Not a Moment Wasted in London

It may have been our last full day in London, but not a moment of it has gone to waste! Holly and I started early so that we could get to everything we still had on our list. We are proud to report that we did that – and then some! Our pictures will prove our diverse activities from the day (password england) and as usual demonstrate the fun we continue to have. We started with a ride on the Underground to King’s Cross during rush hour, which was an adventure in itself. Harry Potter fans will naturally recognize the significance of the station – it is where platform 9 ¾ transports Harry and his friends off to another school year at Hogwarts. The consummate tourists, we not only sought out Platform 9 ¾, we took pictures – A LOT of them and then we asked a stranger to take one of all of us together too. Next stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral. Very beautiful and very historical; we opted out of the paid tour and took some photos from outside instead. We trekked across the Thames River on the Millennium Bridge (it cost $25 million to build and then promptly closed for another $7 million in ‘reinforcing’ because it shook when you walked across it). We stopped by the re-constructed Old Globe Theater and had to settle for a photo outside because technical rehearsals were being held for ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’. The gem of the day was Southwark Cathedral – the oldest gothic church building in London (it started out as a convent in 606 AD). We stopped for lunch at the same pub that a scene from ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ was filmed and then set out walking the 3-miles or so along the river to ride on the London Eye – a tourist trap for certain, but one can’t deny the amazing views that it offers in the 30-minute rotation. It was then back over the Thames to get one more set of photos of the Parliament Building and an ice cream, then one stop on the Underground to Green Park, where we walked straight through to Buckingham Palace. The Queen was in and while we appreciated her offer for tea, we decided to hurry back to the hotel so that we could post our blog entry before dinner. Whew, what a full day! Tomorrow we pack up and load onto the coach…we are going north through the English Countryside. Here’s hoping that we will be able to maintain great internet access!