I have been very tardy in doing this post as it in now May 2 months since we headed down to London ,one of my favourite places to visit as there are always new things to discover. We take the train down and have a very relaxing trip. Once checked in at the hotel we head off to get my pictures done for my passport down to Pimlico a old stomping from when my brother and sister in law lived in the area. . Once we have my photo's we head off to the Cask Pub that has one of my favourite ciders Pheasant Plucker. Sadly they are out so I try a Hills Cider that is from Adelaide , Australia. We had back to the hotel and dinner for a early night as I want to be at the Canadian Embassy to get my passport renewed first thing.
We are up and off early to the embassy which is now by Trafalgar Square. The picture on the upper left is a new sculpture thumbs up called "Oh Really" We discover a lovely little park Victoria Embankment Gardens while on our walk about the city . A quiet oasis in the middle of the
busy city. The garden is in full bloom with sculptures commemorating different battle and artists about the park. The one on the right is to Arthur Sullivan 1842-1900 a composer part of the Gilbert & Sullivan fame.
We stop for lunch at the Clarence Pub on Whitehall and a break before continuing our walkabout. We head off to Leicester Square to check out what is on at the theatre. There have been a few changes to the area . There is now a large lego store and the figures are amazing. The kids in the store are having a great time and the staff seem to love working there. There is a little guy dressed up like spiderman and the staff make a big fuss over him.Our last stop is back to the Cask for my Pheasant Plucker and Fred enjoys a Marianna Trench a pale ale. We have walked 5 ¾ miles today and I am going to have a much needed rest for my back before we head out to supper.
Our last full day in London sees us out early to try and get tickets for Les Miserable but the seats are not so great so we decide to give it a pass on this trip. Still doing the tourist thing we head down to Westminster Abbey to tour since the last time we visited was in the 1970's.
A church was first built on this site in 1080 . The present day churches construction began in 1245 by Henry III who selected it for his burial site. The abbey became the site for the coronation of Norman Kings though no one was buried there till Henry III. Since that time all coronations now take place in the abbey. The picture on the right is of the tomb of Elizabeth I. We spend a good couple of hours exploring the Abbey, photo's are not allowed so I downloaded from westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/picture-gallery. Though I did take some in areas that where not part of the main church. Check out my Facebook wall for pictures.
Tour completed we head down along Southbank another favourite walking area of ours. Strangely there are no buskers along the banks which is very unusual ,we are not sure if it is because we are outside the main tourist season or new rules are in place. We stop at The Doggetts Pub on Southbank for a late lunch before heading off to Victoria and Albert Museum.
It has been a lovely break in one of my favourite cities but we have to now seriously looks for a new place to live as our landlord has given us notice. The trip home is very noisy as Fred had not booked us the quiet and there is a large group of kids that are heading up to Liverpool to party and have started on the train.
Ta ra for now,
Sandy & Fred
