Thursday, October 18, 2007

Day 5: Kew Gardens and The Hunt for a Sacred Object

The main event today was making my way out to Kew, to visit Kew Gardens. It's 300 acres of stuff to see, so to say that it's impressive is an understatement. I basically did a 4.75 mile hike and still didn't see everything. The sun was out and it was an absolutely perfect day to be strolling through the garden. The guidebook gives Kew Gardens 3 stars, the same as Windsor Castle, and I'd have to agree with them.

One of my favorite gardens was the Japanese rock garden. Think my neighbors would mind if I pulled up my grass and put down stones. I'd have to rake the lawn more often, but at least mowing would be a non-issue.

My Fodors tour book promised me that the British Science Museum had Tim Berners-Lee's computer, back from when he was busy inventing the World Wide Web. I figured I had a responsibility to stop by and visit this sacred device. Unfortunately, the computer isn't there (or more likely, I couldn't find it). I was still treated to seeing a chunk of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine from 1832. One could argue that he's one of the granddaddies of all computing, so I still got to visit an important site. The museum had lots of other cool things to see, so I stayed longer than I planned to. Who could turn down browsing an entire wall of vacuum cleaners on display?

We finished up this evening by seeing Wicked - a musical that picks up where the Wizard Of Oz left off. It was really well done, and quite entertaining. I can safely say it's the best musical I've seen in years (and the only one, too). It just wouldn't be a trip to London if I didn't go to the theater.

This was our last fun filled day of adventure. Tomorrow, we get on a plane back to DC and reality. Come Monday morning, I'll be back to work again. I wonder if they'll recognize me at the office?

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