More London Aventures

   
Our second day in London saw us zooming around town

Buckingham Palace

London Bridge

doing a number of things that we missed on our first visit. The weather was rainy so we decided to do inside things. Our first stop was the subway system where we bought all day passes (that's the last time we will try to order on line!) and headed back downtown to the government area. Our destination was the underground rooms where Churchill and the War cabinet ran WW 2 from the concrete and steel underground rooms. It was left on the last day of the war and when it reopened it was still in the same condition. It was a very interesting tour complete with a museum and audio guide which came with the admission (London Pass).
   The next stop was Westminster Abbey where we got the senior rate! Go figure! Again the audio guide was very helpful as the abbey is full of "famous" people and things constructed by various kings and queens. Very interesting but no pictures allowed. When we got out it was raining heavily but we headed to the "Monument"- a 311 step high tower built to remember the fire that destroyed most of London. The views from the top were good but again the clouds made picture taking a bit of a struggle. After that we headed to the British Museum when we spent most of our time looking at all the Greek and Roman items "collected" in the past. We had been before but this time we saw and did more.
   

BritishMuseum

Dinner was a pub near the museum with a pint of local beer

Rosetta Stone

and a cider. After a stop of the hotel we headed to the theatre for Chicago. For someone with a map and a sense of direction, I was sure that we would never get there. Navigating the streets of London at night is something else. We had it within a few blocks but needed a local shop owner to help out. The live production of Chicago was good. We were seated in the second row and had close up views of the performers!
The next day we settled on another inside day as the weather remained poor. Our first stop was Little Venice - a short walk from our hotel near Paddington Station to catch the Jason River barge tour. It was about 45 minutes long and traveled along an old canal to Camden. Camden was a find. The tour ended at the old horse stable which has been converted to market with many stalls. If you like vintage anything this was the place. Typical flea market type places. Judy stopped to buy something for 5 pounds. I told the shop keeper that we could buy 2 for 8 down the way and of course no deal. However since we were the first customers of the day he did discount them to 2 for 9! The quality was better than the ones that we had priced earlier.
The subway then took us to the outskirts of London where we went to the Maritime museum, the Queen's House (former cottage?) and the Greenwich observatory. That was interesting as I was able to stand in both East and West Longitude at the same time! The history of longitude was well explained and we viewed the first chronometer that allowed the British to become and accurate sea going country. Dinner in a pub ended the day! Some advice to London travelers - don't try the subway system in late afternoon if you do not like to stand in lines and on trains. We changed trains at the Canary Wharf - a large office complex and all the black suits were going home! Enough said. Packing and a good night' s sleep ended our stay. Next post to the ship and a cabin experience!