Museums and a Matchbox

Our train ticket stubs give us two-for-one discounts at a few different attractions in London so I gave Melinda a copy of the brochure and told her to flip through and choose what she wanted to see. One of her choices was the Florence Nightingale Museum, a place I've been wanting to visit, and that was our first stop today.

When I was a child my family took a couple of motorhome trips through British Columbia as part of my dad's job (he was in medical sales so we tagged along as he worked in the hospitals – we drove through places like Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George, Kitimat, and Prince Rupert). My parents read books to us on long days of driving or on quiet evenings as we fell asleep. One of the books we read was a Florence Nightingale biography. When my dad read to us he would always read the last sentence of the previous chapter before starting a new chapter. During one of dad's reading sessions my three siblings and I were quite hyper and chatty and ignored dad reading the final line.

“I hope so,” Florence murmured. “I hope so.”

We calmed down so he read the line again but somebody made a noise or started laughing or talking so he regained our attention and read it again.

“I hope so,” Florence murmured. “I hope so.”

This made us giggle even more and he ended up reading the line too many times to count, all the while casting half-joking glares in our direction.

“I hope so,” Florence murmured. “I hope so.”

To this day, if someone in my family says, “I hope so,” the rest of us will all repeat in unison with a sober tone, “ 'I hope so,' Florence murmured. 'I hope so.' ”

The museum is well-done but is showing signs of wear and there are plans to remodel the museum this summer. I find Florence Nightingale's life quite fascinating and didn't realize until today that at the age of thirty she gave up all plans of ever marrying and committed her life to service through nursing. No, I don't plan to make such a commitment, but it was a beautiful example of a single woman's dedication and pursuit of excellence. She accomplished amazing things during her lifetime and her actions had far-reaching consequences.

Our next stop was the Imperial War Museum as Melinda enjoys exploring museums and this is a good chance to see a holocaust exhibit and learn more about Britain during World War I and II. While Melinda explored a few exhibits I took in a fascinating and heart-breaking special exhibit titled In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War.

The English have definitely mastered the art of the corner-store packed lunch. A stop at a little grocery store provides access to a wide variety of delicious sandwiches and little containers with a selection of fresh fruit or vegetables. We picked up some food and sat on a staircase next to the River Thames across from the Parliament Buildings to eat our lunch. It was one of those moments when I have to pinch myself to realize I'm not dreaming. I really live in a place where I can hear Big Ben chime while I eat my lunch.

We took a walk along White Hall past 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister's residence) to the National Gallery. I've already visited this art gallery a few times so while Melinda viewed the extensive collection of paintings I relaxed on the lawn and studied tour books for the European cities we'll soon be visiting.

Our plan was to visit the tourism information office but we became side-tracked by stumbling upon an opportunity to buy last-minute tickets for a West End show. We considered a few shows but decided to buy tickets for Stomp – only £21 each for front-row seats. We grabbed some supper and wandered through Soho to use up the time before the show started.

“STOMP finds beauty and music in the mundane - from boots and bins to zippo lighters and plumber's plungers - everything including the kitchen sink becomes part of this production as a cast of eight performers make instruments out of brooms and turn hand-clapping into conversation. With energy and toe-tapping exuberance, Stomp takes the clutter and junk of everyday life and transforms it into a theatrical event.”

What a great performance! Non-stop action for almost two hours... and a good dose of eye candy! Performers can usually only see the first couple of rows due to the stage lights so it was fun to be in the front row and have them make eye contact with us... and even get the occasional wink. The show has some interaction with the audience as the performers gave us a chance to try our hands (literally) at creating rhythms – nowhere near as easy as it looks. Definitely a show I would highly recommend, especially for anyone who appreciates music... or eye candy!

After the matchbox rhythm the main guy tossed his matchbox to me as he walked off the stage. I decided to be a bit pathetic and pick up a couple of matchsticks off the floor (he tossed them as part of the sketch) and a piece of broom that was swept off the stage during another sketch.