Orienteering in Oxford

[davieddy]

Originally Posted by cmd

make available to "farmers Basilicata" ( factor of power ) for milking the basil ?

wb : M_fn(u)it

I only asked you to blow the bloody doors off.

Michael Caine

[Spherical Cow]

Originally Posted by wblipp

London has many great museums - ....

Excellent- Your entire post is precisely the "voice-of-experience" information I was hoping for. I had forgotten that the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles were there. British Museum is now a high priority.

Thanks very much-

Norm

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by Spherical Cow

How about the touristy places- Westminister Abbey? Worth the trip, or too touristy?

Depending on whether you enjoy visits to memorials and graves of famous folks:

As someone else who enjoys science, history and math, I found it quite moving to see Scientists' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Graves of Isaac Newton (with a large elaborate floorstone), Charles Darwin and John Herschel are next to memorial stones for William Herschel, James Maxwell and Michael Faraday.

Poets' Corner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poets%27_Corner) and other sections have graves and memorials of other famous historical persons.

There's an elaborate memorial to Isaac Newton (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/e...mb-paradox.jpg) in a different room than his grave with its floorstone.

---

BTW, Westminster Abbey is not the same place as Westminster Cathedral! Don't go to the cathedral thinking it's the abbey.

- - - -

However, I did not go to the British Museum (long story), so cannot compare what my impression would have been there.

[Spherical Cow]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

---

BTW, Westminster Abbey is not the same place as Westminster Cathedral! Don't go to the cathedral thinking it's the abbey.

Thanks Cheesehead- good to know; I indeed might have gone to the cathedral, assuming it was the same as the abbey. Newton, Faraday, Herschel, Darwin, Maxwell- talk about big names. Plus the British Museum... I'm starting to think I need to somehow carve out another day. Way too much to see and do, and don't know when I might get another chance.

Norm

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by Spherical Cow

Thanks Cheesehead- good to know; I indeed might have gone to the cathedral, assuming it was the same as the abbey. Newton, Faraday, Herschel, Darwin, Maxwell- talk about big names. Plus the British Museum... I'm starting to think I need to somehow carve out another day. Way too much to see and do, and don't know when I might get another chance.

Think about how much you've enjoyed visiting tombs, graves and memorials versus how much you've enjoyed museums! The stones at Westminster Abbey have only a few bits of information about each person. I'd bet the British Museum has far more information about Newton, Faraday, Herschel, Darwin and Maxwell than the abbey's stones do.

I wouldn't have gone to the abbey if there hadn't been much more there than only the Scientists' and Poets' Corners (I happened to be particularly interested in "comparing" Westminster Abbey to Salisbury Cathedral), or if my wife hadn't been interested. Read up on it, and all the others that wblipp mentioned. See how much is described about each attraction that especially appeals to you.

- - -

Oh -- and about places' names. London didn't arise as some carefully-planned community, and there's no commission specializing in preventing similar or identical names from confusing tourists. Even the famous London cabbies, who have to memorize thousands of details in order to get licensed, can get mixed up. Once, when we specified the name of the hotel where we were staying, a cabbie took us to an identically-named hotel that was a ways away from ours -- as soon as he saw our confusion, he said, "Oh, you mean the new Such-and-such Hotel, not the old one." (And he shut off the meter while going from the "old" one to the "new" one.)

[xilman]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

London didn't arise as some carefully-planned community

That;'s arguable, though even if true it makes no practical difference.

As far as is known, which is actually very little, the Romans carefully selected the site of Londinium because it was the lowest point on the Thames that could be crossed easily with the technology of the day. A carefully planned community was built there, that community being a military installation.

It just growed for the next 1968 years, which is why the original planning makes no practical difference today


Paul

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by xilman

It just growed for the next 1968 years, which is why the original planning makes no practical difference today

That's what I really had in mind, so "arise" should have been "grow" or "develop".

[davieddy]

Originally Posted by xilman

That;'s arguable, though even if true it makes no practical difference.

As far as is known, which is actually very little, the Romans carefully selected the site of Londinium because it was the lowest point on the Thames that could be crossed easily with the technology of the day. A carefully planned community was built there, that community being a military installation.

It just growed for the next 1968 years, which is why the original planning makes no practical difference today


Paul

Not quite the same as New York, Milton Keynes or even Paris.

Ever been to Bath?

I have one every other Christmas, whether I need it or not

David

[davieddy]

Originally Posted by Spherical Cow

Somewhat off-topic, but still in the right country- I will have one day off to be a tourist in London next month. For those of you who live there, or have been there often, how should I use that day? What's the one thing I shouldn't miss on a trip to London? I enjoy science, history, math, and am always up for a good museum. What are the must-see things or places for folk like me (us?).

Norm

Sorry Norm, missed a trick there

Pity about that "Clean Air Act"

David

[Christenson]

Originally Posted by davieddy

Not quite the same as New York, Milton Keynes or even Paris.

Ever been to Bath?

I have one every other Christmas, whether I need it or not

David

Only to Warm Springs, VA....where I get a bath twice a year, whether I need it or not!

(Berkely Springs, WVA is also on my recommended list, if you need a good, hot bath...)