Today I got up at 6:20 without an alarm. So much for sleeping in. After a traditional English breakfast, I was on a train into town by 8:30 and had no issues with transportation today.
I left the Underground at Westminster station, which lets out along the Thames across from the Eye.
I wandered around a bit, taking pictures of the construction at the Parliament building with its currently silent Big Ben.
Next up, I spent some time in Westminster Abbey and the adjacent Saint Margaret's Church.
Pictures aren't allowed inside either of these buildings. Saint Margaret's has some lovely stained glass windows on the south side of the building which look more like an abstract map, in hues of greys, blues, and browns, than a Gothic church. The windows on the north are the more typical painted stained glass saints. And in trying to find an image to link to, I see this is because they were destroyed during WWII and replaced in 1966.
As for Westminster Abbey, wow is that entire building just steeped with history. You're stepping on dead bodies left and right, and have heard of more of them than you may have expected. The remains of Lord Byron, Darwin, Newton, a few dozen Royals, and over a thousand "Famous People" are interred here. And the ticket included the audio tour, narrated by Jeremy Irons.
From there I wandered over to St. James Park, where birds are plentiful and squirrels are fat and fearless. I walked around the park arriving at Buckingham Palace just in time for the 11:30 horse guard change.
I didn't go in, opting instead to cut back across the park to see Downing Street, the Women of World War II, and the Horse Guards post.
Then I got to Trafalgar Square and couldn't remember why I wanted to stop there. It certainly wasn't the public restrooms, which the guidebook included by saying "reward yourself with a trip to the loo." This is an opportunity to pay 20 pence to experience all the glamour of an airplane toilet with an even worse smell.
But next I went to Cafe in the Crypt, a cafeteria in a crypt at Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, a venue that hosts concerts and private events. I had tea. In a crypt. With clotted cream and salmon finger sandwiches.
Next, I took the suggestion of some friends who had visited before and got on a double decker bus. They insisted that sitting at the front of one of these was like being on an amusement park ride with a wide screen view of all the sites and they were correct.
Saint Paul's Cathedral is undergoing some renovation to the higher levels of the dome, meaning the two higher galleries with the great view of the city are closed to visitors. So I could only climb 287 steps to the interior Whisper Gallery. Again, no photography but the ticket included an audio tour. This time with some video clips and interactive features showing how certain areas inside had changed over time. Weirdly, tourists in Saint Paul's seemed unable to see the many "no photography" signs and kept getting scolded for raising cameras.
The building felt light and airy after Westminster Abbey. My climb to the Whisper Gallery rewarded me with both a view of some of the structural portions of the ceiling above the Quire, including a marker for where a bomb fell through during the Blitz, and the gallery itself, which has interesting acoustics and views into all the storage areas hidden from the ground floor. I know that last one sounds weird, but it helped make this site feel like the still functioning house of worship it is. The Crypt includes the grave of architect Christopher Wren and a memorial to Churchill.
From here, I wandered down to Millennium Bridge, a walk affording views of both the Church and the Tate Modern.
I heard quite a few times before coming here that this building was hideous. One acquaintance even said it was so ugly he wouldn't go inside. I don't think it looks that bad. Not at all.
The museum has a large collection of free exhibits, but one of the temporary, ticketed exhibits was Soul of a Nation, which I found to be well worth the price of admission. In fact, I probably should have wandered through the rest of the exhibits first as nothing else in the Tate Modern was as powerful as that exhibit.
On the way out, I got a bit turned around and stumbled upon The Globe Theatre. Then I went in search of a tea shop. I had been told it was the oldest tea shop in London and 3 stories tall. Google indicated that I wanted the Twinings Tea shop on Strand. That turned out to be a small, narrow shop with an excellent selection and a jovial employee offering tastings. So, not the shop recommended to me, but also not a disappointment.
Maybe I needed that caffeine boost more than I realized, because that was about the time I remembered that one of my stops today was supposed to include the Imperial standard. So I hoped on a bus back to Trafalgar Square to hunt it down.
The display was hiding behind some benches and tables, so easy to overlook if you don't know it's there. Or you forget.
After that, I wandered around for a bit looking for dinner and stopped at All Bar One. Dinner was Pad Thai and churros and sitting down long enough to start to feel tired. I had a Vietnamese soda rather than a cocktail, assuming sugar would help me get back to the hotel more than alcohol.
From there it was a short walk to Charing Cross station and an uneventful trip back to the hotel. And I even had an umbrella for the inevitable rain pouring down when I got off the train.
I left the Underground at Westminster station, which lets out along the Thames across from the Eye.
I wandered around a bit, taking pictures of the construction at the Parliament building with its currently silent Big Ben.
Next up, I spent some time in Westminster Abbey and the adjacent Saint Margaret's Church.
Pictures aren't allowed inside either of these buildings. Saint Margaret's has some lovely stained glass windows on the south side of the building which look more like an abstract map, in hues of greys, blues, and browns, than a Gothic church. The windows on the north are the more typical painted stained glass saints. And in trying to find an image to link to, I see this is because they were destroyed during WWII and replaced in 1966.
As for Westminster Abbey, wow is that entire building just steeped with history. You're stepping on dead bodies left and right, and have heard of more of them than you may have expected. The remains of Lord Byron, Darwin, Newton, a few dozen Royals, and over a thousand "Famous People" are interred here. And the ticket included the audio tour, narrated by Jeremy Irons.
From there I wandered over to St. James Park, where birds are plentiful and squirrels are fat and fearless. I walked around the park arriving at Buckingham Palace just in time for the 11:30 horse guard change.
I didn't go in, opting instead to cut back across the park to see Downing Street, the Women of World War II, and the Horse Guards post.
Then I got to Trafalgar Square and couldn't remember why I wanted to stop there. It certainly wasn't the public restrooms, which the guidebook included by saying "reward yourself with a trip to the loo." This is an opportunity to pay 20 pence to experience all the glamour of an airplane toilet with an even worse smell.
But next I went to Cafe in the Crypt, a cafeteria in a crypt at Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, a venue that hosts concerts and private events. I had tea. In a crypt. With clotted cream and salmon finger sandwiches.
Next, I took the suggestion of some friends who had visited before and got on a double decker bus. They insisted that sitting at the front of one of these was like being on an amusement park ride with a wide screen view of all the sites and they were correct.
Saint Paul's Cathedral is undergoing some renovation to the higher levels of the dome, meaning the two higher galleries with the great view of the city are closed to visitors. So I could only climb 287 steps to the interior Whisper Gallery. Again, no photography but the ticket included an audio tour. This time with some video clips and interactive features showing how certain areas inside had changed over time. Weirdly, tourists in Saint Paul's seemed unable to see the many "no photography" signs and kept getting scolded for raising cameras.
The building felt light and airy after Westminster Abbey. My climb to the Whisper Gallery rewarded me with both a view of some of the structural portions of the ceiling above the Quire, including a marker for where a bomb fell through during the Blitz, and the gallery itself, which has interesting acoustics and views into all the storage areas hidden from the ground floor. I know that last one sounds weird, but it helped make this site feel like the still functioning house of worship it is. The Crypt includes the grave of architect Christopher Wren and a memorial to Churchill.
From here, I wandered down to Millennium Bridge, a walk affording views of both the Church and the Tate Modern.
I heard quite a few times before coming here that this building was hideous. One acquaintance even said it was so ugly he wouldn't go inside. I don't think it looks that bad. Not at all.
The museum has a large collection of free exhibits, but one of the temporary, ticketed exhibits was Soul of a Nation, which I found to be well worth the price of admission. In fact, I probably should have wandered through the rest of the exhibits first as nothing else in the Tate Modern was as powerful as that exhibit.
On the way out, I got a bit turned around and stumbled upon The Globe Theatre. Then I went in search of a tea shop. I had been told it was the oldest tea shop in London and 3 stories tall. Google indicated that I wanted the Twinings Tea shop on Strand. That turned out to be a small, narrow shop with an excellent selection and a jovial employee offering tastings. So, not the shop recommended to me, but also not a disappointment.
Maybe I needed that caffeine boost more than I realized, because that was about the time I remembered that one of my stops today was supposed to include the Imperial standard. So I hoped on a bus back to Trafalgar Square to hunt it down.
The display was hiding behind some benches and tables, so easy to overlook if you don't know it's there. Or you forget.
After that, I wandered around for a bit looking for dinner and stopped at All Bar One. Dinner was Pad Thai and churros and sitting down long enough to start to feel tired. I had a Vietnamese soda rather than a cocktail, assuming sugar would help me get back to the hotel more than alcohol.
From there it was a short walk to Charing Cross station and an uneventful trip back to the hotel. And I even had an umbrella for the inevitable rain pouring down when I got off the train.
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