Well, I finally made it to jolly old England 🇬🇧, the last last stop on my two and a half month European adventure. I am staying at the Academy Hotel, a small hotel near the museums in Central London.
The rooms are nice but small and the bathroom is minuscule. And it does not have an elevator. But the hotel staff are so nice and the location is great.
I got up this morning and went downstairs for the complimentary continental breakfast. What a spread they put out for breakfast, lunch meat, cheese, fruit, yogurt, pastries. I was stuffed when I finally pushed away from the table.
It was a beautiful Fall day, clear and dry and not too chilly, which for London is rare. I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk down to the Thames and spend the day touring London.
As I was walking down to the Thames I walked by a theatre that was putting on a Harry Potter play.
I also found London’s Chinatown.
About four blocks from the hotel I ran into Trafalgar Square.
That is Lord Nelson on the top of the pedestal. What a thrill to be in Trafalgar Square in London.
I walked to the Thames and took a stroll down the Victoria Embankment, which is the flood wall on the north and south banks of the Thames. There is a wide walkway on top of the flood wall with historical monuments every hundred yards or so. I walked down to Big Ben and the Parliament building.
Big Ben is the tower on the right hand side of the picture. They are doing major renovations on it so all you can see is the clock face and scaffolding.
They have their own Camino like walk through London that they call the Silver Jubilee Walkway. They have markers imbedded in the sidewalk to guide you along this scenic walk that takes you to most of the important points of interest in central London.
As I walked the Silver Jubilee Walkway I noticed this very upscale shop.
This is a design store by Suck UK. If they really do suck, how can they also claim that they are awesome. You either suck or you are awesome. But you can’t be both. They are mutually exclusive. I tried to explain this to the Brits inside the shop but they acted like I was an imbecile and they did not appear to understand the meaning of the word “suck.” I finally gave up and continued my stroll down the Victoria Embankment to the London Eye.
This is a big deal in London. I am not quite sure why as it nothing more than a Ferris wheel like they have every August at the Illinois State Fair.
It was such a nice day I decided to do a boat tour on the Thames. This is the Tower Bridge.
This is the Tower of London.
This is the Shard. It was designed to look like a shard of glass. I have no idea why an architect would do that or why the owner would say, “Looks great, let’s build it.” The new buildings in London all look like they were designed by a bored teenager talking a break from playing video games. I assume that once a building like the Shard is completed the architect says to himself, “What was I thinking.”
I took the tour boat down the Thames to Greenwich and got off to tour the Cutty Sark.
This guy is the first owner of the Cutty Sark, John “Jock” Willis.
This guy did a 90 minute tour of the ship in the character of the first owner of the ship, Jock Willis, and did a darn good job explaining every last detail of the life and times of the Cutty Sark.
After I finished the Cutty Sark tour I took the tour boat back to central London. As I was walking back to my hotel I passed by St. Martin in the Fields. They are having a sacred music chorale concert this evening and I was able to sit in the back of the church and listen to the rehearsal.
The acoustics in this church are phenomenal and this choir’s collective voice was at times strong and muscular and at other times sweet and delicate. I sat in that church for an hour transfixed by their divine singing. What a memorable end to my first day in London.
I hope everyone had a great Thursday.
Good evening from London, England.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 