Going to London to visit the Queen

Friday August 30

We got off to a very leisurely start today.
Just mooched around the hotel for most of the morning. Sarah’s feet have been showing their age. Yesterday I insisted she buy some gel inserts from Boots downstairs, and that seems to have helped. Not cured, but helped.

There was only one thing on today’s agenda. Buck House.

We took the train (Circle Line this time) to Victoria Station. The Royal Mews were only a block away, and we were more than an hour early for Sarah’s appointment. As luck would have it, between us and them was a foody precinct called Nova. So we did lunch.

Then to fill in some more time, we popped into the Mews Shop. I told you this was a leisurely day. I should have said boring.

The Royal Mews is where the Royal ‘orses is looked after. Oddly, we didn’t see no ‘orses, so perhaps they should call it a museum. They keeps all the carriages here, so photos to follow.

What Sarah had purchased was a double ticket. Mews at 1445, State rooms at 1545. So off we go.

You know what’s coming next. No photos. Ask Uncle Google what the inside of Liz’s place looks like. To be fair, the theme of the bits they show to the peasants was “Victoria’s Palace”. It was all about how much Victoria and Albert did to modernize and make livable a previously cold and drab edifice. Or you could watch Victoria on the telly.

After you leave the palace, it’s a bit of a walk to freedom. Then we back-tracked a ways to go back to Victoria Station.

Haven’t heard of this airline 

Another Day on the Town

Thursday August 29

Once again, we take the Bakerloo line after breakfast. This time we get off at Lambeth North, the second to last stop on the line. This stop is over the river and is where we find the Florence Nightingale Museum. It covered nursing challenges over a number of wars over a much longer time than she lived.
Don’t blame me. This was Sarah’s choice, but I did find it interesting.

A short walk back to the river, we return to the wharf where we did the river cruise yesterday. This time we are looking for the ‘River Bus’, to take us along the river a couple of bridges. This is accessible using the octopus card. Just another means of transport.

When we get off at Bankside Pier, Shakespeare’s theatre is right there. There’s a nice restaurant attached, so we do lunch. Unfortunately, they are doing performances in the theatre today, so a theatre tour is off the menu. Never mind. It’s apparently the last thatched roof building in London. Since the great fire of London, no more we’re built. This is also a replacement. The original was burned down. Not in the great fire, because that was on the other side of the river. This one was burned down during a performance. It seems that one show needed the sound effect of a cannon. So someone came up with the cunning plan of using..., you guessed it..., a cannon! Doh!!🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

So off we go again, and we come to Southwark Cathedral. Yes, another one. This one doesn’t have much in the way of Sponsor’s Alleys, so not over fussy. Beautiful church. Then just around the corner is a place Sarah wanted to see. It’s called The Old Operating Theatre Museum. I already said I’m not responsible for what Sarah finds interesting. This is another one, but I got her there.

And then she saw it. This museum is in an attic, and these days the only way up is 55 steps (they went to the trouble of counting them for the warning sign) up a very tight spiral staircase. Not only could they not get the patient up there, forget about the furniture.
Sarah doesn’t like spiral staircases, but she copes when they are either very wide or only curved at the end. Personally, I appreciate the design elements of a spiral staircase, but like all normal humans, I need to use the steps as far towards the outside as possible, to fit my feet on them. This one, however, was built for the skinniest tower possible. So that was a bust.

Another couple of train rides, and we were back in Paddington.

Sarah has chosen a Lebanese restaurant around the corner. Lovely food. Just as we were finishing, something went wrong in the hotel upstairs, and there was a trickle of water over the till. Staff quickly unplugged everything and covered the till, but the trickle got bigger, and started coming out of every light fitting in that part of the ceiling. Pretty soon about 4 tables we’re getting splashed, including us. Their eftpos was out, so Sarah offered to come back to the hotel and get cash. They said it doesn’t matter because nothing is working. Everything was turned off.
So we’re going back there tomorrow night to pay the bill. Maybe we’ll have dinner again. It really was good. That’s assuming they have reopened.

Ben, Ben where art thou Ben

Wednesday August 28

Back on the subway after breakfast. Bakerloo Line again, but not stopping at Baker St this time. Charing Cross is our stop, and the meerkats pop up on the edge of Trafalgar Square. Sarah was a little disappointed, only because there were no pigeons. I think she was hoping to recreate a scene from Mary Poppins. Bad luck.

Even sans pigeons, it’s a nice place, statues, obelisk and fountain, enveloped by buildings with some serious heft.

Saw Admiralty Arch, which is much more impressive than that wee marble number.

Started heading down to the famous part of town, we passed the Horse Guards Parade. Well that’s what it’s called. There’s a couple of guys, parked up on horseback, staring at the horizon, while the tourists do what tourists do. They’re like the guys I had a run in with. Have to stand perfectly still, ignoring everything. Is this some sort of hazing, or a punishment for something?

Over the road from there is a place called The Banqueting House. It’s pretty much what you could imagine, so we move on. It was on the way, and we get free access with the London Pass, so, there it is. A little further down, we see a cool monument to women in the war. Clever.

Just past that is Downing Street. We couldn’t get down for a look even if we wanted to. Security up the wazoo.

So it’s Westminster Abbey. No photos inside. No surprise.

As luck would have it, some of the lesser insides are less retentive than the greater.

One thing we did notice. It’s very busy. Very busy. Statues, plaques and gravestones.
Like most cathedrals and abbeys, there is usually some kind of corridor on either side of the central core of the building. It is these corridors that are always packed with these objects. I call it the sponsors alley. If good and wealthy folks bequeath a good part of their folding stuff to the church, it will buy them some real estate in the sponsors alley for a plaque, a statue, and possibly even a gravesite.

I must say, though, that compared to Exeter Cathedral, the working part of Westminster Abbey between the Sponsors Alleys, is very narrow. Very.

After church, we wandered over to the river. With the London Pass we have a free 24 hr access to the river cruises. We want to go down to the Tower of London, and on the water seems a delightful way to get there.

To get to the boat, we walk right past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately, both are undergoing renovations. The is lots of scaffolding around and over parts of parliament, but Big Ben is completely wrapped up. Sarah is disappointed not to see this iconic landmark.
As we are boarding the boat, we see one side has the clock face exposed.  That’s your bleeding lot, mate.

The boat is a nice way to see the city. It’s first stop is virtually across the river, at the London Eye. Next stop is Tower Bridge, where we get off. In between is an entertaining commentary about the various views.

When we get off, there are a range of food outlets, so we do lunch at Wagamama.

We then pop into a wee church next door. It’s called All Hallows by the Tower. Once again, older than the moa.

And then it’s into the tower to check out the Crown Jewels. Sounds like a male strip-joint, doesn’t it? Oh, and Sarah saw a squirrel scamper up a tree. Standard Rules, no photos of the shiny stuff. Guys in red coats, stupid hats and painful rifles. I’m keeping my distance.

One last stop for the day. Two trains later, and the meerkats popped up in a very posh part of town. Piccadilly. Some beautiful buildings on this road. We walk past The Ritz. Sarah says I’m not dressed well enough to get in.

The one we are looking for is Fortnum & Mason. What Sarah was expecting was a foody store. What she found was a posh department store. Are they trying to be a Harrods or a Selfridges?  Meh...