London Calling

Just got back from a week in London, and had a great time. My lovely wife and I took in most of the usual tourist sites--Stonehenge, the Eye, the British Museum, the British Library, a couple of West End shows, and more. The Forbidden Planet was very cool--probably the largest pure collection of comics- and genre-fiction related merchandise I've ever seen in one place, and roomier to walk around than the Silver Snail (though the latter has more actual comics, and I didn't notice much in the way of homegrown British superhero comics at the former). My personal highlight on the trip was seeing the Marvel Super Heroes 4-D show at Madame Tussaud's. Apart from the life-size statuary (that's me next to my good friend, Iron Man, on the right), there's an incredible 3-d animated short that features Wolverine, Captain America, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, and the Hulk taking on Doctor Doom in downtown London. The effects are amazing, the dialogue is witty, and it was just all around a lot of fun.

I found the city was easy to get around, once the spaghetti-like subway system is deciphered. It is rather expensive (I think I paid the equivalent of $ 5 Canadian for a single Diet Coke in a lot of restaurants), but there was plenty left to see and do and I would happily return someday.