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| The London Bridge from the Clipper |
We teamed up with Steve and Nancy for the final day of our
four-month journey... for the Viking scheduled walking tour of Greenwich in the
morning, and then to explore London on our own. Noting a few painfully slow
walkers in our group, and knowing how much there was to see in London, we
ditched the tour and hopped on the Clipper up the Thames. Quite unexpectedly, while
cruising, the sun peaked out and patches of blue sky appeared. We were happy
about our decision and excited about the day.
With the waters almost at low tide, the Thames had a strong
seaward current, reminding us of the York River flow back in Maine that changes
back and forth. Architecture along its banks varied from ancient to ultra-modern.
We hopped off at the Westminster Stop… by the Shard, the
London Eye, Big Ben under scaffolding, and Parliament also half under
scaffolding.
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| Parliament |
We began our Rick Steve’s walking tour at the bridge and
soon were at Westminster Abbey, where in British style, we queued.
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| Westminster Abbey |
It was then
that we realized that Mark had forgotten his wallet. Fortunately for us, Steve
and Nancy came through with a quick loan and we were in. Westminster was not
only an amazing example of the Perpendicular Gothic style, but was literally
packed with monuments, mostly the tombstone type, going all the way through
England’s history starting with Edward I.
Construction began in 970 AD and the first phase finished
just in time for William the Conqueror in 1066. Here he was crowned King of
England along with every other English Monarch from then on. So, beginning with
the grave of his predecessor, Edward the Confessor, whose death allowed the
confusion and skirmishes between the two Harolds and William for the throne…In Westminister were Kings, Queens including Elizabeth and her sister Mary laying
side by side, Lords, Earls, Knights, scientists (Isaac Newton), writers (Dickens), and whoever Great
Britain felt was worthy, over 3,300! It also was fun to picture the royal weddings and to
see the simple wooden chair used when Monarchs are crowned as we exited the
building.
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Churchill with no
Poop on His Head |
Across the street was a small park with statues of Gandhi,
Peel, Mandela, and Churchill who had insisted his statue be electrified so he wouldn’t
have bird poop on his head. Any bird that dares desecrate his head gets an immediate shock!
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| Bird Keeper's Cottage in St James's Park |
In James's Park with its charming Birdkeeper’s Cottage, we
felt the first glimpse and smell of spring in its glory making us wonder what we
will find blooming in our yard at home.
Then it was up Strand Ave, past Theresa May’s house on 10
Downing Street, which because of new security is viewed from 100 yards away.
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| Brexit Protest |
Nearby was a small parade protesting Brexit. The Royal Guards had had just finished the guard changing ceremony on the vast parade grounds and two guards were mounted by
the arched gates... the official entrance to Buckingham Palace.
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| Queen's Life Guard |
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| Parade Grounds for the Queen's Guard |
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| Churchill's War Room |
The rest of the afternoon we gawked, talked, and walked around this beautiful historic city seeing… the entrance to Churchill's War Room, where he directed the British military during the Bombing of Britain,
…the pub called Ye Old Cheshire Cheese where many of England’ great
writers used to loiter as they worked on their masterpieces. The area had
originally been made famous by Dr. Sam Johnson, a reported who would come to
these narrow alleys to see the common “real” folk of London to write about
their lives. A statue of his cat guards over one tiny square in the middle of
these alleys and here we also saw several homeless people, one who had made his
tiny home with all the modern conveniences including stereo and TV.
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| Trafalgar Square |
…Trafalgar Square, named after the famous battle where
Admiral Nelson cunningly defeated a combined force of the French and Spanish making
England the ruler of the seas.
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| Supreme Court of Great Britain |
...the Supreme Court of Great Britain with its little alleys
and greenspace covering almost a city block, and another highlight for lawyers Steve
and Nancy, the Criminal Court building, which they called the Vatican of the
Legal World.
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| Covent Garden |
…In Covent Garden and Market Place, a pedestrian friendly area of
several blocks of shops and restaurants, we rested our weary feet and had one of
the best chicken curry pies we have ever tasted, a Singapore tradition.
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| Original Twinings Tea Shop |
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Headquarter's for Knights Templar |
…MANY historic churches including St Martin-in-the Fields, the Templer Church which was the headquarters of the Knights Templar, and the iconic St. Paul’s which was free for those who wanted to pray, but $20 for tourists, so with little time we walked on. Besides, what could top Westminster Abbey? At
one we watched its clock strike three, as two men with clubs hit the enormous
bell.
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| St Paul's |
By almost 5PM, we were back at the Thames River with a view
of the Bridge of London, the world’s first river draw bridge. We walked along the
river walk to the Tower of London, an impressive double-moated castle, complete
with its central Keep Tower where for centuries the Kings and Queens lived in
relative protection.
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| Tower of London |
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| Aerial View of Tower of London from Google |
From the river that morning we had seen its “Traitor’s Gate”,
a door where many of the Royals’ enemies rode into the tower’s belly, never to
be seen again. Queen Elizabeth I took such a boat ride, but was later released
and became the Virgin Queen, and leader of Protestant England. Tours of the castle
which now houses the Crown Jewels had stopped for the day so we rode the Clipper
back to Greenwich.
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| Goodbye London |
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| Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory |
Greenwich is an incredibly charming town that needs several days to explore, but we did what we could in the 90 minutes of sunlight we
had. Its town center reminded us of Portsmouth NH with lots of brick pubs and
shops on curved streets. We passed the Cutty Sark, Greenwich Market, the Queen’s House, the
Maritime Museum and Old Royal Naval College, through a huge park up the hill to the Royal Observatory, where the 0 degree Meridian is marked by a bronze rail on the
ground during the day and a laser at night for a great view of the city.
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| Greenwich Time |
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| Royal Observatory Greenwich |
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View of Queen's House
and College from Observatory |
London and its surrounding towns have so much fascinating history and so many things to do and see. We've been inspired to watch shows about the Monarchs again, and maybe by the time we return, hopefully for a whole lot longer than a day, we will have all the Henrys and Edwards figured out.
After a quick dinner, final show, and many sweet goodbyes...we set our last wake-up call for 4AM. It's hard to believe we have come to the end of our journey and almost the end of our blog.
