We hopped on a #24 bus which took us up to Trafalgar Square. It is the center of London and contains the National Gallery, beautiful fountains, a historic church (St. Martins of the Fields), and other historic buildings. We'd love to make it into the National Gallery on our next trip. At the heart of Trafalgar square is a statue of Lord Nelson (a famous British hero and admiral) on a pedestal about 150 feet in the air. You can see Lord Nelson from almost any place in central London.
We began walking toward The Mall, the beautiful, tree-lined boulevard that leads directly to Buckingham Palace. It is an impressive sight with statues, gold gates and lots and lots of tourists. We're not sure, but we think we saw the queen looking out from one of those wee, little windows.
Thankfully, we got there just in time to see the changing of the guards along with about 3000 of our closest, newest friends. It was a great sight, lots of symbolism, lots of horses, fancy uniforms, great music and lots of weapons. The black horses and soldiers with the pointed helmets are the Horse Guard. They do their own separate changing, that occurs about 30 minutes earlier off of Whitehall Street.
Next came the band and the soldiers with the fuzzy big hats. What are they called? Anyway, there were many of them, some playing musical instruments and others brandishing swords.
Our next stop was Big Ben, the famous clock. We decided to walk through the more scenic route which was through St. James Park. It was very lovely, with lots of lakes, ducks, swans, squirrels and many people strolling and enjoying the great weather which was sunny and cool. Finally, we came out of the park, looked up and there was Big Ben, big as life. It is located at the Houses of Parliament.
We continued on to the Westminster Bridge so that we could see the Thames River and the London Eye...which is a giant ferris wheel, turning all the way around slowly in 30 minutes. Each car is like a giant glass capsule holding about 15-18 people. No way we were getting on that!
We doubled back and headed toward Westminster Abbey. It is such a beautiful building with lovely architecture. We didn't have time to go on a tour, but we were able to go into St. Margaret's Chapel. There are many famous people buried beneath the chapel floor, and there are plaques dedicated to them and others. All around the chapel are beautiful stained glass panels and other ornaments. But the Abbey was great!
Now it was time for lunch. We headed north on Whitehall street and had some interesting sandwiches at a little place that didn't have any avocados. Now we passed #10 Downing Street, but didn't have time to visit with the Prime Minister. He was busy being snubbed by Obama. You may not understand that but over here they reported that at the G-20 summit, Obama didn't arrange to have a separate meeting with Gordon Brown. So, at least from this side of the Atlantic, it's funny
We caught the London Underground which took us to Tower Hill. One of the places that we really wanted to see was the Tower of London. It has such fascinating history, and we were anxious to see it and learn more. We walked all around the Tower of London. We had a hard time finding a place to buy tickets, but we finally found it. Here is the Tower Bridge as seen from the north side of the Thames River. It is located there near the Tower of London. The Tower Bridge can be toured as well, but we didn't have time for that on this visit.
We spent about 3 hours touring the Tower of London. First, we took a guided tour and had a fantastic guide who was very much a dramatic actor. They are known as Beefeaters (nobody knows why) and all are dressed in the style of the 1600s. He took great delight in telling the bloody history of all those who were imprisoned and beheaded here. The kids in the group--and David--loved it!.
After the guided tour, we took our time and explored many sections of the grounds. We got to see the place where important political prisoners were held. Many left their mark on the place by inscribing into the stone walls their own graffiti. These were touching complaints against injustice, power and appeals to God for help. We got to see an amazing two story display of the armor of King Henry VIII. There was his armor and the armor of his horses. Now we were tired and so we stopped into the cafe for what has become our favorite: coffee, scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam!
As you may know The Tower of London was used to hold criminals but more importantly, political prisoners...many of which were beheaded. Queen Ann Bolynn, Queen Jane Grey and many others lost their lives and are buried in the chapel there. On the approximate spot where they died is a very nice memorial to them.
We were one of the last couples to leave when they closed down for the evening. Everything in Britain closes at 5 pm or half-past 5 pm. And they are serious about closing down. They don't allow stragglers. We caught a bus back through Picaddily Circus and had quite a long walk back from Oxford Circus to our hotel, and finally really enjoyed sitting down and having a light supper at Pizza Express. This was a whirlwind day, but it was a great day. Cathy had so much fun and is still trying to grasp the fact that she got to see such amazing, historical places. She had a hard time sleeping, because she kept thinking about all we had done. What a wonderful opportunity!
We had to catch the London Underground from Russell Square to Paddington station the next morning pretty early. But more about that later.
Wow, lots of amazing stuff! Did you happen to catch the inscription at the memorial for the various Queens that were imprisoned in the tower? I was able to read a short part of it from the picture but not the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have to ask. What's the big deal about that shop not having avacados?