London

For my 40th birthday present Jim took me to London for the night. My folks watched our children and we rushed out of Cambridge Thursday morning with the goal of seeing as much of London as we could in two days!


London is not an easy city to get into by car. There is a congestion charge to drive into the city, and so we ended up taking the train. We bought tube passes, which worked great, except that the tube was often so packed that we couldn't move! We were glad our children weren't with us for this! See below~

The weather was decent while we were there, and so we were able to take pictures. Here are some of our favorites:

Walking through Hyde Park~


World War I Artillery memorial~~ some 39,000 British artillerymen alone died in the Great War. All told, Britain lost some 420,000 young men, a generation lost. So very, very sad.




Buckingham Palace, where we saw the changing of the guard~

Buckingham Fountain~


St. James Park, where we had a sack lunch as we watched the ducks and swans, with daffodils and fragrant apple blossoms to boot!


Big Ben~which by the way, refers to the bell in the tower, not the clock.


The first afternoon we were there we toured through Westminster Abbey~breath-taking, isn't it? The inside is absolutely unbelievable, but no pictures allowed! William the Conqueror was crowned here almost 1,000 years ago, and it houses the tombs of a dozen kings and queens, along with hundreds of other nobles and noteworthy people.

We have been watching a 15 part series on the History of Britain (BBC/History Channel) so it was neat to put the pieces together as we stopped at the major tombs.



Then leaving the hushed quiet of the Abbey, on to the shouting lights and rushing crowds of Piccadilly Circus~


Jim surprised me and had bought tickets to Phantom of the Opera!


The next day we headed to the Tower of London.

Jim and I always thought that the Tower referred to the towers that were a part of the London Bridge. Actually the Tower of London refers to a large castle with the medieval White Tower at its center. It wasn't built originally as a prison but as a secure palace. Royalty lived here on the top floor (building on the right), the floor below housed their favorite Lord and Ladies, the next floor was for the kitchen and dining facilities, and the dank basement was a wine cellar and storehouse.

But when London became more secure they built other palaces and the Tower of London became famous as a prison where Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and others were held and executed.

The White Tower~


The chapel where the royals would worship. There still is a service there on Sundays~


Battlements from the outside wall~

We were able to see the crown jewels~located in this part of the complex

A memorial to the nobility beheaded on this very sitesite~


The tower that Lady Jane Grey (and others) was imprisoned in~we also saw her name carved in the wall, perhaps by her husband, who was killed right before she was~



The White Tower was an armory for several centuries, so it houses artillery, armor etc. from past days...

...like this HUGE cannon...


and lots of smaller guns...



The largest suit of armor in the world belonged to John of Gaunt. At 6'9", he was a giant in those days.

I have my own giant~


London Bridge~


An interesting pub, next to the Tower of London~


We went to check out Harrods, London's famous department store. We had to take a picture of this pram. Only $2,400.00, nanny not included. Gulp!


We ended our time with a quick walk through the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the lobby we took a picture of the most beautiful glass fixture I've ever seen~


I think we would need two months to really experience London~what a marvelous city. We ran to the Tube pulling our carry-on bags and made it to the train home to Cambridge with 30seconds to spare~ WHEW! Then one last long walk from the train station to Tyndale House, and we fell like zombies into our own bed.

Now today Jim and I can barely move! Our legs are tired from all our walking, but we really had a special two days away~