Millennium Hotel, South Kensington/London,
England
September 23, 2024
Rain, then sun/68F
I love big cities and London with a population of 8.9 million people is BIG. Today Carol of International Friends (our tour plan) gave us a great overview of the history of this 2000 year long story from Rome to present time. The Romans settled here, thinking the River Thames was a fishing port, and a great passageway, and it still is, flowing from just west of London to the North Sea, 2oo miles. The Romans left when Christianity arrived, and the Saxons moved in (6th century A.D.)
Two thousand years is a lot of
history to take in and for me to write about, so I won’t go too deep with this.
I am interested and would have loved to visit Great Britain while I was
teaching English Lit!
We passed many landmarks:
Did you know that 4000 people are buried in Westminster Abbey? We passed by Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, the Strand theater, dragon statues indicating one is leaving or entering London, the city proper, and MORE!
Our first stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Prince Charles and Diana were married there, and over a hundred people are buried there, including Admiral Horatio Nelson and Sir Christopher Wren, the architect.
Second Stop: Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the Guard. We were able to see the Old Guard (soldiers who are currently on duty) relieved by the New Guard, accompanied by a Band and horses ridden by Guardsmen, a very formal handover of duties—but we could not see the actual change because of the crowd. I never thought I would see this in person!
The Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror to intimidate intruders and show his people that he was in charge. In the late 1600s , skeletons presumed to be 12-year-old Edward V and 9-year-old Richard, Duke of York—another long story, but their uncle wanted to be King and they were the true heirs. We saw the Crown Jewels, the real ones!! At least 10 crowns with all the jewels and about 15 more without the jewels –they were removed for other purposes. Amazing!! Nothing matches the tiara that Friend Julie gave me though!!!
We also saw Jubilee, one of the ravens, and the Hall of Kings with their armor and their horses’ armor. Lots to see!
The River Thames beckoned to us and a boat ride on this storied river was very relaxing, from the Tower of London to the London Eye. The water is brackish, but “clean,” and along the way we saw the replica of the Globe Theater, the Waterloo bridge built by women during WWII, on time, and under budget. Parliament, Big Ben (Elizabeth’s Tower), London Bridge, the Medieval Bridge, and learned there are a hundred species of fish and a colony of seals in the Thames. How’s that for a sentence I would not want to diagram?
Finally, we enjoyed a spot of tea and scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream at Harrod’s. A formal High Tea—with Wedgwood china, a piano playing in the background, white tablecloth, true elegance.
After tea we ran around Harrod’s, saw a dinosaur head fossil for sale (for sale, but no price), the Beauty section with open rooms for each individual makeup brand, the Food Hall with a very upscale market (meat, cheeses, bakery, chocolate hall, beef, vegetables, take away food, and more).
I could have spent a lot of time in Harrods, the largest department store I have ever visited, but it was already after 6 p.m. and TK had the “Tube” figured out so we could return to our hotel.
Both of us had 18000 steps today.
Friend Ann, we can still do it!!!
Aside to Friend Chris H: I have read 1 3/4 books on the flight over, thanks to you for the books!! I brought 12 or so!
I developed a work around with my photos and the phone photos--and it is time consuming, but we need photos. I cannot edit or really make the best choice, but there will be photos!
Dear Friend Jim, we do have Verizon, but I did not think it would be wise to phone a friend from overseas for advice on this darn issue. It would take awhile! Expect a screen shot of his steps soon!
TK’s Takes: The raven was fun to watch, a very deep squawk. TK gravitated to the water, could not get over how big Harrod’s was, and loved the tube, much cheaper than Uber!
