I’m working on creating a blog to document our trip to London.  This is a test to see if I can make this work.  If it works, I’ll send you a link so you can see what we’re doing while we’re there.

Last day in London…flying home tomorrow so we went to Greenwich today! We started at the Royal Observatory, took the regulation picture of Michael at the Prime Meridian, and then went into Flamsteed House, which was the Royal Astronomer’s House, now a museum of time. The really intriguing things we wanted to see we’re John Harrison’s clocks.

He went through four iterations before he got to a pocket watch that would be accurate at sea to tell the time at Greenwich. Then by comparing to noon wherever you were at sea, you could calculate how far away you were.

We also went to the Royal Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval College. We went by the Cutty Sark. Nice day in spite of showers!

We went to tour the National Portrait Gallery today. It is just what it says, many portraits of people who were important to British history.

We found portraits of British monarchs and I think the oldest was Richard III. Richard III is the King whose remains we’re just found under a parking lot in Leicester where a church once stood. He became King after his brother Edward IV died. Some say he had his nephews, Edward IV’s sons, murdered in the Tower of London so there would be no dispute about his rule. Some say he didn’t do it. There is a great book by Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, about this story. There is also a murder mystery, The Murders of Richard III, that uses the story as part of the plot.

We saw the new portrait of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and a portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry. We completely missed the rest of the Royal Family somehow.

We also found a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington among all the British generals of the Revolutionary War and King George III.

One more day!

Today was the Westminster Walk but I sort of made up my own route. I went by the Cenotaph on Whitehall on my way to The Horse Guards. This is where the British commemorate the war dead and missing on Remembrance Day, what we call Veteran’s Day. At the Horse Guards Parade, (the site of beach volleyball last summer at the Olympics), I watched the start of the changing of the guard but I had to keep moving so I wouldn’t miss the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. I waited on the Mall by St. James Palace for the guard to march by on their way to Buckingham Palace. Then I walked on the sidewalk following them and listening to the band…it was great! I couldn’t really see the ceremony at the courtyard so I walked across Green Park, back to Piccadilly and then to Jermyn Street where several Royal purveyors are located.

I stopped at Fortnum & Mason to buy some tea and stopped in the Parlour for lunch. I had Welsh Rarebit on crumpets with tomato chutney and a pot of Jubilee Tea. Delicious and another new experience!

I walked back towards Green Park through back streets and ended up in front of the Houses of Parliament just before 2 pm. I took some video of the clock’s Westminster Chimes, then Big Ben ringing twice for the hour. Then, I had a special request from Mom for picture of the Queen Boudicca statue…got that and headed back to the hotel. Two more days!!!

Today, I decided to go explore the West End, something I had not done before. I started at Leicester Square where the discount ticket booth is for London shows. So, the walk is based on Rick Steves’ route in his London 2013 guide. From Leicester Square, pronounced “Lester,” I walked to Coventry Garden, a big market and the site of the Royal Opera House, then through The Seven Dials, a notorious slum in the 19th Century, but not now, and to Charing Cross Road.

Charing Cross Road is famous for bookstores and I wandered around one of the largest, Foyle’s, had a cup of tea, then continued my walk. The next site is Soho Square. It a very pleasant quiet area. I also found No. 1 Soho Square, the offices of McCartney Publishing Ltd., that would be Paul’s business offices. Twentieth Century Fox also has offices here.

I worked my way westward through some small streets and allies to Carnaby Street and to the famous Liberty Department Store. Very expensive so I only bought fancy chocolate bars. From the Liberty store, I walked down Regent Street towards Picadilly Circus passing Hamley’s, a giant toy store, on the way. I took a couple of pictures at Picadilly Circus, then headed down Picadilly for Fortnum & Mason’s. this a very upscale store that includes groceries. I bought a couple of fruit scones and a ginger tea cake for at the hotel, and headed back for the day! Nice day for a walk!

The Tower of London has lots of good stories and you hear many of them by joining a tour led by one of the Yeoman Warders…Beefeaters is the nickname!

The tour takes about an hour and you learn a lot about how the Tower was originally built in 1070 and how it has changed over the years. Many royal prisoners were held here and some were beheaded here starting with King Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. There are two Royal chapels within the Tower precincts and many of remains of those executed here are interred under the floor of one of them, St. Peter Ad Vincula, or St. Peter in Chains. This is where the tour ends but there is much more to see.

The Crown Jewels, used for the coronation of British monarchs, are stored here and on display. They are amazing! The White Tower has a museum of armaments covering many centuries of weapons. And you can see the ravens. There is a legend that as long as the ravens are at the Tower, the kingdom will stand! The ravens are caged each night to protect them from foxes but they are free to wander within the Tower precincts during the day. But they can’t go too far because one of their wings is clipped!

During the Olympics, we had heard about two new buildings on the London skyline, and they were both visible from the Tower so I’ve included pictures of The Shard and The Gherkin.

Still cold here…mid-30’s with a wicked wind so I finally bought a hat today! So back to indoor activities…

We took the Tube to the Westminster stop and went to the Cabinet War Rooms. This is underground and much of it was left just as it was at the end of WWII. Winston Churchill and his war cabinet managed the war here. Since people worked such long hours that they lived underground for much of the war. In fact, workers received sunlamp therapy. Churchill and his wife and staff had bedrooms, a private kitchen and dining room. Churchill also made many of his wartime broadcasts from here. We’ve been here before but probably around 20 years ago. Still a great site to visit!

We also went to Westminster Abbey today, another interesting site! Many of the Kings and Queens of England are buried here, including Edward the Confessor, Elizabeth I, Henry V, and Henry VII. I love visiting this abbey. It’s very inspiring!! At the end of the tour, we went into the Cellarium Cafe and I had my afternoon tea…can cross that off my list for this trip!

Today, the Museum of London! It was in the mid-30’s all day with a cold wind and snow flurries so we elected to do indoor activities. The Museum of London has artifacts from as early as 450,000 BC showing the earliest human occupation of the Thames Valley. It’s built right next to the London Wall built by the Romans to enclose the original settlement, Londinium. It’s amazing how many sites of prehistoric and historic occupations have been found and documented with many of these artifacts on display. We saw about 6 classes of school children going through the exhibits with study packets where they had to find an artifact and do some activity associated with it. They all seemed very engaged with learning about London’s history.

Very interesting exhibits showing how people lived among all classes, even a prison cell for those who went to debtor’s prison. The highlight is The Lord Mayor’s coach that is still used today.

We also went to nearby St. Paul’s Cathedral. We listened to an excellent audio tour while making our way around the cathedral and the crypt. No pictures allowed so I only have one of the western front of the cathedral. Admiral Lord Nelson and Wellington are among the famous people who are buried here. The architect who rebuilt much of the City after the great fire of 1666, Christopher Wren, is also buried here in a simple tomb in the crypt. He was the first architect to complete a cathedral in his lifetime. And of course, Prince Charles and Diana were married here in 1981. Tomorrow, we head to Windsor Castle!

Today we went to the British Museum (all the new photos on Flickr are from here). We reviewed most of the galleries and there were a few highlights…the Portland Vase, the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles. There is quite a bit of interpretative material about why the British Museum has not returned them to Greece.

We walked to the British Library later in the day. There is a special exhibit of Murder Mysteries A-Z that I enjoyed. I was familiar with most of the titles. We also explored the Treasures of the British Library exhibit. Many interesting items there but the biggest highlights are two of the four extant copies of the Magna Carta.

Snow forecast for tomorrow so we’ll have to find another indoor activity for tomorrow.

We went to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum today. We had visited the Natural History Museum in 1994. I don’t think it has changed much. Michael wanted to see the giant sloth again…he remembered it from 1994. There are some beautifuls jewels also much like the Natural History Zmuseum at the Smithsonian! They also have a beautiful painted ceiling. After about 3 hours here, we went next door to the Science Museum.

The Science Museum has an exhibit about Alan Turing, the mathematician who with his colleagues, figured out how to decode Enigma machine code during WWII. He also was involved in building the first automated computer. Amazing!

We walked to Harrod’s and wandered through the Food Halls, but didn’t buy anything…YET. We’ll be going back before we leave!

We stopped off at a pub, The Bunch of Grapes, for dinner! Also delicious, especially the ale!

We made it to the hotel by about 2:30 pm. We landed at about 11:40 am, went through Passport Control and got our first entry stamps in our new passports, then grabbed our bags, changed some dollars to pounds, and headed to the Heathrow Express. This is an express train from Heathrow to Paddington Station. We had lunch at Burger King in the rail station, naturally, then took the tube to the hotel. It’s good to relax!!!