Today marks the first day of my post-examination travels in Big-Ben-land. Whilst revising, I realised I haven’t truly seen London despite being here for so long. Sure, I’ve done most of the touristy stuff, but then again most of it was just taking in the sights. I’ve yet to truly experience what this great city has to offer. Thus, drawing on Time Out’s 101 Things To Do In London list for inspiration, I have created a list of things to see/do and I’ve got them scheduled into my calendar! 

I started the day at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the afternoon Eucharist Service, partly because I wanted to experience a traditional Anglican service. It was pretty nice I must say; I did get my traditional service within what I can only describe as a stunningly beautiful cathedral (in part thanks to the Great Fire of London in which the original St. Paul’s was burnt to a crisp and had to be rebuilt by this bloke Christopher Wren). Oh, on a side note, the communion wine was the nicest I’ve had so far - it wasn’t red but amber, and tasted like a dessert wine!

service sheet from St. Paul’s

After service, I headed over to the Museum of London which I would recommend everyone to visit. Highlights (for me at least) includes the Victorian Walk, the Mayor of London Stage Coach that’s over 250 years old and still used every November and the Pleasure Garden exhibition. After almost 4 hours wandering around the museum, I’ve yet to see every exhibit and I would definitely be heading back again soon!

The exhibitions start off with giving an account of London from 450,000 BP to 50 AD. The massive collection of flints and other relics give a very vivid image of the evolution of not only people, but also early societies that resided around the Thames. Moving on, you’d see a very, very rich collection of weapons, tools, jewelry and gold guineas dating back to when the Romans invaded Britain and stuff from the Anglo-Saxons and vikings.

Following that, the next few galleries display artifacts from the old Britain that we’re all familiar with; Georgian, Tudor and Victorian times. It’s fascinating to see the death mask of Oliver Cromwell, learn about the Black Plague, the Great Fire of London which incidentally occured in 1666 and so much more about old Britain.

My favourite exhibits were the flints, the Victorian Walk (it was made with actual shop fronts and displays and while obviously sanitised, did give a fairly good impression of Victorian times), the post-Restoration Pleasure Gardens (with the very many masquerade outfits - what struck me most was the modernity of the ladies’ outfits, especially their hats), the various military outfits and the very grand, very magnificent Mayor of London stage coach. OH, and I learnt that ‘pubs’ actually came from the term ‘public house(s)’ or saloons where men bummed around after work or couples visited during dates. 

All in all, a very pleasant day, despite the dreadful rain!

Flints

The famous Penny Farthing bicycle

A public Victorian urinal

Badge of The Order of The Garter

The stage coach

(Source: chumsawesomeness)