When I get older, loosing my hair...

Who am I? That's not only one of the many philosophical questions I ask myself from time to time, it's also the title of an exhibition at the Science Museum.

This is the opportunity to learn more about oneself, ones abilities, habits and values.

It came to me as a surprise that I apparently think like a woman and a man in equal terms. When I morphed myself into the opposite sex I couldn't tell much difference. And finally, when the computer, based on the outline of my hand, guessed my sex, it chose the wrong one (although there is only a 54 percent chance of getting it right).

And this is the result of my morph into the "elderly" category. I haven't changed much, have I? It doesn't look like fun being "elderly" although I did smile when the computer took the picture.

What a great outlook into the future when not only the proportions of your face change, your skin gets darker and wrinkly and your hair becomes lighter, but also there obviously won't be any reason to smile anymore.

Would be great to have a "Start again" button within reach...

Second chance for The Globe

I wanted to give me another chance. When Günter and I went to The Globe to watch Henry IV, Part IV, I understood approximately five percent of what was said on stage.

This time, I went to the afternoon performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor. And I was lucky. This time I understood nearly 85 percent.

Lesson learned, everything deserves a second chance.



Just having a TV evening with my flatmate Andy, watching Lost Land of the Tiger.

On the route of the Queen

Westminster Hall, where the Pope held a short speach on Friday. It was the first ever state visit of a pope in the UK

Today I followed the processional route taken by Her Majesty the Queen when she performs the State Opening of Parliament. Our guide Russel took us onto this very route when he showed us round the Houses of Parliament.

He did a very good job and squeezed a lot of information into 75 minutes but I felt a bit rushed. Would have loved to go into more details and stay a little longer.

The medieval Westminster Hall (pictured) is the oldest surviving room of the Palace of Westminster, better known as the Houses of Parliament. All the rest is an orgy in Neo-Gothic style, including the House of Commons that had to be rebuilt in the 1950s after having been damaged in the Blitz.

On the ladies toilets I came across this electronic device telling me that the inspection service is overdue for nearly an hour.

Not sure this is the right way to put pressure on your employees. It obviously doesn't work.

Open House London - Take two

Model of the City of London, with some buildings "under construction"

Open House London runs for two days. So I visited some of the usually closed liver buildings in the City of London.

The City of London is also called The Square Mile and is outlined by the old Roman walls.

This model of the City of London is used by its marketing experts to inform and convince investors from all over the world.

On Open House London, the model was explained by a man who once worked for the company who produced the model. I was surprised how much this man knew about the architecture of nearly each building in this model, apart from his knowledge on model making. Above that he presented his knowledge very witty ("We model makers have a biblical ability. We can walk on water.")

He wasn't the only one that impressed me today. The guide who explained the Guildhall in perfection is the hall's security man. At the RSA, a member of the society finished the day with his eleventh lecture on the building and its great paintings. And in Drapers' Hall and Apothecaries' Hall the many volunteers on duty answered every question you could possibly think of.

Open House London

For the annual Open House London event some people come from as far as Devon to visit some of the most interesting buildings of London usually closed to the public.

I took the chance to visit, among others, 120 Fleet Street, the former Daily Express building. It's a classic Thirties building boasting a cinema-like reception with a starburst ceiling in gold and silver, deep black marble and a wave pattern floor of blue and black rubber.

Staircase of 120 Fleet Street

The visitors were deeply impressed, and so was I.

In the evening I watched a film titled Britain's Really Disgusting Drinks. I couldn't believe the story behind a drink called Buckfast. And this is how the story goes.

At the end of the 19th century, Benedictine monks brought an ancient recipe for a tonic wine from their homeland France to the Buckfast Abbey in Devon. Since then the abbey produces and sells this wine and becomes more and more successfull.

Today this tonic wine called Buckfast is a wine with 15 percent alcohol and, above that, has a very high caffeine content, with an equivalent of eight cans of cola in each 750ml bottle.

In an area around Glasgow, Buckfast is connected with a lot of aggression and crimes. Quite a few politicians and even the Archbishop have tried to discuss the effects of its product with the abbey.

But all the monks do is what every profit seeking company would do. They deny the dangers of their tonic wine and keep on producing the stuff... Another story that shines a light on the real Catholic church.

Where the Queen spends her weekends

Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, was my destination today.

I started with a guided tour through the Great Kitchen, the oldest, substantially unchanged and still used kitchen in the country and most probably in the world.

Windsor is just an hour on the train away and well worth the 16 Pounds entrance fee (plus 4,50 for the Great Kitchen tour).

I joined the Evening Song in St Georges's Chapel, where ten monarchs are buried, including Henry VIII (with his favourite wife Jane who gave birth to his only son) and (beheaded but head and body were then joined again) Charles I. The chapel boasts a most beautiful Gothic nave and choir and is headquarter of the Order of the Garter. I actually sat on the choir chair of the ex-prime minister John Mayor.

Later I crossed the Thames to stroll through the small village of Eton. It was too late to visit Eton College but it was quite surprising to see the masses of pupils heading for an evening event in their school uniforms, dressed up far more exquisite than most men on their wedding day.

Black and White Photography

At nearly every corner there's a gallery in London. Today I went to see to two of them.

First was Getty Images. The stock photo agency has its own gallery close to Oxford Circus. Right now there are photos of stars on display. The exhibition is titled Love from London: A City of Stars. As I'm not very much into celebreties I wasn't much impressed but I did like the mock-up of Alfred Hitchcock floating in the Thames and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy fooling around in a shop.

Just opposite of Oxford Street is The Photographers' Gallery. The exhibition of Sally Mann's photos The family and the land is amazing. Especially the pictures of her (naked) children are beautiful. Rather strange are her pictures of dead bodies used by scientists in a forensic study. However, she's a great photographer.

In the evening I went to The Old Vic, a theatre close to Waterloo Station with a grand history. Design for Living by Noel Coward has been banned from UK's stages in the 1930s. Today, the story of Leo, Otto and Gilda who love each other obviously isn't provocative anymore but great fun.