England 2018: Charles Dickens Museum

On my final day in London, I headed out early to maximize my final hours in the city. I grabbed a quick latte and muffin at Starbucks and saw this mural. I love her sass and wonder if she is based on a real person? Is she someones grandma?

In front of the Charles Dickens Museum, I found blue markers to honor literary luminaries.

Charles Dickens rented this London residence at 48 Doughty Street from 1837-1839. Dickens and his wife, Catherine, raised their eldest three children here and this is where he wrote three of his most successful novels: Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and The Pickwick Papers.

I arrived when the museum opened and paid my 9.50 pound entry fee. The museum is small and can be toured in less than an hour. They do have a garden cafe, but I did not visit it. I toured during a quiet morning and I was mostly alone during my visit.

Even if you have zero interest in Dickens, this home is a great example of life during the victorian era. It has been restored and each room showcases the lifestyle of not only the Dickens family, but of how other upper-middle class families of the era would have lived. Dickens lived here during a successful part of his career and loved to throw dinner parties that included artists and thinkers of the time. It was quite the social butterfly!

The first level of the house contains a living room, dining room, kitchen, and wine cellar.

The second floor of the home contains the bedrooms, nursery, parlor/study, and dressing room. During their time here, Dickens’ teenage sister-in-law, Mary, came to live with them. Mary and Dickens were very close and she died in his arms, after a short illness. He struggled after her death and even fell behind on his publishing commitments.

Charles Dickens’ writing desk aka “where the magic happened.”

Various editions of Dickens’ novels.

One room was filled with quotes from Dickens’ stories. How many do you recognize?

The final part of the museum contained additional information about Dickens, such as his passion for learning. Dickens was fascinated by science, mysticism, medicine, and mesmerism. These ideas often found their way into his stories. There was a model of the “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion, which if you’ve been to a Disney park, is used in the Haunted Mansion ballroom scene.

Poverty is at the center of many of Dickens’ novels. He faced this issue as a child, when his father, John, was sent to Marshalsea Prison for being a debtor. This situation forced Dickens to begin working at twelve, including a job at Warren’s Blacking Factory. This trauma influenced not only his writing, but also prompted Dickens to spend his life champion causes to help improve equality with regard to race, sex, and economics. Despite his adulthood success, Dickens was profoundly affected by his childhood.

Lastly, a piece of not only my least favorite Dickens’ novel, but the required reading of my high school years that I detested the most. Truth be told, I enjoyed most of the required reading, but I did not enjoy A Tale of Two Cities, which I read in Mr. Duffield’s 10th grade AP World History class. Oh, how I hated A Tale of Two Cities!

If you’re a Dickens fan, book lover, or just want to see a really beautiful victorian home, I highly recommend a trip to the Charles Dickens Museum. As a bonus, it is located in a lovely neighborhood, which I also recommend taking the time to explore.

England 2018: Tate Modern and Picasso 1932 Exhibition

By the time I finished visiting The Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, it was late afternoon and I was ready for a refreshment. Near The Clink Prison Museum, I had spotted a cute cafe called Bill’s. I walked back through Borough Market to Bill’s, passing some delightful murals.

I also saw The Globe Theatre, which Dan and I toured many years ago. The current Globe is a recreation of William Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre and its mission is to perform both Shakespeare’s works and modern playwrights. I have not seen a play here, but it is on my must-do list. The complex also houses The Swan restaurant, which is where I tried “The Worst Thing I Ever Ate.” Clink on this link to read about my experience at The Globe.

As an adventurous eater, I feel that the Erma Bombeck quote really sums up my attitude towards food, but it was also hilarious that the quote was on a board advertising a restaurant where I experienced one of my biggest food fails!

A huge food success, was my decadent chocolate bomb with caramel sauce and summery cocktail at Bill’s. I cannot recommend Bill’s enough, for atmosphere, friendly service, and great food. I look forward to returning on my next trip to London.

I have to confess that the other reason that I took a break, is that my feet were swollen from all of the walking. It is amazing how many miles I walked in London. I also did it in a pair of strappy gladiator sandals, which was probably not the best choice for arch support, but they did keep my feet cool in the summer heat.

The Tate Modern museum is just down the road from Bill’s. I took a leisurely walk and snapped a few shots of London. London is one of my favorite cities in the world and I hope that one day, we will have the opportunity to live there..

The Tate Modern had long been on my London bucket list. I love art museums, especially modern art and the Tate Modern is one of the most prestigious art institutions in the world.

The Tate Modern is expansive with throughly modern architecture.

The museum, like many in London, has free admission. London isn’t a cheap city, but they do make many of the cultural and historical attractions free, which is awesome. I grew-up in Los Angeles, where we have one day a month of free admission to museums, not every day!

I was overwhelmed by the space. It’s vast. It seemed like there was more open space than art. I used the guide map, but I felt lost.

I ended up paying a nominal fee to tour the special exhibition: Picasso 1932.

I prefer touring a single exhibit, rather than an entire museum. I find that taking a deep-dive into one artist or a specific collection, provides a richer experience. Plus, for all of my love of art, I can only handle about 3-4 hours, before I start to glaze over and lose my focus.

I wasn’t initially planning on viewing the Picasso 1932 exhibition, but the size of the Tate Modern was overwhelming, and I am a fan of Picasso. 1932 was a year of intense productivity and creativity for Picasso. He was in his early 50’s and had just opened his first large scale show in Paris. He was famous and successful, but he had started to feel trapped. Picasso was also influenced by the troubles of the world, including The Great Depression and the looming threat of Hitler’s power. Picasso 1932 was a fascinating look into this specific time in Picasso’s career.

I ended this long day of sight-seeing by the early evening and headed back to my hotel to rest my weary feet. No matter how exhausted, I can’t imagine a city vacation being anything less than an epic cramming of museums and historical landmarks. My in-laws used to call this the “American Style” of vacationing and I accept that 100%. This American is going to see it all!

England 2018: Jack the Ripper Tour with Ripper Vision

Since high school, I’ve enjoyed reading true crime books and in particular, anything involving the mystery of Jack the Ripper. In the late 1800’s five prostitutes were brutally murdered in London’s Whitechapel neighborhood. A serial killer, whose identity has never been solved, taunted the police with cryptic letters signed “Jack the Ripper.” Not only is the identity of the murderer still a mystery, but he may have killed more than five people.

One of my London tourist goals was to take a Jack the Ripper crime tour. Even though his crimes occurred nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, the Ripper lore still captures the public’s imagination. To this end, there were many different Ripper tours to choose from. So many different tour companies in fact, that we shared space with other tours for a majority of the evening.

Naturally, a Ripper tour takes place at dusk for maximum effect.

I took the tour with my niece, Pippa, who lives in England. Pippa has been a great sport, joining me for various London outings. She was coming from class, so we met at the Whitechapel tube station. The Whitechapel tube station has several entrances/exits, on opposite sides of the street, so we had some confusion with meeting each other. If you’re taking the tube to a Ripper tour, I recommend allowing for extra time.

We planned to meet early enough for dinner and decided on sushi. I adore sushi and I have to say, we have awesome sushi in California. Even cheap sushi, is usually top-notch. I’ve not experienced good sushi in Europe or even within the US, when traveling outside of California.

Dinner was at a quick-serve chain restaurant called Wasabi Bento & Sushi. My visit was just two weeks after the royal wedding and I couldn’t resist trying the When Harry Met Meghan box. I have no idea what spicy tuna had to do with the royal couple, but it was a fun tie-in. That said, this was very much “not yummy California sushi,” but to be fair, it was also not freshly made.

For dessert, we had lattes and cakes at the ExMouth Coffee Company. I highly recommend this cute cafe, plus for a bonus, head to the bathroom where they have fun art on the wall and a nod to Jack.

Our guide was Ripper expert M.P. Priestley, who is also author of the book, Jack the Ripper: One Autumn in Whitechapel. As you might expect, he was selling copies of his book at the end of the tour. I like to always support authors, so I bought a copy, although I’ve not had the chance to read it. Throughout the tour, Priestley gave plenty of background information regarding the leading suspects, but when he gave the pitch to buy his book, he basically teased that the book would give his real, expert opinion on the true identity of the killer.

Here is Priestley in action, the guy in the grey cap.

I was pumped for this tour and after decades of interest, how could I not be? I’m not sure what I was actually expecting, but it definitely wasn’t even in the top twenty of favorite things that I’ve done in London. Priestley was a good tour guide: energetic, enthusiastic, and knowledgable. The walking tour lasted about 90 minutes and he was a good storyteller, setting the stage for the events as he took us to crime scene locations. In addition, he pointed out other London landmarks, like the Gherkin Building.

The Whitechapel area is certainly worth a visit. It has historic buildings and cobblestone streets that mix with modern businesses. Here are a few pictures.

As odd as it sounds to say this, I enjoyed seeing the crime scene sites and walking around Whitechapel. It brought to life everything that I had previously read. However, the tour didn’t add any new information to what I already knew. If anything, the information felt basic, like Wikipedia level and was perhaps best-suited for those with limited knowledge of the case.

Everyone on our tour was intrigued by the promise of “Ripper Vision.” We didn’t know what to expect, but it felt like it would give added value when compared to other tour operators. We were taken under a bridge and Priestley cast pictures from the Ripper case on to a wall. This was “Ripper Vision.” I guess it was nice, but they hype made me think it would be more impressive. It really wasn’t much better than if he had passed around a few laminated photos.

Behold! Ripper Vision!

The tour wasn’t very expensive. I think about twenty pounds each. I’m glad that I took it, otherwise it would have always been on my London bucket list. That said, I’m not sure that I would recommend it. There are so many amazing things to do in London, including great tours, that the Ripper Tour didn’t come close to matching with regarding to the quality or being memorable.