Wednesday, June 25, 2014: Iceland Adventure!

8:59 AM (Eastern time)

Remember how I said yesterday would be boring? Well, it was actually very fun! Our friend Gulli picked us up in the morning at 9:00, and we went on a really long drive to a waterfall. And when I say really long, I mean really long. Italicized. Did you notice that?

The video below should explain everything, but here's out agenda:

1. Pingvallir National Park entrance
2. Waterfall (small)
3. Hiking around Pingvallir
4. Open space where Iceland Parliament met
5. Where North American and European tectonic plates meet
6. Chasm where you can throw kr (Iceland currency)
7. Geysir (the original)
8. Watching Geysir erupt five times
9. Gullfoss waterfall (HUGE!)
10. Bathroom break
11. Snack break
12. Expensive dinner
13. Climbing on beach rocks
14. Visiting Gulli's friend, who owns horses, a dog, a cat and bees (yes, you heard me right)
15. Back to our rented apartment
16. Sleep
17. At 6:00 this morning, wake up, brush teeth, eat quick breakfast
18. Say goodbye to Gulli at airport
19. Fly on a 5-hour 15 minute-long flight from Reykjavik to Logan Airport

Enjoy this video, which I put together specially for this blog. Not seen anywhere else (except for maybe YouTube).

See you soon!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014: Another Plane Ride

6:21 pm (Iceland time)

I have to say, today was a deadly bore. Apart from a BORING plane ride and a BORING Despicable Me 2, everything was SUPER-SUPER-BORING!

We left our hotel in the morning to take a 3-hour flight to Reykjavik, Iceland. They didn't have those little video screens in front of you, so they had little mini tablets to do stuff on. My brother an I spent almost the whole ride playing Pac-Man and Temple Run and watching movies. BORING, right?

At least we have the sights to see in Iceland tomorrow, but I'm predicting that will be BORING, right?

Sunday, June 22, 2014: The Burrow

8:06 pm
Today was, no doubt, a very successful day. This morning, George and I woke up early to play Monopoly. It was a very tight match, and we ended up not finishing before bedtime that night. More on that next post.

This morning we went to an ancient barrow (a narrow tomb [with giant spiders, might I add]) and then to ice cream and to a pub called the Fox and Badger for lunch. I got chips (which is what they call fries in the UK), and crisps (what they call chips in the UK) and then we set off for the Bath Sports & Leisure Center to swim for two whole hours.

Me on top of the barrow

Me in front of the Fox & Badger

The view from the barrow

 Oh, you should have been there. There was a big pool and a small pool (the big pool was freezing and the small pool was warm, so you might guess where we chose to hang out) and then there were the waterslides.

One big and one small - that's how they do everything, isn't it? The big one was longer (obviously) but the smaller one was wider and could take two (or even three) people. Each one of them ended with a splash (literally). The smaller one actually landed in the pool, and the bigger one ended in a tiny space, full of water, next to the lifeguard's chair.

As I said before, it was a very successful day. So successful that we're going to bed early, and we're about to hear the story for tonight. Whoops, it's started. Here we go!

Saturday, June 21, 2014: Pranks

9:32 pm

Yesterday (I'm writing this on the 22nd), my friend George and I woke up and decided to play a trick on his brother Charlie and my brother Lir. So, when they came down, George forgot to activate his helicopter so I made my dad's little Dalek talk. Here's what a Dalek sounds like:

It didn't work, but it was pretty funny.

Speaking of Daleks, here's me at the Doctor Who Experience two days ago:

After that, we got locked in a Monopoly stalemate. We're still playing it today, and we'll probably still be playing it when we leave in a couple days. We've already bankrupted the bank, and George is richer than me (for now) but I have almost twice the properties that he has.

Our families took a 1.5 hour drive up to Fossil Beach in Kilve. We frolicked there for a while and then went to get ice cream near the beach. Then, 1.5 hours later, we watched 2 episodes of Phineas and Ferb, played a few rounds of Monopoly, ate dinner, took showers and went to bed.

This morning George and I woke up at 5:54 in the morning (to play more Monopoly).

Friday, June 20, 2014: A Marvelous Experience

11:23 pm
Wow! A huge day yesterday - we woke up in Kentish Town and ended up in Bristol. So complicated! So, first we took a tube to Paddington Station, where we changed to the National Rail to Bristol. Our friend Nick picked up our luggage, and we went to Cardiff, Wales for the Doctor Who Experience.

First, we took the walking tour. The guide explained everything within 1.5 miles that had starred in Doctor Who or its spin-offs, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. Then we went into the building and the fun began.

There was a Dalek scene (see an earlier post), Weeping Angels (see video below), Cybermen, the Doctor, and the Pandorica (look all these things up on the Doctor Who Wiki, Tardis Data Core).
If you don't know what a Weeping Angel is, watch this short video:

After that, we went through the exhibition, which featured clothing, props, costumes and much, much more from the TV series. Here are just a few of the things we saw:

The interior of the TARDIS from 2010-2013

Rose Tyler's outfit from 2008

The War Doctor's version of the TARDIS

A chained Weeping Angel from 2012's The Angels Take Manhattan

A Wooden Cyberman from the most recent episode, The Time of the Doctor

A Sontaran from 2008's The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky

 After that, we happened to stumble upon the shop, where I purchased Spin & Fly TARDIS, rare Cyberman action figure, Seventh Doctor audio and a 2-in-1 novelization of 2 classic episodes from the '70s.

Check out my pictures page for more!

Toodles!

P.S.: If you want to know more about the Experience, click here.

Thursday, June 19, 2014: Rest in Peace

6:04 pm
SECOND TO LAST DAY HERE! Well, technically, the last full day, considering we're leaving in the morning tomorrow. But, oh, what a day! In the morning we went to Highgate Cemetery, where a bunch of famous people are buried there, including Douglas Adams, Karl Marx, and many, many more.
Here's a video of me with Douglas Adams' grave:
*************
Sorry, can't put the video right on the website. Here's a link:
youtube.com/rowanathighgatecemetary

After Highgate, we proceeded to take a narrow boat ride on a London canal system, built 200 years ago for industrial purposes, to Camden Lock Market, where I bought a new watch. We explored the Lock a little bit, got a few gifts, and then went home and started packing.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014: Back to the British Museum

5:39 pm
Our second-to-last day here! I can't believe it! In two days we'll be off to Bristol! It seemed like such a short time!

Anyway, today we went back to the British Museum and saw some mummies of people (and animals, see my Pictures page). They were really wrapped and looked very mummified.

 A cute little kitty mummy

Big, old person mummy (King Tut?)

After the British Museum, we thought we would check out the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) but we decided to go to the London Natural History Museum (LNHM) instead.

The history museum was so cool! There was an escalator to the center of the Earth (really!) and a simulator for a famous earthquake. Also, there was a cute bird exhibit:

An adult male Ostrich

A peacock spreads her wings

Cute little ostrich babies

And, oh, the dinosaurs! So many raptors, T-Rexes, triceratops, and so many more!

A T-Rex skull

We met the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park

A Raptor on the wall!

A full Triceratops skeleton

Here's me in front of a huge T-Rex:

Pretty cool, huh?

Well, gotta fun. Farscape is on in a few minutes. Toodles!

Farscape

Tuesday, June 17, 2014: A Stoney Sight

10:22 pm
Today, we were planning to go on the London Walks Tour of Stonehenge (we did the Shakespeare-Dickens Walk a few days ago. See this post), but it was too much money so we decided to just go ourselves.

It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's a bunch of photos I took:

Those are some pretty big stones

There was a special name for this one...

My brother and I at Stonehenge

I am your leader

The power of zoom

Stones from afar

The Stone Show

A little bird on one of the fallen

 Here's a little vid I took of me at the Henge:

Here's another one, long overdue, from the Eiffel Tower...

If you can't hear what I'm saying, e-mail me at marphclon@gmail.com and I'll send you a transcript.

Stonehenge was built over 4,000 years ago by ancient people (some were even buried there!). In the visitor's center museum, they had a recreation of the head of one of those people. He was between 35 and 40 years old when he died! They even had his skeleton.

There were different stones: one of them was called the Slaughter Stone. It's not really for slaughtering, though...

Check out this website and see if you can find out more about Stonehenge. E-mail me with some more facts!

Through my eyes, it was very interesting. The audio guides gave detailed descriptions of each segment of the sculpture (or whatever it was meant to be).

Anyway, yesterday also saw us going to Salisbury Cathedral and climbing on the detailed sculptures.

My brother and I crawl on one

The Cathedral

We went home on a 1½ hour train ride and then home on the Tube. I got the summer edition for Total Film (see cover below) from WH Smith for £3.99.

Tomorrow we'll be going to the Victoria and Albert Museum, named for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Plus, the British Museum and downtown walks.

Monday, June 16, 2014: Henry VIII and his Wives

6:14 pm
This morning, we boarded a train at Waterloo Station for a 35-minute train ride to Hampton Court. At Hampton Court was the Palace where Henry VIII and William III lived. We saw their apartments, Henry VIII's kitchens, the chocolate kitchens, the Palace Gardens, and much, much more.

I saw a video about Henry VIII's six wives. SIX WIVES! Can you believe it? They were Catherine of Aragon (divorced), Anne Boleyn (beheaded), Jane Seymour (died), Anne of Cleves (divorced), Kathryn Howard (beheaded) and Katherine Parr (widowed). Also, here's a handy rhyme to find what happened to his wives:

Divorced

Beheaded

Died (pause)

Divorced

Beheaded

Survived

Funny, right?

After we explored the Palace we attempted to navigate the Hedge Maze. It was the oldest in the UK still standing, and we had a fun time trying to find the center.

After we got back, we got ice cream, went to Megacity Comics (I got the Doctor Who comic strip collection The Cruel Sea) and ate dinner.

Sunday, June 15, 2014: Lost in London

9:01 pm
It was quite a day! First, we went to the Portrait Gallery at Trafalgar Square where we saw a bunch of interesting people from two or three hundred years ago. Then, we went on a Shakespeare-Dickens walk.

Here's our guide, Andrew, talking about a Shakespeare memorial

 It was very educational and interesting. Our guide talked about a very violent and murderous book called Martin Chezziwick by Charles Dickens. I got it free for Kindle and have yet to read it.

After that, we headed toward the London Eye for our 5:30 ride. We had Ultra Fast Track tickets, so we got the front very fast. The ride was awesome. Here's some views:

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Another car

The view from the top

Me with London behind

After our trip we went across Embankment Bridge to get to the Charing Cross Tube station. My brother and I got lost, so we went back on the bridge. My brother found my parents, but I got lost again. So I went back to the Eye, where there was security, and came to them with this simple statement: "I'm lost and I can't find my parents anywhere."

I expected them to say something like, "Hi, Lost, I'm Ross" or something, but they found my parents and I got to ride in a British Police Car!!!!!

Now I am home safe and sound and everyone is proud of me. I hope you are, too.

P.S.: Here's a little video about the London Eye at the New Year's Fireworks in 2012. I just had to include it:

Saturday, June 14, 2014: Trooping for the Color

11:32 pm
In the morning, we watched Trooping the Color on television. Trooping the Color is Queen Elizabeth II's birthday ceremony. It happened a little late this year, but it was worth watching. Here's the full ceremony, as it happened last year:

Then we watched an episode of The Simpsons and met my mom at the farmer's market. But then we had to get ready for our train to Knebworth. We were going to visit my mom's old friend Lara and her partner David, plus their kids Imogen and Alex. We ate dinner, played cricket, swung on a zipline, played football (or soccer as we call it in the USA) and then watched TV. In total, we saw one and a half Doctor Who episodes, most of Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief and part of Despicable Me.

In short, it was a very fun day.

Friday, June 13, 2014: The Famous Abbey

7:37 pm
Friday the 13th! Can it be more unlucky? (Actually, it was REALLY unlucky, but we won't mention that).

Anyway, we took the tube to Westminster Abbey today, where a bunch of dead famous people are buried, including Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Henry VII, Elizabeth I, Mary I, Mary Queen of Scots and much more.

I did a little children's trail (I know it may sound babyish, but both me and my brother got HUGE souvenir chocolate coins after we handed in our completed papers. It was so delicious!).

After that, we went to Trafalger Square and climbed the lions (great view) and made bronze rubbings at St. Martin. I made one of a skeleton.

After that, we took a Double Decker bus back to our street during Rush Hour (don't remind me).

Nice seein' (or rather communicatin') with you!

Thursday, June 12, 2014: Fire and Locks

6:27 pm
In the morning, my parents were considering taking a tour of London with a special guide, but it turns out it isn't really kid-friendly. So we sauntered over to the Museum of London.

It was SO COOL!!!!! There were intricate dioramas full of detail and even a short movie about the Great Fire of London in 1666 with a working, electronic model of London that lit up. Here's what it looked like:

There was also a changing, projected diorama: Caesar's camp in Heathrow about two thousand and sixty years ago changes to Heathrow Airport today.

There was also a Victorian walk, to show what that area was like two hundred years ago.

In the shop, I bought an informational sticker book about the Kings and Queens of England. It only cost £6.99!

After that, we went to the Camden Lock Market. So many things! I saw a really cool comic shop with collectible action figures. There was the 100th issue of Doctor Who Magazine and over 25 action figures! There was also a 1963 £195 Dalek! Can you believe it?

If you don't know what a Dalek is, watch his short clip:

Come Over to the "Pictures" Page

Come over to my "Pictures" page and see some of my awesome photos from my adventures! Oh, and be sure to check out my June 11 post as well. Wouldn't want to miss the stuff that's there.

Here's a quick photo sampler:

The Welsh Soldiers perform the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Top towers of Notre Dame in Paris!

Mary Queen of Scots, I believe

What on Earth is this guy's problem?

The Royal Family of England

Wednesday, June 11, 2014: Towering Over London

6:20 pm

For the first three and a half hours of our traveling morning, we went to the Tower of London.

It may not sound very exciting, but the Tower is actually very cool. We had a guided tour from one of the Yeoman Warders (guards) and got a 60-minute, fun-filled, full of jokes extended tour. We didn't get to go to the Crown Jewels on the tour, but I'll mention that later.

Our tour guide, Andy

The Crown Jewels are a collection of famous crowns, weapons, armor and dresses worn by royalty and occupants of the Tower of London.

Famous inmates of the Tower include Sir Walter Raleigh (stayed their for 13 years in a luxurious room with his wife and children, wrote a book, performed science experiments, and played pranks on his guards [not really, I just made the last one up]), Elizabeth I (then Princess Elizabeth, locked up by her first cousin once removed Mary Queen of Scots, who was later beheaded by the monarch), some guy who tried to escape (his rope was too short, and he fell into a pile of poo).

After our experience in the Tower, I got to try on part of a knight's armor:

A historian teaches me sword-fighting

Nice hairstyle, don't you think?

Lookin' proud with a heavy sword and a dinky shield

After that, we headed to the British Library, where famous documents like the manuscripts for Beowulf and the Shakespeare plays, plus Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and the Magna Carta (plus much more) are kept.

P.S.: Here's one more picture from Madame Tussaud's: Just felt like I should share it with you!

With the woman herself, Madame Tussaud
Can you guess what she's doing?
(Hint: It involves bloody heads in the French Revolution)
Visit my Pictures page to see more!

All photos on this page copyright Tim Wood, 2014 except Madame Tussaud

New Madame Tussaud's Photos!

Here's some more pictures from my wax museum experience at Madame Tussaud's yesterday.

Be sure to check out my previous post about June 10 before you look at these photos!

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine from X-Men: Day of Future Past

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt don't care about all the attention they're getting

Elizabeth I looks smart in her Queenly outfit

Robin Williams, without his beard, like in Night at the Museum

Looking sharp with Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.)

Hello, Your Majesty! (She's 88 now; 83 in this picture!)

Welcome to the Huge Hats Show with Henry VIII

Arnold Schwarzenegger  as the T-800 Terminator, from the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Look for the newest Terminator movie, Genesys, in 2015!