Pauline needed a day of rest, so Ken and I headed out this morning to hit the city. We took a short walk to get to one of the stops for the hop on, hop off bus tour that we’d purchased to help us get from one place to the next and hit some of the highlights. It took a while for the bus to arrive, but once it did, we were on our way.
We didn’t realize at first that our tickets would allow us to travel on any bus line with that brand, so we got on the line we thought we had purchased and calculated the closest stop to Buckingham Palace. We still had a bit of a walk to get there, but it was a gorgeous morning, and we knew we were headed in the right direction because we were following the masses of people (and Ken knew the way!). On the way there, we stopped so I could have my photo taken in front of one of the iconic telephone booths, which are of course inoperable but just for looks…
Then we saw some beautiful tulips along the sidewalk - my favorite flower!
We got down to Buckingham Palace in plenty of time for the changing of the guard ceremony, although we didn’t end up seeing the actual ceremony (reminder: masses of people). We were near the palace but not quite to it and stopped to watch the band march.
Then we worked our way a bit closer to see if we could get a better view, but in the end decided we’d gotten the idea, and we could move on with our day. Ken did get a great shot of the palace before we left though…
And more pretty flowers there!
Our next stop was going to be St. Paul’s Cathedral. We walked toward the hop on, hop off bus stop, and ran into Big Ben on the way. Pictures, of course…
And the London Eye and a better view of Houses of Parliament, along with a bagpiper on Westminster Bridge!
We again waited a long time for a bus. We had been told through the app that there were protests in areas of London that were causing delays on the bus routes. One finally came and we hopped on. Not even five minutes into the ride, the bus came to a stop. Protestors were blocking the road in front of us. We sat for several minutes and then people started getting off the bus, realizing we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. We mapped it to St. Paul’s, Ken and I looked at each other, and decided we’d go ahead and start walking the 1+ mile journey. What’s a few more steps?
On the way, we stopped for delicious “British Burgers” at Honest Burger for lunch.
We moseyed our way to St. Paul’s, stopping in a store or two on the way. And finally, we were there! We waited in the queue, paid our entrance fee, picked up our headsets for the audio tour, and began our self tour. Ken and I each walked around the main floor of the cathedral at our own pace, taking photos and learning about various areas. Ken asked if I was ready to preach, and I said yes, I was ready to walk up into that pulpit! I’m pretty sure I would have gotten in trouble.
Then we began climbing the 528 (!!) steps to the top. Part way up we stopped for some pictures…
As we got closer to the top, the stairs got steeper and more winding.
More pictures from the very, very top!
On the way down, we could hear “clomp, clomp, clomp.” The woman in front of us was wearing these boots (photo cropped because I don’t actually know her) not only to trek around London for the day, I assume, but also to climb and descend 528 steps!
We timed the bus perfectly this time and were going to head for the Tower of London. We said goodbye to St. Paul’s Cathedral…
And hello to the Tower Bridge, over which our bus drove!
Turns out we were too late in the day to have enough time at the Tower of London, so we went ahead and walked back to the flat to meet Pauline. We spent some time with our feet up and the three of us made a plan for dinner.
Multiple friends had told me about Dishoom, an incredible Indian restaurant with many locations here in London. A lady on the bus yesterday overheard me telling Ken & Pauline about the recommendation, and she said we should go to the King’s Cross location, because it’s hard to get a table at all of the others and at King’s Cross, you can usually walk right in. We mapped our route, walked to the tube, and got there hungry and ready to eat. When we got in line, they told us it would be a 50 minute wait.
They were passing out mint tea in line while we waited!
Not long after we’d been there (maybe 10 minutes), they asked us if we’d be willing to sit outside. It was a little chilly, but we had on our coats and quickly agreed. We got seated immediately! We ordered many delicious things (no, I can’t remember the name of them), and enjoyed a fabulous meal.
I went downstairs to the restroom following dinner and saw this sign on the elevator…
We ended our evening by visiting Platform 9 3/4 at the King’s Cross train station before getting on the tube and coming back to the flat.
21k steps and counting and it was… you guessed it… another banner day! (Highlights for me today were St. Paul’s cathedral and driving over the Tower Bridge)
No comments:
Post a Comment