Day 25 Lost in London

Day 25 was a Sunday.  I didn't have to be anywhere at any specific time.  I was planning to visit some museums and I wanted to go to Notting Hill for a stroll through the shops. The concierge said the shops were probably open 12-5 so that was really the only thing I had to plan around time wise. I got up, got ready, had breakfast--the included breakfast was quite good and eating alone for breakfast isn't so bad, but I still couldn't bring myself to do the solo dinner.  I knew I wanted to see the British Museum and they had a guided tour at 2:00 so I figured I'd start at another museum and then go there.  I took the tube to the portrait museum stop, but once again I went the wrong way when I got out of the station so I ended up wandering aimlessly around London for a while.  I think it was close to 45 minutes.  Don't worry Mom, I was still in the touristy sections.  I even made it to some book shops.  I finally pulled out the gps on my phone and found my way to the museum.  I actually really enjoyed the National Portrait Museum.  I imagine looking at a bunch of portraits might sound boring, but I liked it.  There were some cool pictures in there--old and new.  They had an exhibit on Charlotte Bronte and I had done a project on her in junior high school so it was cool to see that.  They also had some of the Irish people we'd recently learned about (Joyce and Shaw) as well as former kings, queens, authors, artists--well, I could go on all day.  I spent a couple of hours there then took the tube successfully to the British Museum.  Oh. My. Gosh.  That place is MASSIVE.  I mean I knew it was BIG, but I don't think I realized quite how big until I stepped inside. The guided tour was sold out so I was free to wander on my own.  It was a bit overwhelming because it was so big and there was so much to see.  I spent a couple of hours there.  I saw a good bit, but I'm sure you could probably spend a week there.  I did make it to see some of the famous things including the Rosetta Stone, which was a bit of a let down.  It was smaller than I thought.  I also saw the famous chess set and a few other "must sees."  Then I successfully made my way to Notthing Hill for some strolling and shopping.  I treated myself to a red velvet cupcake.  There were so many bakeries, it was hard to pick just one thing.  There were crepes galore, but they all had lines so I did the cupcake place instead.  After a bit of time in Notting Hill, I headed back to my hotel.  I stopped by a cafe on the way home to grab a sandwich for dinner.  The cupcake served as a nice dessert.  :-)  Spent the rest of the evening blogging and checking out BBC.