Spud
returns to London
Spud had always been a keen fan of the royal family. Over the years, he amassed quite a collection of regal paraphernalia, including his most prized possession: a giant set of headphones resembling Prince Charles' ears. One thing that had remained elusive was a plaster casting of the Queen Mum's dentures. Not to be denied, Spud returned to England's capital in early 2001 in a bid to mould the mouthpiece.
Spud arrived at Buckingham Palace as part of a tour group that was visiting the state rooms of the royal residence. While the crowd were all being mesmerized by portraits and antiques, the tuber pulled out his scooter from his trapdoor and whizzed off down the hallway in search of the 'upper plate'.
Room after room the tuber darted in and out of; still no sign of the choppers. As the tater did a railslide down the grand banister he was spotted by a giant cotton swab who raced toward the potato with rifle in hand. Not only did the giant swab have a weapon it's cottony tip was also black with dirt and lord knows what else! The side dish raced his scooter in the opposite direction just as an army of other dirty swabs joined in the chase. Fortunately he was able to escape. Spud would later find out that the 'swabs' were actually the palace guards.
Somewhat
disgruntled that he didn't achieve his goal, Spud thought he'd make himself
feel better by seeing an execution at the Tower
of London.
The tower has been one of the City's most prominent landmarks over its 900 year history as a palace, a fortress, a prison, a menagerie, a mint, a museum, a place of execution and a place for terribly overpriced souvenirs.
Much to his dismay, Spud found that there have been no executions at the Tower in many many years. That would explain why the Spice Girls are still around...
Millions of tourists flock to the Tower each year; most to see the Royal's family jewels. Spud thought that was a little sick to look at a bunch of 'private parts'. The naughty bits appear to be so valuable that they have been handled and guarded for hundreds of years by the famous 'beefeaters'. Spud had a chance to meet with one of the fellows who, thankfully, all wear gloves. Due to the recent outbreak of hoof and mouth disease, they are also considering changing their name to 'tofu-eaters'.
After
the Tower, Spud hopped on the Tube and traveled to London's Embankment
station where it was just a short walk to the capital's biggest new attraction:
the London
Eye.
The 'Eye' is actually the world's largest ferris wheel and it sits on the banks of the river Thames. The little glass tylenol capsules rotate up to 443 feet in the air which provide great views of the city when the skies are clear. Which of course, happens once or twice each year. Spud couldn't justify shelling out 9 pounds for a 30 minute ride on the big wheel, so he smuggled himself onto the ride by stowing away in an unsuspecting tourist's back pack.
Follow Spud as he goes Undercover for Scotland Yard