The Tower, Leadenhall Market and a teen flick....

The first picture is of Leadenhall Market; the next is Lloyd's of London. They exist side by side.

We got up (with an alarm this time) and headed to the Tower of London this morning. Eleanor went with a fully charged camera this time and went crazy taking pictures. We liked the jewel tower a lot and felt like we could handle the weight of those crowns. :) Honestly, though, we didn't go into every building in the complex. About half was good for us.



We then walked through the City and tried to take the Tube from Monument to Bank....only to find out that it was a simple walk THROUGH the underground stations to do it. That felt a little odd. We wanted to check out Leadenhall Market because I had read that it was where they filmed the Harry Potter scenes in Diagon Alley. It was really pretty--very elaborate Victorian architecture. We stopped in a little cafe offering "British Grub" and Eleanor got adventurous....she ordered steak and chips. :-) We asked for the steak well done and it was more medium or medium rare. She felt embarrassed to ask them to put it back on the grill, but I told her that was perfectly acceptable and they were very nice about it (as they should be).



The really old "Lloyd's of London" bank has built a very modern steel building right next to the market--very odd juxtaposition of old and new.



We then decided to go to a British teen flick called "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging." It was really cute. The rating was 12A (no one under 12 years old without a parent)--seemed like it would be PG or PG-13 at home. I don't think it would be popular in the states, but it was "dead on" about adolescents and life at 14-16. We enjoyed it a lot.



Random observations:





1. We found the "hood" today. It was near Bayswater tube station....not too far from where we are staying actually. Amazing what a couple of blocks one way or another will do. This city is so diverse. Every area and every tube station has its own vibe and personality.





2. The movie theater had a bar (liquor, beer and wine) in it, a candy by the pound place and the usual popcorn and soft drinks. Eleanor asked for butter on the popcorn and was told they didn't do that..."this isn't America, you know." That cracked us up. It also led us into a nice conversation with the young man.





3. Everything is outrageously expensive here. I haven't bought a "meal" yet that didn't cost us close to 20 pounds (that's $40)...even if there wasn't much to it. We are eating in this evening with groceries from the local store. Still more expensive than home, but not crazy. I really wonder how much money you have to make to live in this town.





We are having an early evening in tonight, with a plan of going to Hampton Court Palace tomorrow. I have to research exactly how you get to Hampton Court though. I don't think we use the tube--I think it might be national rail. Gotta get on that research in a moment.

I'm going to attempt to attach a short video. The bathrooms in the little mall where the theaters were had the most innovative technology for washing and drying your hands. The air dryer was really cool. I had Eleanor take video of it...she thinks I'm weird! :-) We didn't take a picture of the sink...but it was really a slanted shelf/ledge that the water run down and into a long drain area. Very interesting, I thought.