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We met our guide, Marian, outside of Westminster Abbey for a morning walking tour of London. We started at Westminster Abbey with Marion imparting the history of the Abbey, the monarchy of England, and how they have been intertwined through history into modern day. She gave us so much information that I will let the pictures speak for us.
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We walked to St. James Park and caught sight of the pelicans sunning themselves on large boulders in the middle of a lake; then we walked to Green Park. Green Park was given its name due to the absence of flowers in the park. What it did have was very tall uncut grass that nobody was walking on. Both parks were once part of the royal grounds.
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We left Westminster Abbey and headed to Buckingham Palace, passing many municipal buildings along the way. We were amazed to see several statues of some unusual people for England: Abraham Lincoln and Gandhi. Everywhere we walked barricades were placed along the streets in preparation for the Trooping of the Guard on Saturday. Trooping of the Colors is a ceremonial celebration of the king’s birthday. Unfortunately, we will not have a chance to see it as we have other plans for the day. As we approached Buckingham Palace, Marian pointed out that you could tell that King Charles was not in residence with the Union Jack flag flying and not the Royal Standard. That meant we would have to go to Windsor Castle to see about having afternoon tea with King Charles III.
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Marian then led us to the Green Station to catch the Tube to the train that headed to Windsor Castle. Catching the tube was very interesting, to enter all you do is tap your credit card. This is how you buy your ticket. Marian went to the train station to help us buy our tickets. At the train station we grabbed lunch, said goodbye to Marian, and settled in for the hour ride to Windsor.
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Windsor is not only a castle but also a quaint little town round the castle with small gift shops and restaurants lining the streets. From the train station, we headed up the hill to Windsor Castle and the Royal Grounds. The entrance was like going through security at the airport with bag checking machines and scanners. My luck at the airport did not hold true at the castle. I got dinged as I walked through the scanner, but they could not find anything on me that would set off the scanner. I guess it is just my magnetic personality.
After security, we grabbed portable electronic tour guides and proceeded to walk around the castle. I am not able to show you pictures as photography was not allowed inside. Let’s just say everything was very old, yet grand. We walked through St. George’s Cathedral and then through the castle proper. In true British form, it started to rain as we were leaving, so we headed back to London and our hotel. |
Plans changed when we arrived at Westminister Station. We decided to have dinner before heading back to the hotel. Before setting off we went looking for the restroom. We saw a sight I never would have believed: the line to the men’s room was longer than the one to the ladies room. I don’t think we will ever forget that. Two other women also commented on this as well!
I really wanted to try The Thomas Cubit in an historic building, very close to our hotel. With reservations made, we set off the find the restaurant. We asked a security guard how to get back to the area of our hotel. He tried to tell us and then pulled up direction on his iPad. I had to take a picture just to remember the directions. The good thing was that when we got off the Tube we would only be an easy four blocks away.
We found the first leg of our underground journey rather easily, but the second leg was like walking through a maze with so many corners and several up and down escalator rides. It was worse than taking the New York subway. We finally made it to our stop and hoofed the last few blocks to the restaurant. We had a wonderful albeit noisy dinner with fish and chips for four and salmon for two. It was a very interesting day. We logged over 7 miles by the time we made it back to our hotel.
