July 28 - Home Sweet Home

Today (July 28) I go home.  After waking too early in the morning, I catch the bus to the airport.  There was a long line to get through.  I had to wait to get through security in London and the US.  I had to wait to get through customs.  There was a lot of waiting.

I had hoped to sleep on the plane but this did not happen.  I watched four movies.  I started off with The Hobbit.   After that I watched this John Cusack movie called Faculty. After a thriller movie I needed something lighter so I watched Ted.   I decided to end my trip by watching Les Miserables.  I enjoyed all the movies.   I thought I would not get to see the end of the movie.  Luckily, credits ran as we pulled up to the gate in Dallas.

I was so happy to be home.  But it took another hour and a half to get my luggage and go through customs, etc.  I finally made it home around 4 PM and promptly ate and went to sleep.  It took me nearly a week to get over the jet lag but I am home and had a fabulous time learning in London, and Edinburgh.

Flat Stanley will help me remember my time in London as I share my story this school year in the hopes of introducing new places to my students.

That is all.  Thank you for joining me on this journey.

July 27 - Last day in London town

Today is our final day in London.  I decided to spend my last day along the South bank of the Thames.  I began my day by visiting the London Film Museum.  I am doing a research paper o the preservation of Doctor Who ephemera and artifacts.  The LFM has a small Doctor Who exhibit in the science fiction room.  While I thought the placement between two different types of aliens was a bit off, it was original pieces from the set of a film.

After visiting the film museum, I headed over to buy tickets for the London Eye.  I told myself I was going to go up and I did.  As I was buying tickets, I also bought a ticket for The Aquarium.  I thought it would be relaxing to watch the fish and rays and sharks swimming around.  Little did I know that they herd people in and through and I think I got bumped into by no less than half a dozen strollers of varying sizes.  I did enjoy the penguin exhibit.  They have a dozen Gentoo penguins.

I went back to the dorms to chill for a few hours then met up with a friend for dinner.  We ate in Gabriel's Wharf and had a nice time.  It started to rain after dinner so I went back to get my umbrella.  It had been quite warm and sunny just a few hours earlier.  I headed over to the London Eye to get in line.

The London Eye had a massively long line but it moved fairly quickly.  It rained the entire time.  I still managed to take some decent pictures from the Eye.  I got a little woozy at the top but it truly is a beautiful site to behold.  I know it would have been even better had it not been raining.

Overall, I had a really nice last day here in London.

That is all for now...

July 26 - Cardiff and Doctor Who!

Day

After a long train ride I finally arrived!  The Doctor Who Experience!  SPOILERS!!! If you do to want to know specifics I recommend that you stop reading now.

 

Upon entering the building, we got straight in line to enter the experience.  We are herded into a theater room.  The Doctor (#11) greets us from inside the Pandorica.  As he discusses the crack in time, the crack appears.  We walk through the crack into the museum storeroom of Starship UK where we are guided by Node 8251/Amber.  From here we enter the TARDIS.  We have to help the Doctor and drive the TARDIS.  We land in the middle of a Dalek encounter.  We escape the daleks only to end up in the forest of weeping angels.   We move quickly on without blinking.  Because everyone know that if you blink you die.  We come to the Pandorica chamber where we save the Doctor from the Pandorica but the crack in time is bringing all the baddies back.  He uses the TARDIS to get us out of trouble.  Once we are all safe, we enter the exhibition part of the experience.  

This is the 11th Doctor's TARDIS console.  A wax figure of Matt Smith and his TARDIS.

This is the TARDIS console used by the 4th - 7th Doctors. Look, the 4th Doctor left one of his long scarfs behind.

 The enemies... Cybermen and Daleks.

This is the beautiful cradle that was the Doctor's cot.  It is covered in Galifreyan writing.

 K9 is a friend of the 4th Doctor.  He is given to Sarah Jane for safe keeping.

The timeline...

So many incarnations... Who will be next?

It was an amazing day.  We even found a few filming locations around Cardiff.  We saw the time rift and entrance to Torchwood.  We even found Eddie's Diner where Amy, Rory, River, and the Doctor have a milkshake while contemplating how the Doctor is still alive.  We sat in the exact booth the actors sat in.  It of course was booth 11.  It was a most awesome day of Doctor Who fun.  And a bonus for my research project.

Today has been brought to you by the number 11.

That is all for now...