London Day 3 King Tut at Saatchi Gallery

The next day, we wake up to find the Wifi gone because they

thought we were leaving today at the Air bnb.  John gets this fixed, but we decide to head out for our site seeing without checking the weather, or anything else for that matter.  John and Oscar head to Westminster Abbey to see things, Oscar 

comes out to me while daddy continues to look and we try again to see the changing of the guard.  Well, today it is more crowded because there is no rain, but it’s better because there is no rain.  They parade around and play a few 

songs, Over the Rainbow and Star Wars for two, and march out.  I had to hold Oscar for most of it for him to see it and that kid is heavy.  HEAVY!! And I got to look at his stomach while holding him up, so not a great time for me with 

police officers yelling for people to watch their belongings because of pickpockets.  This starts a great dialogue with Oscar that culminates in a TED talk that John shows him later and him attempting to learn to take stuff out of my pocket.  It’s not to be his career because he’s awful at it.  We meet John at Victoria station and head out to Saatchi gallery for our King Tut exhibit.  We have a great lunch at EAT

with some Caribbean Jerk Chicken soup that is awesome.  We hit a pharmacy place called Boots to get a new brace for John’s knee which is killing him, some new vitamins for Oscar and some new lotion.  I can buy the big size because we’re not on a plane for a while.  THANK THE MAKER….I could not get on a plane again until we go home and be happy,

but it’s a necessary evil when you’re crossing the bodies of water we are.  The King Tut exhibit is timed and even with that, the 50 people that we are let in with are everywhere.  I’ve never felt so crowded in a museum and I’ve been in a few.  You had to fight your way to the front to see anything and take pictures, wait for people to quit listening to the damn audio guide while standing right in front of the display.  I 

 love audio guides, I think people benefit from finding out what they’re looking at, but move the hell out of the front to listen with a glazed look in your eye!!!  Oscar is of course bored after a few rooms.  Which makes me angry

because we wouldn’t have even have done this except for his Egypt fanaticism right now.  It was a great way to bridge two places we are going though and to see what the Cairo museum has been keeping to itself until

now.  We won’t have nearly this amount of stuff available to us from his tomb when we go to Cairo, so it works.  We get on a bus to Westminster and get a Thames river cruise to Tower stop.  Oscar is free and we get to use our 

     Oyster cards which are the way to pay for all the public transportation in London, but don’t have enough left on our cards.  So, we get tickets and go one way, we’ll take a tube back from the Tower.  We have a pleasant trip down the river past the London Eye, St. Paul’s and get off at the Tower.  In the Tower gift shop that you can get in without going to the Tower, we find a ton of kids and great wifi.  We are able to have a video call with Oscar’s class at Tot’s Place with the Tower of London behind him and Tower Bridge.  Again, the teachers are amazed, but the

kids aren’t.  But Oscar can see that they are out in the yard playing in feet of snow.  I ask him if he misses school and he says “no”, same thing for the snow.  What kid wouldn’t want to have no structure, 100% time with mommy and daddy and getting to see buses and trains and cars all day? We just yell at him all the time to be quiet.  He still hasn’t gotten the low profile thing, which is fine, but he’s the only kid in the world that talks, asks questions and sings ALL the time….People who know us, know that John will sing all the time, just walking down the

hall.  Well, Oscar is the same way, but NEVER stops.  I’ve been doing our step count on facebook and I’m pretty sure that whatever my fitbit is recording for me he has 3 times the steps because his legs are shorter and he runs everywhere, then back to us, then back out,

 then back to us.  After I got on him for running away from us at St. James’ Park when it was dark, he will at least come up with a meeting place down the path and will stay there until I catch up.  But it breaks my heart how many times I have to tell him to quit asking questions.  I know people say that there are no dumb questions, but I beg to differ.  He can ask

some that I won’t even deign to answer because he knows the answer, he just wants to ask it.  Also, I’ve started to say, “asked and answered” about things because he will ask the same question 100 times.  He’s getting our full attention, I can’t give him any more than I’m giving him, so I don’t think it’s

an attention getting thing.  He already knows the answers, so I don’t think he is asking to learn something either.  I think he has a genetic predisposition to hear himself making noise at all times and I’m pretty sure it’s John’s DNA causing it.  Sorry for the rant, but the questions and my ridiculous answers to him get the attention of

a tour guide from the Tower.  Oscar and I had read books about London and one showed Lady Jane Grey getting her head chopped off and I reminded Oscar that this is where this happened.  The tour guide overhears and says that last week was the anniversary of her death.  And another one of Henry’s wives the day before that.  The

man was prolific in the killing wives department.  We get to talk to Michael for a while and ask him about London, his job, what to see, where to eat.  He’s a font of information of course and his father was a fire man during the Blitz.  He tells us which buildings are new, old, and I’m able to ask him if the old walls I see in the

distance are the Roman walls and they are.  I had told John that I was enjoying a break from ruins in London, but that there were Roman walls that I still had to see here and we’re there now.  It's great when an unknown plan comes together like that.  We walk through the park of war remembrance and where the ladies actually were executed to get to the recommended restaurant.  Michael wasn’t kidding, we had great food for the least amount we have paid in all of London.  Tube ride home and some more Krispy Kreme at Victoria Station.  Perfect end to the day.