Volume 2, Days 48-50
The heat wave reaches London with temperatures predicted to reach into the 30s on Tuesday and Thursday, but when I awake in the morning the dorm is as cold as an icebox. The A/C–necessary evil of the Anthropocene era–is a lifesaver. I guess I had sprung for the slightly higher booking price to get the included breakfast, which helped me save money as I could pig out in the morning, but the spread was nothing special–toast and cereal with two machines doling out liquids that can only questionably be called juice or coffee.
At 9am, after eating my fill, I crossed Hyde Park to the area south of Prince Albert Hall and the Imperial College to visit the collection of museums, i.e. the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert. Despite a somewhat leisurely walk, I still reached the NHM about 5 minutes before its opening time and was floored to see the crowds queued up out the door. The adjacent Science Museum also had a sizable crowd waiting to get in. I guess it makes sense that tourists will avail themselves of the free museums, but sometimes I like to think that the hoipoloi are too busy shopping or spending money on tours to be bothered by soaking up any knowledge or culture.
The NHM was underwhelming overall. The earth science parts were okay, explaining plate tectonics (volcanos! earthquakes!), rock formation, and with comprehensive displays on minerals, but the life sciences sections were both too crowded and sparse. I could barely tolerate the crowds in the dinosaur section and passed through the hallways with various taxidermied animals quite quickly.
Exiting the museum, I headed over to the Imperial College, where a farmer’s market was taking place on the “quad” (or Queen’s Green in the local parlance). After much heming and hawing over the selections, I opted for a Steak and Ale pie, served on mashed potatos and with onion gravy. It was massive and tasty and affordable.
Nourished, I headed to the V&A next and found it overwhelming. One full day would not be enough to see all the exhibits in the V&A (not even including the several special exhibitions with their own fees). The layout of the museum doesn’t lend itself to a natural course, so I just did my best to wander about without worrying about missing anything. I mostly just took in the displays visually without worrying too much about reading the signs explaining historical context, which with “decorative arts” is quite important. I would definitely recommend the museum as a must-see.
Finally because it was there and free, I popped over to the Science Museum. I’m of mixed feelings about the quality. I definitely enjoyed the several halls full of old machines, respectively themed around the “creation of the modern age,” the “secret world of the home,” and flight. But, it would be fair to say I was pretty tapped out by that point with my brain incapable of absorbing much additional information.
I headed back to the hostel for a longish rest with coffee, water, and a chocolate orange before it was time to head over to a pub to meet up with my London-based friends. The pub was within walking distance (by my skewed standards). I had spent a little time online trying to look up pub quizzes and was a little worried about the accuracy of the information I found, but the pub was good and crowded. Every inside table not otherwise occupied had a piece of paper reserving it for later, and every outside table was full of people as well. My friend, F, who had been coming to London on business the past six weeks was already there, standing on the corner talking on the phone. We staked out a claim on an otherwise reserved big table and ordered some food. My other friend W, who lives in London fulltime, showed up jsut as the quiz was starting, which made it awkward to catch up.
It was a good quiz and we won on a tie breaker. The prize (for our 2 GBP per person entry fee) was a 50 GBP bar credit, usable that day. Unfortunately, we had individually paid for a couple of drinks, so we didn’t maximize the value of the winnings and I, being the only person drinking, was stuck hanging out at the pub drinking one more than I wanted.
When I got back to the hostel, I noticed that the A/C in the dorm room was not blowing cold air. I popped down to the reception to ask turning it cooler, but they said a request for maintanence had already been filed. I could swear that someone had gotten their hands on the remote and switched it from “cool” to “fan” and that no real maintanence was really required, but I didn’t push the point. I took a cold shower, and went to bed.
| Steak and Ale Pie | 6 |
| Water and chocolate | 1.5 |
| Quiz Entry (for 3) | 6 |
| Pint of Asahi | 5.4 |
| Total: | 18.9 GBP (188.6 RMB) (USD 27.42) |