it was again a sunny day here in London. i woke up, did a little reading, had some brunch, and read some other blog posts (i'm addicted to google reader now). then i set out to see St. Paul's Cathedral--the most beautiful cathedral in London. but on the bus ride there, i realized that i forgot to take my camera. and when i finally got there, i found out that it costs 14.50 to go in! agh! because of these two disappointing moments, i sat on a bench, sulked a little, and just gazed at the beautiful, colossal cathedral from the outside for about 10 minutes. it was still worthwhile seeing it up close! i always saw it from afar on a bus ride, or from a bridge on the other side of the Thames. anyway, after admiring the cathedral's beautiful architecture, i took a stroll around the area to enjoy the weather and to cheer myself up. that's when i came across the Museum of London--a museum featuring the "entire" history of London, starting from prehistoric times, straight through the Roman Empire, all the way to modern day London. i had so much fun!! i played with all the interactive toys/games that were for the kids. it was actually the perfect way to introduce myself to the city. there were tons of archaeological treasures on display. and lots of paintings/maps of London. it's always fun looking at maps of the city from hundreds of years ago, to see what part of the city still remains today. my absolute favorite part of the museum was the temporary exhibit on London Street Photography. it was amazing! i was blown away by the amount of history behind each photograph. and it was really weird seeing pictures from 200 years ago of places that i always walk by (i.e. Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Holborn Road). what was even more exciting was seeing a few of John Thomas'--one of the founding fathers of photojournalism--work on display. i wrote an awesome paper about him last year at Haverford. it was about his anthropological photography in China during the 19th and 20th century. it was nice "running into him" in London.
because i forgot to take my camera, i can't show you photos of my day...
but i will leave you with a little story called "Crooked streets, crooked corners, crooked alleys, crooked houses, and crooked old people."
In the town of Windsor,
are crooked streets,
and each street
has a crooked corner.
From the corner, turn right
and find crooked alleys
with shops and homes
packed snug and tight
In one of those alleys
is a crooked house
of white and green
owned by a lady named Sally
(not really. i had to make that up in order to make this story somewhat follow a rhyming scheme)
Upon seeing this treasure
I looked around
asked a crooked old man
to take my picture
The end.
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