Day 2 - No Hop On Hop Off Bus for You

British Museum entrance

National Gallery

Day 2 (Sept 4th) - The day started off with everyone a little testy from jet lag and the long day yesterday.  Renae and I both took Ambien to sleep.  It worked great, but we both had foggy brains in the morning.
What I learned today - There are 3 things that are worthless if you forget to bring them with you:

• Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door
• Charger Cable for the Garmin (left in AZ)
• Umbrella

Click on the read more below to continue and see more pictures.

I decided to purchase tickets for the Hop On Hop Off Bus online.  We took the normal London Double-Decker bus to get to Trafalgar Square to pick up our tickets.  However, since the battery to my Garmin died (and I didn't have the charger cable), we had trouble finding the info office for The Original London Sightseeing Bus Tour.  Fortunately, a nice, elderly couple from South Africa gave us a London map.  They were taking part in a bike tour throughout the city of London.  Once we found the tour office, we learned that it would be best to wait for another day to take the bus tour because of the road closures from the bike route.


We altered our plans for the day.  Instead went to the National Gallery and had lunch in the cafe in the basement.

painting of the execution of Lady Jane Grey

We later walked to the National Portrait Gallery.  I took a photo of a painting of the execution of the Lady Jane Grey that I should not have.  After politely being chided, I put the camera away.

Next we went to the British Museum.  One could spend days visiting the museum.  We spent most of our time in the Ancient Greek & Egyptian areas.  Here we were allowed to take pictures. There was quite a crowd around the Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone

Cleopatra's Mummy (Leah and Elizabeth in the background)

Egyptian cat mummies

Egyptian hieroglyphs

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Ancient Greek bust

Ruth mimicking Roman bust

Leah and Sarah in front of Egyptian statue

Ruth, Sarah, Lean, Elizabeth and Renae in front of Egyptian entrance statues

Ben and Sarah with partial Greek bust

Ben in the Greek bust

We stopped by a mobile phone store to buy sim cards for our unblocked cell phones and a charger cable for the Garmin.

Renae figured out the subway & bus maps.  We took the subway back to Vauxhall station.  We walked to The Rose Pub near our flat and had dinner.  I tried a draft beer with my meal (one of my trip to-do items).

The Rose Pub

Waiting to order dinner at The Rose Pub