Sights and Sounds of London (07-27-19)

After "winging" our first day in London, our second day seemed very structured by comparison.  We had bought advance tickets for two major attractions that were high on our "must see" list.

First up was Westminster Abbey.  The weather this day was even hotter than the day before, but it was hard to justify taking a cab for the one mile walk, so off we went.

I for one, was wide eyed, looking around and taking in everything around me.

In the touristy areas, we Americans are kindly reminded in which direction we should look before attempting to cross the street.

In addition to pedestrian "walk" lights, bikers have their own set of lights, and in some areas a mini road all to themselves, between the sidewalk and street.












One of the things that struck me is the age of so many of the buildings, and how rich the history is here.

We happened to walk past the home of William Bligh, captain of the Bounty.

Luckily Big Ben was not at the top of our must see list, since it was pretty much hidden behind scaffolding, undergoing renovation.

Soon we arrived , already almost overheated, at the Abbey. The Abbey isn't air conditioned, but it wasn't too brutal inside, which was a pleasant surprise.

  We each had an audio guide and took our time wandering wherever we wanted.  There is no photography allowed inside, so I took some interior pictures off the web.

There are over 3000 people buried inside the Abbey- many
 of them royalty, but also such notables as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking.












The abbey is still an active church, and is used for many ceremonies, including the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.










Within the Abbey complex is The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Gallery- a collection of artifacts collected over the history of the abbey. This includes one of the few surviving original Magna Carta documents.

Also on display were quite a few effigies of past kings and queens. Up until about 1700, Effigies were made to be used during funeral processions.  The coffin containing the actual body would be carried, and the effigy would sit on top of the coffin.

Our second event for the day was the Churchill War Rooms. There is a maze of underground rooms that were used by Churchill and his staff during World War II. This included a bedroom for everyone who worked down there, including Churchill.











The war cabinet room is where their meetings would take place. One of the most ruthless decisions may have been the order Churchill gave to destroy France's fleet of ships.  The order was given just after France's surrender to Germany and Churchill was trying to keep the fleet out of Hitler's hands.

This is the original door to 10 Downing Street.  It was replaced with a more bomb proof door in 1991. The Prime Minister does not have a key to the home-it always has to be opened from the inside.

Other sections of the museum detail the life of Winston Churchill, the man, and the leader.

With it so hot, there was no way we were cooking, so our dinners were at pubs. This night we landed at the Blackfriar, in a building that was built in 1875 as a Dominican friary.