Went to the Benjamin Franklin House and booked the next tour. I had about forty minutes to kill so I walked over to St. Martin-in-the- Fields. The outside, of course, is still covered in scaffolding, but the inside is beautifully restored. It was designed by James Gibbs and completed in 1726, but the first church on the site was built in the middle ages over 700 years ago. I had been in the crypt many times, but walked through it again on my way out.

Benjamin Franklin House was restored and opened to the public in January 2006, on the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth. It was built in 1730, and Franklin lived there between 1757 and 1775. The Benjamin Franklin Historical Experience, as the 45-minute tour is called, combines a live actor with state-of-the-art sound and visual aids, bringing history to life in a unique and enjoyable way. Interspersed throughout the rooms were some of his famous quotes. An introductory piece talked about Franklin as scientist and inventor, but the main focus was his time in London, the Stamp Act, and his role as mediator between Britain and America.

I then walked over to Leicester Square to see about getting some discount tickets for a play tonight, but they were not offering tickets for any shows that I felt compelled to see. (I suppose the really good plays aren't discounted.)

I walked next to Covent Garden and the newly reopened London Transport Museum. They have a beautiful building, some wonderful trains, buses, and carriages on display, and a lot of information in the form of wall text and flat screen televisions and computers, but all in all it was very disappointing. The layout of the museum was very confusing, one did not know which way to move throughout the displays, and many hands-on activities were difficult and sometimes impossible to figure out. It wasn't just me, either. I struggled with a game wherein you try to beat the computer as you both drive an underground train to the next station. I could not figure out how to get it to work. I thought I was driving the train but the screen indicated I hadn't even left the station! A young fellow came by and, thinking he would know how to operate it, I quietly stood back and watched him. He couldn't figure it out either. At another area, an older visitor showed me how to make the controls work, but there were no instructions posted anywhere. You could tell that they had spent a ton of money, so it was doubly sad that the design was so poor. I happened to run into Jill and Tom and they were equally disappointed. There were a lot of displays that were not operational. I think they must be working out some very major kinks, since they've only been open two weeks. But I would not recommend rushing to see it. It's really a shame, because it has the potential to be very good. If they simply improved the trail guide/map it would help immensely. And the museum shop was horrible too!

Dinner at home with Gord.

Two plaques today: