Program 283: London Celebrates 2012; Orthodox Easter

Tour guides from London join Rick to point how you can join the crowds, or avoid them, for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the Summer Olympics, and lots of other special events. Also, we learn the special ways Greeks and Bulgarians observe Orthodox Easter, their biggest holiday of the year.

• Tom Hooper, Blue Badge-certified tour guide from London
• Gillian Chadwick, Blue Badge-certified tour guide from London
• Lyuba Boyanin, proprieter of Lyuba Tours in Sofia, Bulgaria nastasia Gaitanou, tour guide based in Thessaloniki, Greece

• The main website for information related to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London is called London2012.com.
• The Museum of London has a special exhibit of Charles Dickens’ artwork on display until June 10, 2012.
• The New York Times has an article and a photo spread from the new Harry Potter Universal Studio tour near London.
• British comediennes Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are featured in a hilarious Harry Potter spoof, which aired during Comic Relief and Sport Relief fundraisers on BBC television. “Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan” is stored in four parts on You Tube.
• London Walks offers thematic walking tours of London.
• Tom mentions the Royal College of Surgeons’ Hunterian Museum.
• There are also links to some two dozen different museums related to health and medicine in London at www.medicalmuseums.org.
• Gillian notes that St. Mary Lambeth Church, located opposite the Houses of Parliament, houses the Garden Museum.
• The Royal Horticultural Society has a directory to dozens of themed gardens around Great Britain and Northern Ireland, searchable by county.
• Rick mentions the Pollocks Toy Museum in London.
• Wikipedia includes an entry about the early 18th century Dennis Severs House in the Spitalfields Area of London.
• Aspley House, also known as “Number One London,” was the first Duke of Wellington’s home, and has a famous statue of Napoleon.
• The recently restored Leighton House Museum in the Holland Park district includes an Egyptian Room.
• Camden Lock Market is open daily from 10am to 6pm.
• London’s Portobello Road Market bills itself as the world’s largest antique market on Saturdays, with shops open during the week
• Lyuba Boyanin operates a tour company in Sofia, Bulgaria called Lyuba Tours.