Pack light, pack light, pack light. We packed five outfits each and decided to go to a launderette for a “service wash.” We hopped in a taxi to Smartypants Laundrette, dropped off our clothes, hopped back in the taxi, and sped off to Shoreditch High Street tube station. Our taxi driver was a little confused by the short distances he was driving us for and we explained we were trying to make it to a 10 a.m. walking tour. “Lovely day for it,” he joked. It was a cold and rainy morning. We made it just in time to join a small tour with a newly arrived fellow Yankee from Denver and a family of three from Munich. Our guide, Laura, was such a peach. So cheerful, positive, and knowledgeable. Here she is telling us about the statues in Parliament Square.
In Parliament Square we noticed a landmark missing from the skyline - Big Ben. It was covered in scaffolding and it undergoing repairs that will take multiple years. The Houses of Parliament are next and the members have recently voted to relocate. Here’s a photo of nearby Westminster Abbey.
Next stop, Buckingham Palace and a potential changing of the guard ceremony...we got a watered down version, due to the rainy skies. Usually, there is a band that plays as the soldiers march to their post, but we just saw the soldiers.
Our tour continued on and after many more sights and insider details from Laura, we ended up Trafalgar Square. We arrived the day after the artwork was changed on the fourthplinth. Here’s the new artwork!
We said a hearty good-bye to Laura and took the tube to Borough Market for lunch, as recommended by our friend Elly. We started with a pint at The Globe and then wandered through the market. There were stalls and vendors selling roasted hog sandwiches, pies, homemade breads and pastries, and chocolate. We had a pie and mash for lunch and bought some mini breads to eat later with our Neal’s Yard Dairy cheeses. There were also seafood vendors, fruit and veg stalls, and butchers, including The Ginger Pig, which is the sausage and bacon supplier for Dishoom.
We walked through the neighborhood and stopped at the original site of The Globe Theatre, and stopped for a photo. We carried on to walk to the reconstructed theatre, where Coco recited the opening sonnet of Romeo & Juliet.
Next stop, the Tate Modern, which had a fantastic installation, “One, Two, Three Swing,” with swings inside and outside the museum. There was also a large silver ball swinging through the atrium above visitors taking it all in on a multi-color ramp. One of the highlights for Coco was a flag by a Mexican artist, who used soil and blood from Cartel crimes to “die/dye” it. Brian really enjoyed an objects and architecture exhibition with a 4.5 ton solid light pink glass cube.
Next we walked across the Millenium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We had both learned this church is a symbol of hope for Londoners, as it was not damaged by bombs in World War II. We attended Evensong and sat in the choir stalls. The music was beautiful and the prayers were very moving. We then headed to one of London’s oldest pubs, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, “rebuilt in 1667,” following the great fire of London.
We finished off another brilliant day with a luxurious dinner at Benares, a Michelin Star Indian-Asian fusion restaurant in a very posh part of London. We walked by Rolls Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, Jaguar, Porsche, and Land Rover car dealers on the walk from the tube stop at Piccadilly Circus.