August 31 - A Picture Postcard Day!

This morning we awoke to a glorious fall-like day.  The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was close to 70 °.  After breakfast we headed  out to see some more of London.  Our hotel is actually at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 (we don’t even have to go outside to get to and from the flights or to the underground).  It’s a lovely place and so quiet that you can’t hear the planes at all.

Our first stop today was the British Museum.  What a wonderful place it is!  We spent most of our time in the Egyptian, Assyrian and Greek galleries.  Some of the artifacts on display are as old as 5000 years and yet the carvings and workmanship are so exquisite.  Seeing the Rosetta Stone is a highlight, but unfortunately the photos didn’t turn out because of the glare from its case.  We spent a lot of time looking at the Elgin marbles that came from the Parthenon.  We’ll see that building when we go to Athens in 2 weeks.  Hopefully we’ll be able to visualize the things we saw today in their original location.

Marble Horse from the Parthenon

After visiting a few other galleries and a special exhibit it was time to move on.  We decided to try walking from the museum to Westminster Abbey (third times a charm!).  Along the way we found a pub for a pub lunch and, of course, a pint of beer.  The lovely weather had brought everyone outside and the streets  and restaurants we passed were full.

Our visit to a pub

As I said, third times a charm.  We got to the Abbey and were just in time to join a tour conducted by one of the Dean’s Vergers.  He was a wonderful guide who  gave us so much information about the history of both the Abbey and Britain. While I had been there before, I  didn’t until today have an appreciation of all there was to see.  In addition to  historic events, our guide was able to tell us about some more modern occurrences such as  William and Kate’s wedding last year.  Our guide was the clergyman who escorted Prince William and Prince Harry out from the side chapel where they were waiting to the main altar for the ceremony.  I shall have to find a video of the ceremony and see if I recognize him.

By the time we finished our tour, it was close to 5 PM so we decided to call it a day  We’ll be back for a couple of nights on our way home, so we’ll try to see some of what we missed this time around.  We decided that London is a place we could spend days in and just scratch the surface.  It has made it to our list of favorite cities.

And today we walked nearly 8 miles again.  Good thing we're flying tomorrow.  Our feet need a break!

August 29 to August 30 - First Stop London

We’ve just begun this year’s vacation and we’re behind already!  The change in time caught up with us and we just couldn’t post anything our first night in London.

Our flight from Dulles was uneventful and short (only 6 and a half hours).  Our captain was very entertaining as he made the little talk pilots give before you push away from the gate.  He told us we were embarking on this miracle of flight and waxed very poetic.  He concluded his remarks by saying “And now, let us away from Washington!”  Quite different from the usual “sit back and enjoy the flight, folks.”

Our hotel room was ready when we arrived and after getting cleaned up and taking a little nap, we were off for our trip on the underground to downtown London.  It was chilly, windy and looked like it would rain at any moment, but we set out nonetheless to Westminster Abbey.  Along the way we passed some kind of Paralympic event in Trafalgar Square.  On the opposite side of the street were demonstrators for an unknown cause.  Each time we’ve been to London there have been demonstrators of some kind.  It’s all very interesting to see.

Big Ben and the stormy sky

Last year when we were here it was a Sunday and Westminster Abbey was closed.  Well, today we got there at 3:45 and the last admissions were at 3:30. Missed it again!  At that point it was looking very threatening and we were very tired, so we walked along the Thames Embankment part of the way back to our train station.  Despite the weather there were lots of tourists strolling and boats cruising the river.  Just before we reached the station, the rain began.  Fortunately we didn’t have far to go because the umbrellas were back at the hotel. 

The London Eye just before the rain came

We ‘ll try to see more tomorrow.  For tonight,  we’re bushed.  Al has a pedometer in his pocket and since arriving at Dulles we walked  7.63 miles!