Monday, September 19, 2016

London - Day 3

Well the weather has gone from hot and humid to cool and windy almost overnight, but it's a welcome change to all the hot weather we've had so far.

We take off walking on blissfully empty sidewalks since it's now Saturday morning at 8 am.  We're staying in an area where there are lots of big banks and law offices so it's super crowded on weekdays. We walked past a metro station entrance the other day around 5pm and I remember thinking it was a bit like watching water go down a drain. The people just poured down the station entrance like a flood. There are some really interesting buildings and things in the area that we hadn't noticed before because we've been too busy navigating our way through all the people to just look around very much.

As we walk down the Victoria Embankment, we can't help but notice the number of memorials everywhere. Memorials to the various branches of service in different wars and even a memorial to the service animals used in wartime.

We walk about a mile and arrive at Parliament and Big Ben.  You can't go up the clock tower and we can't get into Parliament either, so we just snap some pictures and a selfie from the outside.

Around the corner, we arrive at Westminster Abbey. Once inside, we gather our audio guides and start our tour.  The Abbey is quite crowded even though we're here just after opening. There are lots things to see here. I'm not very knowledgeable about English history but I do know a little. We see the tomb of Edward the Confessor, Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, and Mary I. We see the coronation platform where kings and queens are crowned and royal babies are baptized. The Lady Chapel is, in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the Abbey. The ceiling in this chapel is beautifully detailed and looks like delicate lace but in 3D form. It was built by order of King Henry VII in the 16th century. No photography is allowed inside, so I can't share a picture of it.

Nearby are the Churchill War Rooms, another attraction on our 2-4-1 deal, so we walk over there to have a look.  If you're really into Churchill, you would love this place.  We look at the underground rooms where Churchill and his advisors worked out their strategy for the war. Most of the people who worked there, lived there during the war. That was pretty interesting.  The rest of the attraction is basically about Churchill's life from childhood through his death.

Once we're done at the War Rooms, we walk through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace.  There is no Changing of the Guard ceremony today, but we knew that in advance.  We just thought we'd have a look since we were close by. It's a long walk back to the hotel from here so we hail a cab. There are some road closures due to a protest by "left wing radicals" according to our taxi driver.  Our driver starts to talk about politics and soon he and Mike are engaged in conversation. The cab driver is really nice and has that dry British humor so it's a pleasant cab ride in spite of the crazy traffic.

Speaking of crazy traffic, we'll be picking up a car tomorrow and heading to Portsmouth. At least it's a Sunday so hopefully we can get out of London without losing our minds.

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