Only 8.91 miles today - but SO many of those were stairs.
Today we had a leisurely morning and got Tube passes, with an initial destination of Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, the Abbey is closed on Fridays (possibly the downside of our commitment to the "First we show up, then we see what happens" travel philosophy), so we were unable to enter, but we did wander around the outside for a while. From there, we opted to cross the river and make our way down to Shakespeare's Globe Theater.
First stop, lunch. Second stop, photo op with the 94% covered in scaffolding Big Ben. Third stop, London Eye. Lunch was great, Big Ben was basically as expected, and the London Eye was stupid expensive for one circle around the Ferris Wheel, crowded into a capsule with your husband and 23 of your closest tourists - so we viewed it from afar and felt good about that decision. We did make it to the Globe, but apparently tours only go through about noon, so, armed with that knowledge, we'll probably return next weekend, post-cruise.
Two strikes to our travel philosophy (which, coincidentally, was also Napoleon's battle plan), so we crossed back to the other side of the river and went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Now, I did St. Paul's roughly two decades ago with my dad and other members of our family. The first time, my grandmother and I stayed on the ground floor, instead of making the climb up the 528 stairs to the top viewing area. I was upset (the fear of missing out was strong in 4th grade), so my dad and I went back the next day and climbed to the top. I remember it being easier than it was today to climb up 528 stairs. Ah, youth. That said, I think that St. Paul's has done an awesome job putting together interactive, self-guided tour experiences. Really, really good resources.
After St. Paul's, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and a show. Dinner was good, and then we went to see Aladdin, which was so much fun! Lots of great sets, lots of great costumes, and the Genie was awesome! Definitely a great way to spend the evening, and they even came out at intermission with Haagen Daz, which is a pretty sure way to my heart.
Tomorrow we're off to Southampton to catch our cruise! Super excited about that! Out internet is currently pretty awful, so I'll add some photos next time we have a more reliable connection. Troy's color commentary on the day is below.
From Troy:
Today we had a leisurely morning and got Tube passes, with an initial destination of Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, the Abbey is closed on Fridays (possibly the downside of our commitment to the "First we show up, then we see what happens" travel philosophy), so we were unable to enter, but we did wander around the outside for a while. From there, we opted to cross the river and make our way down to Shakespeare's Globe Theater.
First stop, lunch. Second stop, photo op with the 94% covered in scaffolding Big Ben. Third stop, London Eye. Lunch was great, Big Ben was basically as expected, and the London Eye was stupid expensive for one circle around the Ferris Wheel, crowded into a capsule with your husband and 23 of your closest tourists - so we viewed it from afar and felt good about that decision. We did make it to the Globe, but apparently tours only go through about noon, so, armed with that knowledge, we'll probably return next weekend, post-cruise.
Two strikes to our travel philosophy (which, coincidentally, was also Napoleon's battle plan), so we crossed back to the other side of the river and went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Now, I did St. Paul's roughly two decades ago with my dad and other members of our family. The first time, my grandmother and I stayed on the ground floor, instead of making the climb up the 528 stairs to the top viewing area. I was upset (the fear of missing out was strong in 4th grade), so my dad and I went back the next day and climbed to the top. I remember it being easier than it was today to climb up 528 stairs. Ah, youth. That said, I think that St. Paul's has done an awesome job putting together interactive, self-guided tour experiences. Really, really good resources.
After St. Paul's, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and a show. Dinner was good, and then we went to see Aladdin, which was so much fun! Lots of great sets, lots of great costumes, and the Genie was awesome! Definitely a great way to spend the evening, and they even came out at intermission with Haagen Daz, which is a pretty sure way to my heart.
Tomorrow we're off to Southampton to catch our cruise! Super excited about that! Out internet is currently pretty awful, so I'll add some photos next time we have a more reliable connection. Troy's color commentary on the day is below.
From Troy:
London by the numbers…
NUMBER OF BANNERS OUTSIDE OF PARLIAMENT LABELING THE ETERNAL BREXIT PROTEST SITE: 3
NUMBER OF PROTESTERS: 2
NUMBER OF PROTESTERS THEY WERE GOING TO NEED TO GET THOSE THREE BANNERS UP AND STRAIGHT AGAIN: Far, far more than 2.
NUMBER OF TIMES I HAVE SALUTED A TRASH CAN LABELED "GENERAL WASTE": All of them
NUMBER OF STEPS TO GET TO THE TOP OF ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL: 528
NUMBER OF PROTESTERS: 2
NUMBER OF PROTESTERS THEY WERE GOING TO NEED TO GET THOSE THREE BANNERS UP AND STRAIGHT AGAIN: Far, far more than 2.
NUMBER OF TIMES I HAVE SALUTED A TRASH CAN LABELED "GENERAL WASTE": All of them
NUMBER OF STEPS TO GET TO THE TOP OF ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL: 528
A SCENE FROM 1675:
CHARLES II: I do say, Sir Christopher Wren, the construction of this cathedral is coming along quite well.
CHRISTOPHER WREN: Thanks, current King of England!
C2: The colonization of the New World is also going quite well at this moment, but it occurs to me that, should things change at some point in the future, we might want to have a spot to hide from the Americans.
CW: Something with 528 stairs, perhaps?
C2: And tight spaces.
CHARLES II: I do say, Sir Christopher Wren, the construction of this cathedral is coming along quite well.
CHRISTOPHER WREN: Thanks, current King of England!
C2: The colonization of the New World is also going quite well at this moment, but it occurs to me that, should things change at some point in the future, we might want to have a spot to hide from the Americans.
CW: Something with 528 stairs, perhaps?
C2: And tight spaces.
And scene. Much better than the stick fighting demonstration going on outside the Globe Theater, which would have been told to wrap it up if they were a part of a high school talent show and yet they were inexplicably allowed to defile that place for that amount of time.
Still enjoying London and noting that the Brits have to be the shrewdest monument makers I’ve ever seen. My current heroes are the 20 geniuses who went in together on a bench simply reading “To my love on the occasion of her sixtieth” and the architect of the Emmeline Pankhurst memorial who just tagged on a note saying “Oh, yeah, and Christabel, she’s… uh… she’s honored by the pillars.”
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