We checked back into the Copthorne Tara Hotel, and after resting up a few minutes we put on our walking shoes and went out in search for food. We stopped at a local pub called the Goat Tavern. I had sausages and mash again, and my husband tried the fish & chips. Both were very good. A quick ride on the Underground and we soon found ourselves at St. Paul's Cathedral.
I have seen many churches in my life, but this was definitely one of the most beautiful. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I noticed that people in London actually obeyed the signage. In Paris, though there were signs, people still took pictures, so I followed suit. But no one even had a camera out - but, being a photographer at heart, I had to sneak a few. This was too beautiful not to have at least one keepsake photograph. We walked around the entire cathedral and finally sat down in one of the pews. This church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, who is also buried in the crypt of this magnificent structure. The plaque above his tomb reads "If it is a memorial you seek, look about you." How true...
The great fire of 1666 destroyed most of London, and with it the first St. Paul's Church. There were some figures in the crypt that were discovered in the aftermath of the fire. These stone figures endured such immense heat that the paint on them fused onto the stone - and caused it to look like wood - oak actually. I couldn't get a picture of it unfortunately.
As an added bonus to our little visit, the BBC was setting up to record some sort of orchestral performance, so as we were sitting in the church, they were playing some practice pieces and it sounded so wonderful.
A short ride on the Tube again and we were at the Tower of London. It wasn't quite what I expected. It's always a bit disorienting visiting something so historical in the middle of downtown London. But you walk through the main entrance and you're in another world. Thrown back into history, you're suddenly surrounded by high stone walls - flanked by several tall towers. The area is literally its own little town.
What thrilled me the most were two things. There were several items that belonged to King Henry VIII (whom I've always been fascinated by), and of course, the Crown Jewels. Here is a suit of armor worn by Henry VIII.
Check out the detail - this is from the horse's armor. Fabulous, isn't it?
I wasn't able to take any pictures of the Crown Jewels. Way too much security. All I can say is, WOW. I have never seen diamonds that huge in my life. I think one was 530 carats, and the other was 317 carats. You basically stand on a people-mover and ride along as it slowly takes you past several exhibits of the jewels. Of course, one time was not enough for me - I got right back around and had a second look. Absolutely stunning.
Near the Towers, in the distance, is the Tower Bridge. We didn't go on it, but it's pretty stunning.
Our next stop from the Tube was the Houses of Parliament. Actually, as soon as you step out of the station, you're right at the foot of Big Ben. While we were walking across the bridge to the London Eye, Big Ben's massive bells rang in the hour. We've been lucky that at almost every major cathedral, or in this case, at the base of the world famous clock, we were able to experience something - like the bells ringing at Notre Dame, or the orchestra rehearsing at St. Pauls.
We bought our tickets for the London Eye and within 15 minutes, we were packed into our own glass walled 'capsule' and on our way. It was about a 30 minute ride total, and at the very top of the wheel, we had a wonderful view of the city.
It was a long day, with so much crammed in - we were exhausted. Back to the hotel for a quick rest and then back out to have dinner at 'Memoirs of India'. This place was recommended by the bartender at the Goat Tavern earlier that afternoon.
Dinner was ok. There is a restaurant that we frequent in San Francisco called India Clay Pot. We LOVE that place. So, any India restaurant we go to automatially gets a biased opinion. The food at Memoirs was OK, not great. Just remember, if you ask for water, don't let them con you into giving you fancy bottled water. And if they ask you if you want to try their appetizer breads, it's not free. We complained about that - so they gave us the water free, but still. Just watch out.
That was our first full day in London.
The next day, we had breakfast at the hotel - yummy full English breakfast complete with thick slices of bacon, sausage, eggs, sauteed mushrooms, and beans. Our hotel is near Kensington Garden, so that was our first stop of the day.
Kensington Palace is the last home of the late Princess Diana. I love Princess Diana. I stayed up to watch her marry Prince Charles back in the 80's, and I watched her funeral as well. And how incredibly lucky we were that there happened to be a travelling exhibit of some of her gowns (accumulated from the different charities that they were sold to)! The one most people will recognize is the black velvet one she wore when she danced with John Travola at the White House. It's an interesting tour of the palace, but again, no pictures. I sneaked this one of an old throne that Princess Diana actually posed in before, but almost immediately after, we had people following us, so I put the camera away.
Our next stop was Westminster Abbey. Again, no pictures inside, but it was incredible. It's basically a giant tomb. Everyone you could imagine in royal history, writing history, political...
There was a large tomb for Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scotts, a world famous memorial to Shakespear, and I couldn't tell if these were actual burial sites or just memorials, but Chaucer, Charles Dickens, even the Bronte Sisters were represented. Fascinating.
After the Abbey, we headed to Buckingham Palace. We couldn't go in, as tours are only for a couple of months during the summer. So, here's a shot of the outside.
Near Buckingham Palace is another building called the Queen's Gallery. It houses the Royal families treasures from over the years. Like past king's china sets, more crown jewels, furniture, paintings... Basically a mini museum.
Our last stop in London, HARRODS!
This place is more incredible than I could ever imagine. I only post couple of pictures, but these first few are of the food courts. Each room represents a different type of food. There is a meats room, seafood room, sweets room, prepared foods room, a room that is like a mini supermarket - there are a couple more, but I don't remember. It's just amazing.
The building takes up a full city block, and it has everything. From Juicy Couture to Balanciaga, all the major design houses are represented here in their own custom designed areas. There is a pet store, a toy kingdom, small and large household appliances. Nightstands to full patio furniture sets. Amazing. I think if I lived in London, I would never shop anywhere else.
This building also houses the worlds most amazing Egyptian themed escalator. Beautiful. On the ground floor of the escalator lobby is the memorial to Dodi Al Fayed and Princess Diana. As you may know, Dodi's father owns Harrods. The memorial consists of a fountain, where all the coins are collected for charity, a wine glass taken from the dinner table where Diana and Dodi had their last meal at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Paris, and the engagement ring Dodi had custom made for Diana - but never had a chance to give to her. I think the plaque said he had just picked up the ring two days before the accident. It's all very sad, but it's a nice memorial. I do think they could have picked a better picture of Diana though.
So, our last night in London. Hubby was not feeling well at all. He was downright sick. We're thinking it was the fish and chips he had the day before. Poor thing. Good thing the trip is almost over. We ended up ordering room service for dinner.
This next picture is a shot of the TV of our new favorite gameshow. We started watching this in Paris. Loosely translated, it's called Take It or Leave It. It's fantastic. Though we didn't understand everything, we knew enough French and understood the concept of the show.
Basically, there are 20 boxes. Behind each box, we think, is standing a family or friend of the contestant - who is sitting at a table, with the host, in the middle of all of them. As each number is selected, the family member opens the box and reveals the prize that the contestant will NOT be getting. These prizes range from a cheap old tie to 500,000 euros. Sound familiar?
We were totally hooked on this show. In London, we found an Italian version of this show. We thought, wow, this would be so great if they had this in the U.S. Well, after we came back from vacation, we discovered that the new show Deal or No Deal is the U.S. version - and it's been on since last December. I'm not a huge Howie Mandell fan, so while I knew he was hosting some new hit game show on TV, I never watched it. The U.S. version is much more serious, dark and dramatic, and they use beautiful models to open metal suitcases - while the European versions are very 'party' like. If a contestant picked a box with a low amount, he/she would be so happy they would run up and hug the family member who opened the box. There would be loud music playing in the background - and the audience would cheer.
We had a 4am wake up call the next morning and by 5am we were in a cab, on our way to Heathrow. As I may have mentioned before, or at least my friends know this, my husband and I have NO luck when it comes to travelling. We arrived at the airport at 6am. I had to get my detax papers stamped for my new purse (remember that - you don't have to pay tax if you spend over a certain amount in one store) and the office didn't open until 7am. Our flight was at 8am.
When we got the stamp done, we looked up at the Departures board and they said our flight was in it's finally boarding call. WHAT? An hour before takeoff? Of course, the gate was the farthest one from where we were in the terminial so we RAN. Got to the gate behind several other passengers who were huffing and puffing, only to realize that the plane was not boarding yet - and that the signage was something uncontrollable by the airline - and that Heathrow Airport does that. @#($&(*#%^%$_!!!
So, we finally get onboard, we take off. In the middle of the flight, the PA comes on asking if anyone has any medical certification. Now, since 9/11, anything out of the ordinary puts me in a panic - especially on a plane. There's no where to run. Anyway, we discovered that an elderly woman was having heart complications and we ended up landing in Newfoundland for an hour and a half.
Chain reaction started - we missed our connecting flight in Chicago. We were too late to get on the next flight that was 45 minutes after ours. So we were stuck there for 2 more hours. Meanwhile, my husband is sick as a dog - sweating bullets - and there's no where for him to rest except for making himself a makeshift bed on the floor in the middle of the waiting area. Normally, that would just gross me out - I don't lay down where people walk all over. But in this case, my husband had to get some rest.
We finally got on the plane, and ended up sitting on it for over an hour and a half, because some pallate got stuck in the cargo hold and they were trying to unwedge it. Yep. Just our luck.
So, basically, 26 hours later - we finally made it home. It took almost a week after that for my husband to get back to normal. That was a rough ride home for him. I felt so bad and helpless.
Kind of a downer for the end of our trip, but we have lots of great memories to enjoy (almost 850 pictures). I don't know if we'll ever go back to London again, but I already miss Paris and can't wait to go back.
No comments:
Post a Comment