London Part 2

     After eating breakfast in the hotel breakfast room, we hurried off to the subway station, parked with no problem (and it was free because it was Sunday!), and got on our train.

Taran found a great little seat. = )

     The first activity of the day was a bus tour of London. The trick was we needed to catch the bus by 9 am in order to get to the changing of the guard at 11:00. We got there just in time. We took seats in the upper level of the bus, of course, to be able to get the best pictures and set off on our whirlwind tour of this awesome city. There was a lot of great stuff to see and a lot of interesting information from our guide. I'll try to relate what I can remember.

Gate into Hyde Park - can't remember the name = (

Ornate gates into Hyde Park - unveiled in 1993

     The jury is still out in London whether these are pretty or gaudy.

Bronze horse head sculpture

Sherlock Holmes Museum

     The site of this museum, 221b Bakers Street, was once a bank. After Sir Arthur Canon Doyle's books came out, the bank started receiving dozens of letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes asking for help. They spent so much time writing back to these people informing them that Sherlock Holmes did not actually live there - in fact, Sherlock Holmes wasn't a real person, that they decided to move the bank elsewhere. It was set up as a museum and decorated just as described in the books. Now there is a person whose sole job is answering the letters that still come there addressed to Sherlock Holmes.

Selfridges department store - first of its kind

     This department store is famous as the first store that had all its merchandise out so customers could see and touch it. They also were the first to put ladies' cosmetics right out in the open. A shocking thing to do because, at the time, women were not open about their cosmetic use - the fact that their beauty was not entirely natural was, they thought, their little secret. Have you noticed that in many department stores, the perfume department is right inside the doors? Selfidge's started that too - though at the time it was to mask the odor of horse manure that came through the doors with the customers. Masterpiece Theatre is doing a series of shows based on the founder of this store so it was kind of cool to see the actual store.

The Ritz

Fortnum & Mason - known for its excellent high teas

    If you want to have high tea in the English fashion (and you have a lot of money to spare) the place to head is Fortnum and Mason. This is what our guide told us - we don't have much money to spare, so we skipped that. = )

National Gallery

     This is where Britain's top collection of art spanning the years 1250 to 1900 are found. Unfortunately, with our limited time here we were unable to do more that look at the outside. = (

Blue Cockerel

     This Blue Cockerel sculpture was unveiled recently in Trafalgar Square, just in front of the National Gallery. It was erected on the empty fourth plinth that had been built there 1841 for an equestrian statue but when funds ran out, the plinth was left empty. The sculpture pokes fun at the pompous statues of Nelson, King George IV, and a couple generals that surround it. Jury is still out on that one too.

Column honoring Lord Nelson

     This column stands in the middle of Trafalgar Square and is one of the afore mentioned pompous statues. It honors Lord Horatio Nelson, Vice Admiral of the British Royal Navy. He was a brilliant leader and strategist who won many naval victories for the British. He is best known for the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 against the combined navies of the French and Spanish. Admiral Nelson had twenty-seven ships and the Franco-Spanish fleet numbered thirty-three. The British sank twenty-two of the enemy's ships and didn't lose a single one of their own. Unfortunately, Admiral Nelson was shot and killed in that battle. His body was put in a barrel of brandy to preserve it for a hero's funeral back home. They really went all out honoring this hero.

Lion at the foot of the column

Admiralty Arch - completed in 1912

   

#10 Downing Street - where the Prime Minister lives

Big Ben!!

     Big Ben is actually the name of the bell in the tower. The tower itself was just named the Clock Tower until 2012 when it was renamed the Elizabeth Tower to celebrate the queen's Diamond Jubilee. It was completed in 1858 and holds the largest four faced chiming clock in the world. It stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster (aka Houses of Parliament).

Houses of Parliament

London Eye

     The London Eye, opened in 1999, is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe. Doctor Who fans will remember that it played a key part in some aliens' attempts take over the world. = )

Shrub sculpture of queen cleaning up

Jubilee footbridge

Column that marks where the City of Westminster ends and the City of London begins.
The dragon is the symbol of the City of London.

St. Paul's Cathedral

     St. Paul's Cathedral was completed in 1711. There has been a church on this site since 604 AD. This one is at least the 4th version. Fires destroyed the others. The Great Fire of 1666 took the predecessor of the current St. Paul's Cathedral. It was designed by Christopher Wren who also designed more than fifty of the new post-fire churches.
     St. Paul's survived the Blitz during the second World War. In a September 1940 bombing attack, a time-delayed bomb hit the church but was successful defused. If it had detonated it would have leveled the building. One of the most famous pictures of London during the war is that of St. Paul's standing surrounded by smoke.

Taken Dec. 29, 1940 during the Blitz

St. Paul's Cathedral

     St. Paul's was the church that held the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher. Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married here. And Mary Poppin's bird lady (Feed the birds. Tuppence a bag . . . ) hung out here.

Monument to the Great Fire of London

     This monument was constructed from 1671-1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was placed at the site of the St. Margaret's Church, the first church to burn in the fire. Our guide told us it was constructed at the exact height that if you pushed it over in the right direction, the top of it would land where the fire started in a bakery. This fire wiped out the City of London (remember, that's the one square mile old city) and threatened the surrounding districts. It burned down 13,200 houses and 87 churches. They fought the fire for 4 days before it was finally all put out. The City of London was a clean slate waiting to be rebuilt. The architect Christopher Wren (who designed the Monument and St. Paul's Cathedral) was set the task of designing the new layout of the city. He drew up a plan with straight streets and parks breaking up the clumps of buildings. This would help in fire fighting endeavors if another fire broke out and give the people a safe place to gather (the parks). Of course, this meant that there was not as much room for homes and businesses as before but look what happens when you cram so much stuff in one place - a tiny fire takes it all down! Well, the people with the power decided the risk was worth it, so the City of London was rebuilt much the same as it was before - crazy, windy streets and lots of buildings.

Big Ben on the other side. = )

Westminster Abbey in the back

     And then we came to Westminster Abbey. This is the church in which the English (and then British) monarchs have been crowned since the days of William the Conquer (1066 AD). King Edward's Chair, the throne that the kings and queens have sat on when being crowned, is housed there. Princess Diana's funeral was conducted here and at least 16 royal wedding have been held here since 1100 including that of Prince William and Katherine Middleton. Many famous people were buried in Westminster including Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and William Wilberforce (the man who abolished slavery in the United Kingdom). Kings and queens were also buried here, and when I say buried here, I don't mean in a cemetery out back. I mean in the very floors and walls of the church. When you walk in the church, you're stepping on graves.

Boadicea

      This statue remembers the Celtic queen Boadicea who fought against the Romans in 60 or 61 AD. She managed to drive the Romans back and even made the Roman emperor consider giving up Britain. But then she was defeated and the Romans stayed in control a little longer.

Lambeth Palace
- official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury

     Parts of this building date back to the 13th century. John Wycliffe was tried here for heresy in 1378.

Westminster Abbey

Column topped with St. George slaying a dragon near Westminster

       We finished our bus tour and hopped off at a stop close to Buckingham Palace about a half hour before the changing of the guards. We walked by the guards getting ready to go on duty outside their barracks near the palace.

Guards at Wellington Barracks 

     At that time it was announced that a potty break was need but where to find a WC? As we were scratching our heads and wondering how far we'd have to walk to find one, a handy map just outside St. James's Park (the park in front of Buckingham Palace) pointed the way to a near by WC. And, as a bonus, we got to walk through St. James's Park to get there.

Swans in St. James's Park
The grey ones are adolescent swans - or ugly ducklings. = )

View from the Park Lake bridge

Buckingham Palace from the Park Lake bridge

Looking the other way

     We found the WC and then hurried back to the palace. There we discovered that every other tourist in London had beat us there. Turns out if you want a good view of the changing of the guard, you need to stake out a place by 8:30 in the morning - and wait for 2 and a half hours for the show to start. Oh, well. We joined the throng standing along the road that passes in front of the palace, across the street from the Victoria monument that stands in front of the palace. A nice couple from Australia who were on vacation in London took pity on the kids and let them stand in front where they could see the soldiers march by.

Buckingham Palace

Here they come!

And there they go!

      We couldn't see much after the guards went into the palace gates but we could still hear the band. And we had the beautiful Victoria Monument to look at not to mention the garden right behind us.

Garden in front of Buckingham Palace

Victoria Monument
That's Victoria on the right.

     This monument was dedicated to Queen Victoria in 1911 by her two grandsons, King George V and Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany.

Buckingham Palace and Victoria Monument

     When the soldiers and the bands had all marched away, we started heading for our next destination. We had to walk toward the Wellington Barracks on our way to the metro station. As we got to the barracks we noticed a group of guards marching right toward us. These were the ones that just got off duty and were coming back to the barracks to rest. So we ended up getting a very up close view of them. = )

So close I could almost have knocked off his hat. = )

     Well, it got late again. I'll continue this thrilling adventure tomorrow. Goodnight. = )