England trip #2

Thursday.

Yesterday my sister and me went to central London, after 9 o’clock. Travel is not cheap here, but you can get a so called off-peak travelcard for around 7 pounds for all zones in London which is valid after 9.30 in the morning and you can use all buses, tubes (the underground), and some railways as well, plus there’s a so called DLR (Dockland Rails something) which you can use as well. The peak travelcard for all zones costs more than 10 pounds - but we are fine with off peak. Also as my sister’s do not live in London but close to it - you need to take a train or a bus to London. The train station is a good 15 minutes walk from us (or sometimes the guys can take us out in 5 minutes by car) and it drops you off at King’s Cross or Old Street - both are connected with the tube. King’s Cross is a more hub-like place though. While the train takes some 30 minutes to arrive - the buses are very slow. They usually would take at least an hour to get there (as they stop at every bush basically).

So. We got in by a few minutes past 10. There’s no Wi-Fi in the train - but it’s all OK though. They are in a good condition - not too clean though. Which is fine with me. As others already mentioned most people go by train and / or by bus to work in London as going by car is crazy. The traffic is a bit crazy in London. Especially in peak times (8-10 in he morning and 15-18 in the afternoon). People seem not to be bothered with stepping down when the traffic lights are red - and double decker buses are coming toward them. Maybe for this very reason most drivers are going very slow - since they are aware of this habit and know that someone can step in front of their vehicle any given time. The cyclists are also a bit insane (at least those who I have seen so far) - as they just cross the roads, the roundabouts at any time - giving only a moderate afterthought about the possible consequences.

Tussaud’s wax museum

My sister wanted to see the Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. I was not especially crazy about the idea, but as she was very enthusiastic about it - I gave in.

I have been at Tussaud’s in Amsterdam a few years ago - and although it was interesting and the figures were great it was not particularly such a big deal. I have to tell you (my Hungarian veins tell me to tell you :)) that we could get in at half the price this time in London. The regular price is 25 pounds per adult. But if you travel by train and buy one full price ticket - then an other adult can get in with you for free. So basically for 12.5 pounds we could have seen such a beautiful and vast array of wax figures and performances - that I think it worthed every penny.

First of all - if you can - go there on weekdays not too long after 10 o’clock (I imagine it opens at ten). There’s no queue and you can get in very fast. Prepare yourself for a good 2-3 hours visit as the museum is not so small as it seems. First you will find yourself in a bigger hall-like area chock-full of contemporary “stars” / celebrities. People are taking photos with the wax-figures and I think now is the time that I present a few of those myself:

It is quite funny. There was also a room for the ever-so-fucking-popular Big Brother show (at least it’s still popular in England). It mimicked the so-called diary room (titokszoba for hungarians) and you could get in and make yourself at home

The wax figures are of high quality and there’s even a part of the exhibition where you can read about and see how they are made.

After this room I thought this was the majority of all the attractions here. Well. Not so! There was an other huge room after this full with Alfred Einstein’s and Tiger Woods’ and David Beckham’s and so on. Then we had Napoleon and Van Gogh (with both ears still in place :)) in an other room and then followed the so-called Live Horror area. This is famous for its live actors (and not recommended for everyone) - as there are live actors trying to scare the shit out of you. It is foggy and dark and strange sounds are coming out of the walls around you. Of course I am not easily scared - but my sister was a bit scared I have to tell. It is a unique feature in the London Tussaud’s museum.  It was nice

And it was after this point that I became aware of the fact that Madame Tussaud was English. He did her first wax museum in the 1850’s (if I remember correctly). Very nice.

After the horror part there was an inside railway where the short history of England was shown. It was amazing (we could not take pictures though). My sister said it would have been good to live in those days - and also that Englad has quite a bit of history. Well, I agree, but Hungary also has quite a bit of history. Whetever, let’s not compare them now.

So - towards the end there was a short movie which we could have watched (but we haven’t) about celebrities. How interesting…

All in all I strongly suggest to pay a visit in Madame Tussaud’s if you get here. It worths every penny.

That’s about it. We went wandering around a bit after that in bookshops and other places but they are not that interesting.

I will continue in a few days.