We had another full day in London to check out the sights, so we set out to Westminster to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We had considered going the day before, but it turned out to be both good and bad that we didn't - it was Commonwealth Day, so the Abbey was closed to visitors, but William and Kate and Harry were there! Maybe we could have caught a glimpse! Oh well.
When I went to Westminster Abbey with Becca in 1998 I remember it being much less organized - we just walked in and wandered around and took a million pictures. They've really locked the whole thing down now. There's a really great audio guide but also six million people. Still, it is so amazing to me to see THE VERY COFFIN in which Queen Elizabeth I's body is interred and I would pay the twenty pounds just for that probably at least five more times.
Then we walked across the Thames toward the London Eye. I remembered a secret back way so we took that, and stopped for lunch at another noodle shop on the way. There was free wi-fi so we sat for a while and took a nice break to stare at our phones.
The Eye is extremely touristy, but it was fun to do! And we didn't have to wait in line at all.
After the Eye we took the tube to go look at Dolphin Square, a massive apartment block where Grandma Betty lived when Mom was born in the early 50s. It's right on the river and is convenient to the Westminster area, so a popular place for diplomats to live.
There's a huge courtyard and gardens in the middle.
We talked with a resident who was hanging out on a bench in the gardens and he vaguely alluded to there being some kind of bad press recently. Later we discovered the alleged pedophilia ring involving MPs that has been in the news the last several years was supposedly based in Dolphin Square. He said it's a very nice place to live, though. Just a few bad apples!
We were pretty tired after all this walking so retired to the hotel for a rest, and then got dinner at what turned out to be a very atmospheric pub just down the street, The Champion. I ate some great fish & chips and found myself daydreaming about their sticky toffee pudding just yesterday.
After that we went home for an early bedtime because the next morning we were headed to Paris!
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