We woke to another lovely day in London. Our tube ride in is about an hour, a great opportunity for people watching. We went first to the 11:30 changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, arriving at 10:50 to a steadily growing mob. It was a bit too much of a crowd scene for any of our tastes, but we can say we’ve done it.
Next, driven by hunger, we found a wonderful Italian restaurant a few blocks away, where we had a fantastic meal. My lasagna was the best I’ve ever tasted.
Then it was on to Westminster Abbey for a self guided tour that takes at least 1.5-2 hrs.
Every major political, scientific, religious, and artistic figure is buried there including Darwin, Newton, Kelvin, Chaucer, Thomas Hardy, Lord Byron, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Lewis Carrol, CS Lewis, George Eliot, Jane Austen, WH Auden, Henry James, TS Eliot, Wordsworth, and the list goes on and on. It’s a gorgeous abbey with a history that dates back to 960.
From Big Ben and the houses of Parliament, we walked down the southern side of the Themes towards the Globe Theater. Thousands of people teamed the walk, with musicians and performers dotting the route. We were able to get in on one of the last tours of the Globe, again an education in and of itself. The building is a modern reproduction of the original structure spearheaded by the American actor Sam Wanamaker.
From there, we crossed back over the Themes in search of the charming old Blackfriars pubs we passed yesterday on our way to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Our luck running true, we landed in Shaws Booksellers, where we rested our feet and enjoyed cold guiness and frontier lagers. We ordered a meat and fish plate, both of which were delicious.
Within an hour, the place was teeming with locals, most of whom chose to stand outside with their beers.
By the time we left, both sides of the street were crowded with Friday afternoon drinkers. Once again we lucked out in the places we landed. We haven’t had a bad meal yet. Having walked another 5 miles, we headed back to Heathrow to buy our London Express coach tickets to Victoria coach station for our tours tomorrow. It will be an early morning and a long day. Jordan goes to Stonehenge, Bath, and Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford, and we head to Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Dover, Grenwich, and a cruise up the Themes. We will rendevouz back at Victoria Coach station for our return trip to the hotel.
An exhausted tube passenger.