Tourists in London

We've had a couple of great days in London! As Justin mentioned, we're staying with friends on the west end of London and commuting in by train and subway every day. We keep falling into the trap of planning way too much each day, forgetting the commute each way is 1-1.5 hours, and that most attractions take 2-3 hours! We're getting better though.

On Thursday we saw St. Paul's Cathedral. You're not allowed to take pictures inside, which was kind of nice as it let you focus on the tour and learning about different things like the Whispering Gallery (where you can hear someone whisper from around the circular room, on the other side - 30m away!) We climb go up to the walkways around the outside of the dome for some stunning views of London's skyline. And although it rains here on and off, we were lucky enough for it not to rain while we were outside on the pathway!

After St. Paul's we walked along the Thames river (so very brown!) to see the sights and buskers.

Not planned, but we happened to be near the Globe Theatre with a play starting soon, and thought why not! We got tickets standing down on the floor right up against the stage (as the peasants used to do in Shakespeare's time) and enjoyed Measure for Measure. I did feel bad for the actors when helicopters flew overhead - the theatre is open-roofed!

After that, we had a nighttime walk back along the river to the subway and found our way back for the night.

Today (Friday) was the reason we are actually down in London. I had to finish the paperwork to get my vet license by coming in for a quick in-person interview and show the originals of my diploma and passport, etc. Within 60 minutes, I am licensed to practice in the United Kingdom! So now I am officially* Dr. Kristin Isnor, MRCVS, DVM, BSc
(* - although vets have recently started to be allowed to use "Doctor" as their title in the UK, I will probably use the more common "Miss" here to fit in a bit better and avoid any stigma).

 

As an aside, if anyone is considering working overseas (at least in the UK) I recommend it (at least so far!). There's some annoying and slightly costly paperwork, but there is no writing of any exam, and there are plenty of jobs available - a locum agency found a job for me with almost no effort on my part - in fact I turned down two previous offers as they weren't the right fit!

After the oath-ing and whatnot, we went to Buckinghman Palace for another tour (another place where pictures aren't allowed) and learned about fun things like the secret doors in rooms that let the royals move from their private quarters to the state rooms without going into public areas, and the number of glasses at each place setting for a royal dinner (six!). We then move on to the Tower of London. Some exterior areas allowed photography, others (sadly including the Crown Jewels) did not.

This was scratched into the stone in a prison cell in the tower by a prisoner - some of the graffiti was actually stunning in its complexity! Makes you think about how long they were in there for.

We also got some shots of Tower Bridge (the one everyone mistakes for London Bridge - LB is actually very boring looking) and then went out for a great dinner with friends. Tomorrow we're going to pop into some museums (all free, yay!) and maybe check out Westminster Abbey.