London

Both bins are full, ours towels need replacing (used a few on the floor because on day 1 when I turned on the shower it came out the holdable nozzle and not the ceiling shower but the nozzle was facing sidewards and it seems our shower is not sealed properly so escaped snd flooded the floor lol.) and we are out of toilet paper so we required room service which means we had to clean our room before we left. Took a minute 😅😅
We then changed our sign to please clean so hopefully they see it.

We headed towards the tube. In theory it is running today but may have delays. All overground is not running.
Caught it to tower hill again and got some subway for lunch. Nothing is universal, what’s available is always different.
Except their macadamia nut cookies ie the best cookies in the world.
Walked to the Jack the Ripper museum.
Overall quick and fun but odd.
Will had to go in first in case they had live actors. They did not thank goodness.
There are 5 rooms all up.
- crime scene
- what the murderers house might look like
- detectives room
- victims bedroom
- morgue

All rooms had info on the wall.

Room one was pretty basic decoration wise as it meant to be a dark alley.
“The scene is set in Mitre Square, where the 6th
victim, Catherine Eddowes was killed. Her horribly
mutilated body was discovered by a policeman, P.C. Edward Watkins, on his regular night patrol.”

I though room 2 was a bit silly. It was the one with the most detail and decoration but in reality they how absolutely no idea who Jack the Ripper is so all speculation. They dressed the room as if he were a surgeon and had books open on scientific working of the body and like medical tools around the place.

Room 3 had letters Jack sent and then typed up version making it easy to read them.
A lot of taunts and a detectives board with string trying to piece it all together.

It also had some artifacts.
“These 4 items all belonged to Police Constable (P.C.) Edward Watkins of the City of London Police. He was carrying them in the early hours of 30 September, 1888, when he discovered the mutilated body of Catherine Eddowes in Mitre
Square, Aldgate. Because of their historic interest, P.C. Watkins kept the items, which passed
down through the generations after his death. They have been in private ownership for over a century and this is the first time they have been put on public display.”

Room 4 had info on most victims. All/most struggling with life and working as prostitutes to get by after family breakdowns.
A song was playing through a speaker - a song Mary Jane Kelly sang the night she was murdered.

Then back down to the bottom level of the building or room 5.
Morgue pictures of all 8 dead woman. Some aren’t too horrendous to look at but 2 are very bad. One horrendous which I remember seeing when doing to the tour with Mum and dad.
Very confronting. This was of Mary Jane Kelly, the youngest and last victim.

On all the stairways they had extracts of newspapers of the time talking about the murders.

His crimes did have a small positive effects on the slums as they were examined by society so closely and deemed unacceptable.
“The playwright George Bernard Shaw commented that Jack the Ripper had done more to throw spotlight on the terrible conditions in the East End than any reformer.”

It was the only thing open today to do - it was different and we enjoyed it.

We then walked across tower bridge and walked along the river until we got to the Globe because Will hadn’t seen it. Told him my fun fact of its the only building in London allowed to have a thatched roof which I have re confirmed is actually true this evening haha. Have to fact check hahah.
Also walked past the HMS Belfast, London Bridge a the bridge in Harry Potter 7.
Walked through markets and found a Starbucks which had a white hot chocolate 🤤🤤
We googled a place for us to go buy Will some socks cause his have died.
Ended up deciding to go to a shopping center because I would like to get a cord for my kindle as we will probably be stuck inside most of tomorrow.
Weird it’s Christmas tomorrow.
There was a Westfields 10km away but on a metro line so we headed to that and hoped trains kept running until we were finished or would have to get a cab.
Walked to the station next to St Paul’s and walked straight onto a tram. Awesome.
Weird ass layout. And huge. Not that busy considering it’s Christmas Eve. Was successful in both our searches.
Trams were still running so caught 2 to get home.
They aren’t that crammed either. I think everyone has made alternate plans rather than risk it.
We are home now.
They cleaned our room 🕺🏻

Went to the Christmas markets for dinner but they were shut.. so popped into shake shack as only fast food available.
Ate it back in our room.
How the Grinch stole Christmas starting soon so that’s our Christmas Eve plans.Read more