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Published: December 20th 2005
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The Origin of the Species
An actual Cornwall Pasty shop in Victoria Station! My family in the Upper Penninsula will appreciate the history behind this English pastry. London: Day 1, Saturday, December 17, 2005
We landed safe, sound and exhausted at Gatwick Airport just outside of London at 10:00am London time, which is 6 hours ahead of Central Time USA. With just 30 minutes of sleep the entire night we were beat! But, it’s recommended that you stay awake all day so that your body can adjust to the time difference. So…we caught the train from Gatwick Airport to Victoria Station in the borough of Westminster, which is where we are staying while in London, and walked over to our hotel—a Holiday Inn with cracker box rooms and galactic prices. Quickly, London was living up to its reputation as one of the most expensive cities in the world!
Our son Marc, who has just completed his Fall Semester at the University of London School of Business, met us at the hotel.
Donning heavy sweatshirts and jackets we braced ourselves against the unusually cold weather (hey, at least it was warm by Minnesota standards!) and headed out into the bright sunlight. I had a taste for crossing some swords with ancient lords, in their battles against the hordes that had come to conquer…so we caught a
Marni and Joan in Westminster
Marni and Joan tote their luggage down a cobblestone street in Westminster, not far from the Abbey and Big Ben. short taxi ride over to Westminster Abbey. It is an absolutely magnificent edifice and was majestic in the setting sunlight! Unfortunately, it was also closing for the day so we admired the building from the outside and saved my sword crossing for our return trip to London in about 10 days. We passed under Big Ben, which I photographed looking almost straight upward, as the sun cast its final rays at sunset and brought the gold out in the beautiful stonework of the building.
With evening now upon us, the crisp winter day grew even crisper and we tightened our collars and hoods and braved a stroll across the Thames River to Parliament and other congressional buildings. Every building seemed historic and magnificent. I shot a picture of the Abbey from across the Thames which pretty much captures the beauty of this evening in London.
After dinner at an Italian restaurant we were all so tired that we could barely crawl back to our hotel. By 8:00pm we were sound asleep, with the exception of Marc who, of course, was not suffering any jetlag. He caught the tube (subway) over to Piccadilly Circus where he watched the debut
Westminster Across the Thames
This photo of the Abbey captures the beauty of this crisp, clear winter evening in London. of King Kong. I’m not sure when he returned because I was well beyond consciousness until the next morning.
London: Day 2, Sunday, December 18
The next morning, after a great rest, we spilled out of the hotel and into the bright sunlight eager to take on a full day in London. The air was still crisp and would stay that way throughout the day. Marc agreed to be our tour guide and he brought us over to the nearest tube station where we caught the train to the West End.
We began our tour of the West End with a beautiful, sunlit trek along the Thames. The high rises of London, what few there are, framed the skyline to our left. River traffic, consisting mostly of tour boats, speckled the Thames to our right. After walking for about a mile we took a stairway that virtually emerged at the foot of the Cathedral of St. Paul. Marni and Marc are pictured here in front of the cathedral. From here we entered the millennium bridge and crossed the Thames to the Tate Museum of Modern Art. The London Bridge and the Tower Bridge were to our
Tower Bridge
Marc and Joni along the Thames, just in front of the beautiful Tower Bridge. left as we crossed over to the museum. After touring the museum we walked down to the London Bridge and continued down to the amazing Tower Bridge where we walked back across the Thames towards Trafalgar Square. The Tower Bridge, pictured here behind Marc and Joni, is truly a marvel of engineering. It’s nearly impossible to spot the mechanisms that lift the center span of the bridge. And the stonework, as with seemingly every building in London, is impressive.
After the Tate, Marc and Fred had an urge for torture, imprisonment and other forms of evil so we headed to the Tower of London, which is just to the left of where the Tower Bridge joins landfall. This ancient structure is much larger than I imagined and harbors horrors far worse. We walked along the outside of it, and read of its fascinating history, but it was closing shortly so we saved the torture and mayhem, along with the crossing of swords with ancient lords, for our return trip, and we headed over to Trafalgar Square.
The sun was just about finished for the day as we walked under the final shadow falling from Admiral Nelson’s statue in
Cathedral of St. Paul
Marni and Marc in front of a cathedral named after me--and I've only been here 24 hours--now that's making an impact! the square. We proceeded over to Piccadilly Circus which was very crowded for a Sunday. Here we carefully selected an American bar to have dinner, a few drinks and watch the Viking/Steeler game. Marni and Joni walked over to a nearby theatre and took in a movie. They made the right choice. The bar has stuffy, smoky and the Vikings stunk up the place. After that debacle we made our way back to the tube and back to Westminster.
Marc turned out to be a fabulous guide and seemed to know London like the back of his hand—especially the pubs! Marni and I couldn’t help but wonder if he could find his way around his classroom as well as he found his way around the city. I guess we’ll know for sure when his grades arrive.
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Bryan
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Great Photos