London Day 1

Happy Black Friday to those in America! I hope no one hurt themselves out shopping today!

So, to begin the promised details of London. On our first full day in the city (Wednesday), it was cloudy starting out but beautifully blue the rest of the day. We followed a walking route we've taken before and like very much, and we had such a great time looking around and taking pictures. The only downside is that we couldn't feel our feet at the end of the day.

From our hotel in Kensington, in the west end of London, we walked east past the Natural History and V&A Museum (where we stopped briefly to take pictures of Buddhas from China) to the wonderful Harrod's, across from which we had a delicious late breakfast at EAT.

H-4517 — Natural History Museum - the "cathedral of nature"

D-8352 — Carvings on the Natural History Museum

H-4545 — Brompton Oratory, a big Catholic church near the museums

H-4575 — Some of the delicious offerings at EAT. I had the Bircher Muesli, far right, which we learned about in Bern. So good.

H-4578 — Burberry, just down the road from Harrod's. Sigh.

D-8395 — Rolls Royce parked outside a hotel on the same street. I imagine it weighs more than my truck.

Then we continued under the triumphal arch on Constitution Hill and Green Park to Buckingham Palace, through St. James Park (populated with magnificent varieties of birds and nearly-tame squirrels), to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

Buckingham Palace

D-8426 — Buckingham Palace guard, one of those not allowed to move or smile, even if some guy is pointing a zoom lens at you

H-4615 — Monumental fountain outside Buckingham Palace

D-8457 — St James Park - an Orthodox Jew taking pictures of...

Unusual fowl in St James Park

London Icons — Houses of Parliament and iconic phone box

Big Ben Detail — Up close and personal with beautiful Big Ben. (Although, as you trivia buffs know already, Ben is actually the bell inside the tower.)

Parliament security

D-8512 — War protesters across from Parliament. This is a permanent encampment and seems to be a designated protesting area.

We crossed the river via Westminster Bridge, then had a bathroom stop at McDonald's, a pause beneath the London Eye, and a longish walk along the riverside to the beautiful Millennium Bridge, which is next to the Tate Modern Museum, where we crossed back over to St. Paul's Cathedral.

D-8548 — The London Eye and a jet plane, both British Airways

H-4759 — Storm Troopers at County Hall, advertising the current Star Wars exhibition

H-4761 — Modern art outside the Dali museum

H-4792 — Under one of many pretty bridges spanning the Thames

H-4807 — View from the book market, with the Queen Anne docked on the other side

H-4832 — Tate Modern Art Museum (originally a factory)

H-4841 — A dramatic spider sculpture outside the Tate, with St. Paul's across the river

H-4873 — Approaching St. Paul's on Millennium Bridge

D-8665 — People enjoying the view from the dome (we did that on our last visit, but didn't have such nice weather!)

From there we walked to Covent Garden and then Leicester Square, by which time it was dark. We had a delicious dinner in Chinatown at a place well selected by David (using the criteria of how many Chinese people were eating there), then hobbled back to the Leicester Square Tube station. We joined hundreds of commuters on the subway (poor timing on our part) and gave up all personal space for about 15 minutes before gratefully emerging above ground at Gloucester Street station.

Shadowlands (about C.S. Lewis) was one of many plays on offer

H-4941 — Odeon cinema at Leicester Square

H-4947 — View across the tracks at the Tube platform. While we waited, we watched a little mouse scurry around the (otherwise quite clean) tracks. He was actually quite cute.

From the Tube station it was another 20-minute walk past Harrod's and the museums again, during which time it began to rain. We felt very lucky to have had sunshine for almost all the daylight hours. And finally we were back at our hotel, where we collapsed in front of the TV.

I thought I could get both days posted tonight, but alas, we saw so much and there are so many pictures to sort through so it is rather slow going! And it is after midnight and I should rest up for my big graduation ceremony tomorrow. But to get otherwise up to date, here's a quick summary of today's much less ambitious activities.

London Day 1posted November 23, 2007 by Holly Hayes

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