Journey to the Center of the Earth

Well it's Saturday morning and here's a recap of yesterday.

Word for the day - pasty or pasties. No it's not what you first might think (get your minds out of the gutter), it's typically a meat filled pie that looks something like a large turnover. After hearing "where's my pasty" several times last night during the Billy Elliott play, we finally realized it was something to eat and not the other (you know what we mean) because she was an old woman.

Yesterday started with a quick underground ride to the British Museum. Lots to see there but tops on our list was the Rosetta Stone. The scoop on the stone is it provided the information needed to decipher Hieroglyphics. Cal, if you are following the blog, we will be bringing you a different version of the "stone" that demystifies healthcare reform. Can you imagine, the answers were here all along. The museum had a vast amount of Egyptian statuary, mummies and sarcophagus (people shaped, sometimes ornate container for the dead). The Egyptian's mummified lots of things, cows, alligators, and lots of cats! http://www.britishmuseum.org/

From there we "tubed" to Liecester square to hunt down some discount theatre tickets. This particular line was deep underground (you know there are just layers and layers of underground traffic). Upon arrival, we had to actually take an elevator to the top instead of stairs or an escalator. I think we were close to the center of the earth. This underground ride and the elevator were exceptionally crowded too, like 50 shriner clowns crammed into a VW bug. After snagging our discount tickets and grabbing a quick "slice" for lunch, we went back to the underground station. Now this is where one old broad suggested walking to the center of the earth instead of the elevator clown ride. Okay, we walk, walked and walked - spiral steps forever - 175 steps. Doesn't sound like much but the steps were narrow and it WAS A SPIRAL!!

From there we arrived a Westminister and the Parliment buildings. We intended to go in but it was CROWDED, LONG LINES. Pictures of the outside will have to suffice. We will have to be satisfied with seeing the inside during the recent William and Kate wedding. We were, however, able to stand exactly where they stood when entering from the side of the church. No vibes but for just a moment we both felt rather royal (of course the old broads feel royal most of the time, or maybe that is just royal pains in the ......).

The old broads were tired and spent a couple of hours napping, texting and on the internet before dinner and the play. Dinner was at Jenny Lo's around the corner. Good asian cuisine on the cheap. Walked to the play, again in our neighborhood. http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/home.php. Very British play - storyline and diction. Sometimes hard to understand and some of the humor was Benny Hill like.

Today is a travel day. Leaving in a couple of hours for Edinburgh, which means a couple of entertaining tube rides with luggage and finding our way around Heathrow. We will have tonight and all day tomorrow before meeting up with our tour group at 5:00 p.m. We will have a chance to get settled, go to a laundrymat (been washing clothes in the sink - drying undies in the windows). Will be in touch later this evening after we settle in for the night.