate is the old York Watergate and those three steps mark how high the Thames river was in 1626. To give you some perspective there is a good sized park and a two lane road in between the steps and the water, which means that the Thames River used to be a lot bigger (and a lot smellier but that really doesn't have anything to do with the York Watergate).

Here's a fun fact for you, Drury Lane used to be the center of London's red light district. Our book says that at the end of the last century, Drury Lane was among the worst slums in London now. It's all fine now, at least during the day time, but it was a pretty sketchy place! This sheds a whole new light on the Nursery Rhyme. Do we really want to know the Muffin Man?

When we got to Covent Gardens Elliot and I had our first Ben's Cookies experience and the first bite of that cookie was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Seriously, these cookies are so amazing and if you haven't tried one you should definitely put it on your to do list. They have one at the Gateway in Salt Lake and I am so excited that I will get to have the magic in Utah too :)

Leicester Square is the equivalent of the Hollywood Star Walk. All around the square they have handprints of famous actors and actresses! I'm not exactly sure what the criteria is for someone to get a handprint...they have a lot of movie premiers here so my guess is that when a major movie is premiered in Leicester Square they get a handprint? Or maybe all of these people or their movies have won a particular award? Anyways, I found Sylvester Stallone and almost peed my pants from excitement. For those of you who don't know, I am a huge Rocky fan and this moment was pretty big for me! Alex is holding hands with Arnold Schwarzeneggar and I included this picture to show you how huge and beefy his hands are. No exaggeration, his hand was practically the same size as my foot.

I followed this guy around for a bit to try and get a picture...he is wearing a Totoro hat! The picture isn't very good but if you look closely you can see the Totoro face, complete with the big toothy smile. He kind of looks like Hagrid too! Which makes sense, I mean Totoro is definitey a magical creature that I think Hagrid would be interested in.

These people sleeping outside the National Gallery brought back fond memories of BYU. Hey, once the sun comes out you've just got to take advantage of it! Hopefully none of these people are sleepwalkers.