Goodbye Edinburgh. Hello London!

After ten days of studying and a week of finals, I was finally finished with the University of Edinburgh. It was time for me to go to to Paris. Instead of going straight to Paris though, I took a three day detour to London. I had a most wonderful time in London, so be prepared for a long post. 

Bye Bye Edinburgh!

My day began at 4:30am, when I woke up to catch my flight. I was actually quite surprised to find that it was bright outside. That darn latitude makes from some weird daylight hours.

Above: Edinburgh during May at 4:30 am.

It was actually a bit humbling how little my view changed over the six months. Sadly, this was the last day I'd be in Edinburgh. 

Above: Edinburgh in February.

Above: Edinburgh from day one.

Bye Bye Edinburgh! We had good times. Good times.

London Walking Tours

After I flew to London, I decided to take the London Free Tour and Grim Reaper Tour. The first place I went to was the Tower of London.

Above: The Tower of London.

Instead of going inside, our tour group merely circumnavigated the tower. While we were walking around it, the guide told us the tower used to be a place to torture people until they confessed. In fact, the main water entrance to the tower was called Traitor's Gate. People such as Guy Fawkes, Anne Boleyn, and traitors of the king usually entered the tower through this gate before being tortured, killed, or both.

Above: Traitor's Gate.

Near the Tower of London, there was a small square where there used to be a scaffold. That's when our guide told us about Jack Ketch.

Above: Ex-scaffold.

Jack Ketch was a notoriously bad executioner. If you were a nobleman sentenced to death, you were usually executed by beheading since it was faster and more painless than hanging (which was for executing poor people).

But your death would not be swift if your executioner was Jack Ketch. During one of Ketch's notoriously bad executions,  he threw his axe down twice, but instead of hitting the neck he scraped the top of a nobleman's head. After the first two failed swings, the nobleman supposedly brought his head up from the wooden block and gave Ketch an "Are you serious?" look. After that Ketch brought the ax down three times on the nobleman's neck, but the head was still hanging on by a bit of flesh (thankfully the nobleman was dead by then). Since Ketch had such difficulty getting the head off, he whipped out a butcher knife that he had in his pocket to finish the job. 

There are also other strange execution stories. There was one notoriously fat, old man who was summoned to be executed. On the day of his execution, he shouted at the crowd that they were horrible for enjoying the sight of watching a fat, old man die. At that moment one of the crowd's stands collapsed, killing several of the crowd members. This was so funny to the man that he couldn't stop laughing, and was even laughing all the way up to the moment he was beheaded. Supposedly this was the origin of the phrase, "laughing your head off."

Next up we saw a seemingly innocent looking church.

Above: Prostitute conveyor belt and timer.

But back in the day this church was surrounded by prostitutes looking for business. Unfortunately they were not allowed to sit or stand, since they would be arrested for loitering. So what they did was walk around the church slowly. For anyone interested in a girl, you could literally stay in one place and watch the conveyor belt of prostitutes walk around the church and pick whichever one you favored. The church also served another purpose. The church bell rang every fifteen minutes, which the prostitutes used to time their sessions. It was a very convenient way to keep track of how long sessions were back then.

Scattered throughout the tour the guide enjoyed pointing out strange looking buildings in London. I'll quickly show them off here.

Above: Mayor's Building.

Above: The Towering Innuendo.

Above: The Inside-Out Building.

The inside-out building was strange because all of the building's air and water pipes were on the outside. There are no pipes inside any walls of the building. Our guide called it the ugliest building in London. I agreed.

There was also a huge pillar called The Monument which was a monument to the Great London Fire of 1666.

Above: The Monument.

One notable thing we did was see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guards was actually pretty boring, but Buckingham Palace itself had quite an interesting history.

Above: Bryan in front of Buckingham Palace.

The Queen of Britain occasionally sleeps at Buckingham palace, so as you can imagine it's well protected. But the most famous break-in was by Michael Fagan, a drunken Irishman! One night when Fagan was wasted, he managed to crash through a window to the palace. When he got inside, his drunken stumbling set off so many different silent alarms that the guard thought that the newly set-up system was malfunctioning. So what did the guard do? He rebooted the security system! While the system was rebooting Fagan managed to get into the queen's bedroom, and woke her up. The queen, being herself, acted very calmly and started talking with the drunk Irishman. When Fagan asked if he could borrow a cigarette, the queen politely called her butler and asked for a cigarette. The butler, confused, asked if it was for her (since she didn't smoke), and the queen said that it was actually for the drunk, bleeding Irishman at the foot of her bed. You can bet someone got in trouble that day.

After Buckingham Palace we walked past the one of London's most expensive gentlemen's clubs.

Above: Athenaeum club.

According to our guide, to get in you must spend thirteen years on the waiting list, at three thousand pounds a year. You then pay ten thousand pounds to get in before you become a lifetime member. Even after you become a member though, you have to pay one thousand pounds per year. Talk about expensive.

After the Athenaeum club we made our way to the heart of London, Trafalgar square.

Above: Trafalgar Square.

One neat installment to the square was this clock that counted down to the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Above: Countdown to the London Olympics.

What was also neat was the tall pillar in the center with admiral lord Nelson at the top.

Above: Nelson's Monument.

Lord Nelson was a famous maritime naval officer who died in a naval battle. Because he was so famous, the captain of the ship decided to preserve Lord Nelson's body in a casket of beer so that it wouldn't spoil during the return journey home. But when they finally docked at shore two weeks later, they found all the caskets of beer had been drunk, even the one containing Lord Nelson's corpse. Unfortunately some soldiers who were partying had drilled a hole in the side of the barrel and drunk the alchohol that was preserving Lord Nelson's body. Our guide told us that this was the origin of the phrase, "stiff drink".

Our tour ended at London's most famous monument, Big Ben. What shocked me most about Big Ben was how... small it was. I always imagined it to be a super-massive tower. What I learned though was that Big Ben is simply the name of the bell in the tower. The tower itself is just called The Clocktower.

Above: Big Ben, aka The Clocktower.

Next to Big Ben are the Houses of Parliament, where the famous Gunpowder Plot happened in 1605.

Above: Houses of Parliament.

Every year when the sessions at The Houses of Parliament begin, they are opened by the queen. The Gunpowder Plot was an attempt to blow up the queen and all the nobles on that day in 1605 by exploding many barrels of gunpowder in the base of the Houses of Parliament. Fortunately, the secret was leaked and that morning the building was searched. In the basement police found Guy Fawkes with many, many barrels of gunpowder. Thankfully the gunpowder plot was never executed.

At the time there were three types of execution. If you were poor, you were hung. If you were rich, you were beheaded. But if you were a (male) traitor, you were hung, drawn, and quartered. Being hung, drawn, and quartered was a pretty gruesome process. First, they hung you long enough to be unconscious, but cut the rope before you died. This was to show that they could have killed you, but didn't. Next they cut off your genitalia and burned it in front of your eyes. This was to show that you wouldn't make any traitor babies. After that they disemboweled you and held your innards in front of your eyes. I always shudder at that part. After that the executioner reached his hand up through where your innards used to be and ripped out your heart. After you died, they tied your arms and legs to four horses running in different directions, which "quartered" you. Finally, the four different parts of your body were buried in the four corners of the city, but your head was spiked and put on display as a warning. All the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot were hung, drawn and quartered. 

Other Parts of London

In addition to my two wonderful street-walking tours, I managed to see quite a bit of London just by walking around. One memorable building I went inside was Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

Above: Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

The tour began by circumnavigating the fourteen-sided theater. One notable thing that the guide pointed out was the holes in the side of the walls. As you can see, the holes on the left side of the picture below do not have glass.

Above: Wind-holes.

These were to allow for wind to blow through the theater, since people smelled so bad. These wind-holes eventually became what we now call windows.

After circumnavigating the theater, we were allowed to go inside while the cast were rehearsing their play, Much Ado About Nothing. Since they were rehearsing, we weren't allowed to take any pictures. I'm kind of a bad boy though, and couldn't help taking some shots of the theater I was so excited to be in.

Above: I'm in the globe!

The tour guide whispered to us that the pillars that held up the roof of the stage were called the Pillars of Hercules. One neat fact about them is that the gold on them is real gold, not fake.

Above: Golden Pillars of Hercules.

Also, whenever the queen wishes to see a play in the Globe Theater, she gets the blue room with velvet chairs shown below.

Above: The Queen's Seat.

Also, they have made one revision to the stage. For this play they've extended the stage with this new wooden platform, which you can tell by the different color wood.

Above: Much Ado About Nothing.

After visiting the Globe Theater I went to see all of London via the London Eye. The London Eye is a huge Ferris wheel from which you can see a lot of London. 

Above: The London Eye.

To ride the Eye you have to get in these huge, plastic eggs. In the egg, you get one full revolution around the Eye. Fortunately, due to the Eye's size and speed, a full revolution takes thirty minutes.

Above: A London Eye Capsule.

From the top I could really see London.

Above: We got pretty high up.

Above: Look, Big Ben!

Above: Bridges across the Thames river.

Above: Bryan's so high.

Now I'm probably the only one who'll find the next bit interesting, but I really enjoyed London's Free Math and Science Museum. Below are some variations on the Mobius strip. The neat bit about Mobius strips is that they have only one side. Below are some shapes that have this one-sided property.

Above: Mobius Strip Manifold Variations.

And they also had many different Klein bottle types on display. Klein bottles are enclosed shaped that have only one side. They are interesting because they are enclosed, but have no inside or outside.

Above: Klein Bottle Variations.

Above: Super Klein Bottle.

In the science section I got jealous when I saw they had ferromagnetic fluid. Ferromagnetic fluid is a fluid that is composed of microscopic iron filings suspended in an oil. It also happens to be one of the things on my bucket list. What makes them neat are their magnetic properties. Can you believe that the shape below is actually a fluid shaped by a magnet I was holding?

Above: Ferromagnetic fluid.

After the Math and Science Museum, I stumbled upon a Sherlock Holmes museum. I didn't go inside, but I at least saw the gift shop.

Above: Ooh, a Sherlock Holmes Museum!

Above: Everything you need to become Holmes (brain not included).

The Doctor Who Experience

The last thing I did in London was go to the Doctor Who Experience. It was by far the most exciting part of London for me. 

Warning: If you don't watch Doctor Who the rest of this might sound like psychobabble. 

Anyways, the Doctor Who Experience is half museum and half an interactive adventure where you get to run around being the Doctor's partner. My excitement started reaching critical levels when I saw this sign...

Above: YES! There it is!

The first thing I heard when I went inside was the new Doctor Who theme song. I was actually here! I couldn't believe it!

Above: Ready to delve into the experience.

In the waiting room (before the iteractive adventure) they had characters and props from the new Matt Smith (11th doctor) season. Below you can see that I moved my little Dalek arms.

Above: Bryan and a WWII Dalek.

And they also had Vincent's painting of the invisible monster in the episode, "Vincent and the Doctor."

Above: Bryan painting the invisible Krafayis.

Eventually they let us into the experience. The experience began with a big white screen with cracks in it. They played a nice, high definition montage of Matt Smith with music. At the end the screen itself opened at the cracks and we walked through it onto the starship UK. That's when the Doctor appeared on-scrreen and told us he had been trapped in the Pandorica again by Daleks. Oh no! He then soniced the TARDIS into our room. Here a light turned on behind a one-way mirror to reveal the TARDIS. The mirror was lifted, and we opened the TARDIS door to the next room, which was the inside of the eleventh doctor's TARDIS! Unfortunately the staff said we couldn't take pictures, but I don't really believe in that. 

Above: Navigating Matt Smith's TARDIS.

While we were there, the Doctor instructed us to move different switches to navigate the TARDIS. As we were moving switches, the floor beneath us shook via hydraulics. Awesome. We then ran around some corridors in the TARDIS until we left and found ourselves on a Dalek spaceship! Daleks appeared out of nowhere and ordered for our extermination. Before they could exterminate us though, the classic Daleks appeared on screen and they started space-battling. While the old and new Daleks were fighting, we made our escape.

Above: We're aboard a Dalek Ship!

Eventually we pressed a button or something and saved the Doctor. The Doctor on TV thanked us and the Experience was over. Now it was time to visit the museum part of the Doctor Who Experience. The first section I went through was the Doctor's allies section. Here I got to pet K-9!

Above: I'm petting K-9.

Afterwards I saw the dying Face of Boe. Sadness is me!

Above: Oh no! The Dying Face of Boe!

The next section of had the monsters of Doctor Who, beginning with versions of Daleks throughout history.

Above: Evolution of the Daleks (with Davros on the far left).

To make it past these fiendish foes I just had to show a little love. After stealing a hug from a Dalek, I escaped unscathed.

Above: I think Daleks just need hugs.

Next were the spooky Cybermen. In order not to be deleted I walked past them showing no emotion.

Above: Cyber-Bryan.

I also went through another cool room, although I don't remember why I thought it was so cool. What monster did I see? (For those of you who don't know, I saw a Silent. The thing with the Silence is that you instantly forget seeing a Silent the moment you stop looking at them)

Above: A Silent.

Above: What Silent? I didn't see anything. What are you taking about?

After I survived my encounters with the most deadly and scary villains in Doctor Who, I was killed by a simple Ood! How embarrassing.

Above: Aggh! Zapped by an Ood!

It was too late for this body. I decided to make it back to my TARDIS.

Above: Better get in my TARDIS.

Then I made it to a full-sized reconstruction of David Tennant's (10th Doctor's) TARDIS. I was amazed at the amount of detail they put in. But I couldn't appreciate it for long. I was dying.

Above: I'm a pretty happy dying person in Tennant's TARDIS.

That's when I felt every cell in my body dying and rejuvenating. It was time!

Above: Uh oh.. I think it's beginning...

Above: I'm regenerating!

I guess you can say Europe changed me. It's hard to change more than I did there in Tennant's TARDIS.

Overall I had a wonderful, wonderful time in London. My two walking tours were fun as well as historical, and even after I did them there was so much more to do. I was shocked hearing about London's past, fascinated by the Globe Theater and The Clocktower that I'd heard so much about, and ecstatic about the museums and sights I managed to see. Also, ending my trip at The Doctor Who Experience completely solidified my London experience as a total success. Deciding to visit London was a smart decision indeed.

By now I did not have much time left in Europe. After this, I originally planned on just seeing Caiqian in Paris until I took my flight back home. But then out of nowhere, Seth, an old friend of mine, told me he'd be arriving in Europe before I left. He wanted to see if we could meet up. So Caiqian and I went on one last trip to two cities, Geneva and Lyon, to see Seth (and so Caiqian could go to Switzerland one more time). That's right, I ain't done traveling yet. Next up, Geneva and Lyon!