![[(C) 1998-2001 www.troopb.com]](img/leftlogo1.gif){kind=small}
![[Troop B Online]](img/banner2.gif){kind=small}
London Experience
Living it up in the Capital. February 2002
Date: 16 - 17 Feb 2002
Venue: Er, London. Well, Baden-Powell House was where we stayed, but we covered every inch of the capital over the weekend. Almost. Read on for some of the highlights...
![[Scary stuff at the London Dungeon]](img/london1.jpg)
London Dungeon - perhaps the most gratuitous exploitation
of pain and death you could imagine. Naturally, we loved it. All about
ways in which people unfortunate enough to be born before Playstations
were invented were tortured and put to death for things we'd do now if
we were bored. Also a walk about Jack the Ripper, a boat ride and another
bit about the plague. Grizzly and totally objectionable. Just our cup
of tea really. We'll be back!
BBC - we sat in Jamie Theakstone's dressing room, know for a fact that Jennifer Lopez has a big bum (or we're reliably informed), checked out the Blue Peter garden, appeared in the Top of the Pops Studio, watch Eamon Holmes rehearse, nosed about the news centre - what we could tell you about the tricks they use! and generally found out loads of the secret stuff that goes on behind the scenes at the beeb (we're not gonna tell you what, 'cos you should've come you sad mooopays!)
ASK (Farringdon) - we turned up an hour and a half late. They kept our table. The manager and staff were absolute legends - really, really nice and friendly. The food was fab. We had a great time and they didn't even get cheesed when we said we were in a hurry (which could have been regarded as a bit cheeky). It's also quite posh (for us anyway) So ASK gets a massive thumbs up! You the men.
Haunted London - again late (mainly due to the dodgy Circle Line), we then spent the best part of two hours touring The City and old parts of London where nobody goes on a Satuday night. The superb guide we had told us a host of stories about grim goings on of years gone by, intermingled with some entertaining tales about the area. We thought it was excellent - particularly the stories of people being buried alive, skinned alive or other unpleasant things. Alive.
![[Did somebody scream?]](img/london2.jpg)
BP-House - you're not going to find better accommodation
that this in town for the money. For less than the cost of a youth hostel
we got warm, comfortable private rooms with en-suite bathrooms (and telly
if you're a leader) - and the price included a slap up breakfast in the
morning. Liked the coffee machines too - Carte Noire - you must've known
we were coming!
Science Museum - it's good to play with stuff and work out how things work - which is why the Science Museum is well worth a look. We spent about two and a half hours there, saw about a fifth of it each, rushed what we did see and wanted to spend five times longer. Totally interesting and lots to play with. Which is nice.
Cabinet War Rooms - opinions on this varied. Some thought it was the best thing of the weekend, others weren't so sure. Personally, I thought it was fascinating - if you think an underground hideaway where the most important bits of a world war stategy were planned is boring, you've got something wrong with you. Darn fine display if you ask me.
10 Downing Street - we turned up out the front of Tony Blair's place and cheekily asked if we could stand in front of his front door and take a photo. The policemen were really cool about it and let us (and only us - a couple of tourists tried to join scouts for a few minutes) march up to the door and the officer outside took our photo. Particularly in light of all the new security measures in London, we really appreciated this.
Tube travel - going on the tube is exciting. It's a quick and easy way to get about the capital. Those ticket machines are also amusing. However, we find it simply incredible that noone's invented Underground Hang Tough up until now. Basically two people hang from the handrails and try to pull eachother to the ground - the winner is the person who stays off the floor the longest. Late night on the circle line wins.
All in all the London Experience was the most fun we'd had in ages and should probably become an annual event. There's loads of other stuff we'd like to see that we didn't and it's nice to do something cultural for a change. London wins!
Venue: Er, London. Well, Baden-Powell House was where we stayed, but we covered every inch of the capital over the weekend. Almost. Read on for some of the highlights...
London Dungeon - perhaps the most gratuitous exploitation
of pain and death you could imagine. Naturally, we loved it. All about
ways in which people unfortunate enough to be born before Playstations
were invented were tortured and put to death for things we'd do now if
we were bored. Also a walk about Jack the Ripper, a boat ride and another
bit about the plague. Grizzly and totally objectionable. Just our cup
of tea really. We'll be back! BBC - we sat in Jamie Theakstone's dressing room, know for a fact that Jennifer Lopez has a big bum (or we're reliably informed), checked out the Blue Peter garden, appeared in the Top of the Pops Studio, watch Eamon Holmes rehearse, nosed about the news centre - what we could tell you about the tricks they use! and generally found out loads of the secret stuff that goes on behind the scenes at the beeb (we're not gonna tell you what, 'cos you should've come you sad mooopays!)
ASK (Farringdon) - we turned up an hour and a half late. They kept our table. The manager and staff were absolute legends - really, really nice and friendly. The food was fab. We had a great time and they didn't even get cheesed when we said we were in a hurry (which could have been regarded as a bit cheeky). It's also quite posh (for us anyway) So ASK gets a massive thumbs up! You the men.
Haunted London - again late (mainly due to the dodgy Circle Line), we then spent the best part of two hours touring The City and old parts of London where nobody goes on a Satuday night. The superb guide we had told us a host of stories about grim goings on of years gone by, intermingled with some entertaining tales about the area. We thought it was excellent - particularly the stories of people being buried alive, skinned alive or other unpleasant things. Alive.
BP-House - you're not going to find better accommodation
that this in town for the money. For less than the cost of a youth hostel
we got warm, comfortable private rooms with en-suite bathrooms (and telly
if you're a leader) - and the price included a slap up breakfast in the
morning. Liked the coffee machines too - Carte Noire - you must've known
we were coming! Science Museum - it's good to play with stuff and work out how things work - which is why the Science Museum is well worth a look. We spent about two and a half hours there, saw about a fifth of it each, rushed what we did see and wanted to spend five times longer. Totally interesting and lots to play with. Which is nice.
Cabinet War Rooms - opinions on this varied. Some thought it was the best thing of the weekend, others weren't so sure. Personally, I thought it was fascinating - if you think an underground hideaway where the most important bits of a world war stategy were planned is boring, you've got something wrong with you. Darn fine display if you ask me.
10 Downing Street - we turned up out the front of Tony Blair's place and cheekily asked if we could stand in front of his front door and take a photo. The policemen were really cool about it and let us (and only us - a couple of tourists tried to join scouts for a few minutes) march up to the door and the officer outside took our photo. Particularly in light of all the new security measures in London, we really appreciated this.
Tube travel - going on the tube is exciting. It's a quick and easy way to get about the capital. Those ticket machines are also amusing. However, we find it simply incredible that noone's invented Underground Hang Tough up until now. Basically two people hang from the handrails and try to pull eachother to the ground - the winner is the person who stays off the floor the longest. Late night on the circle line wins.
All in all the London Experience was the most fun we'd had in ages and should probably become an annual event. There's loads of other stuff we'd like to see that we didn't and it's nice to do something cultural for a change. London wins!