London Monday, May 18

It's going to take me several days to blog entries and document my trek through London and Paris. Here we go:

Our first stop was the Science Museum where there was a special exhibit of "Wallace and Gromit". If you have never seen "W&G", you have indeed missed much. Wallace is the man, and Gromit is his pet dog. They are the cheese-loving clay creations of British film-maker Nick Park. Most recently, they had their own full length feature film out back in 2005 entitled, "Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit". Wallace is an inventor of sorts, and much of his adventures involve an invention or two of his.

The theme of the exhibit was inventions and patents.

Here are couple of inventions (not necessarily Wallace's) that didn't quite make the cut:

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum is across the street from the Science Museum. It 's housed in a very ornate building with these beautiful tall columns. It was on the list as one of my must-see museums in London. Queen Victoria reigned the United Kingdom (Great Britain = England + Wales + Scotland; UK = GB + Northern Ireland + all other territories around the globe) from 1837 - 1901. Her reign was during the height of Britain's power where the kingdom spanned all over the world. The collection in the Museum (and many others we visited in London) showcased this. There were specimens from every culture and nation. Prince Albert was, of course, Victoria's husband. When Albert died after only 20-some years of marriage, Victoria supposedly mourned for her husband for the rest of her life.


Bomb holes from the WWII German raids were kept on one of the walls along the V&A Museum.