London, July 30, 2010

Today is Mark's birthday, and we woke up to comfortable temperature and sunny sky. After breakfast, Nell very kindly drove the four of us to the train station in West Malling. We caught the 9:29 train to London. The train was so clean and comfortable, and very quiet; it was a great way to travel. We got to see some of the countryside and villages along the way.

Victoria Station, London

On arrival at Victoria Station, we went looking for a Post Office to get some British pounds. A kind older gentleman pointed out the way to us, and said "you'll have to queue to next Friday". We did find the ticket sales office for the Original Bus Tour of London, which we'd booked before we left. We headed back to Victoria station to get cash at the ATM, and then found the stop for our bus tour. We sat on the outside top deck of the bus for the tour, and had an informative ride through London.

Our first stopping point was Westminster Abbey.

We saw protesters against the war in Afghanistan outside Westminster Abbey, in front of Churchill's monument, and across the street from the Parliament buildings.

We paid our admission (Mark got a senior discount), and spent several hours listening to the audio tour and roaming through the beautiful cathedral. Not only is the place filled with monuments to kings and queens and other royalty, but there are a number of poets and scientists interred there. We were all glad that we did the tour, too.

Next stop was Burrough Market for lunch - by this time it was almost 2:00 pm. Nell suggested going to the market and it was a terrific suggestion. You could spend a week just roaming about the marketplace, a little like Fanueil Hall used to be, but this was little shops in alleyways for several blocks. We found a nice place for lunch, The Wine Market, and all had the requisite fish and roasted potatoes (instead of chips), and beer. After reviving, we wandered through the market a little, trying a few samples here and there. Mark and I bought some cinnamon cookies and brownies for treats.

Back onto the bus tour, and next stop was the Tower of London.

 
We decided to take advantage of the free river cruise that was part of the tour ticket, and we caught the boat going up the Thames to Greenwich.

Old pub where there was a dunking stool

Traffic on the Thames

 The captain/pilot regaled us with colorful commentary about the sights on the banks of the Thames. We snacked on the cookies while we headed upstream.

When we got to Greenwich, we didn't get off the boat, and took it back to the area of London Bridge.




















Time was getting on, so we hopped back on the tour bus, back to Victoria Station. We found the Victoria Palace Theatre and collected our tickets for Billy Elliott for the evening show. Then we had a light supper at Garfunkel's next to the theater.

Billy Elliott was a wonderful show. The young boy playing the part was extraordinary; he sang well and danced very gracefully and with a great range of emotion. I had to dig out tissues when the letter from his mother was read aloud. And the scene where Billy was angry and danced with the police with shields was amazing. The most moving scene was when the miners with headlamps shining stood in front of Billy with his suitcase in hand, and the miners descended as one under the stage. Our seats were up in the Grand Circle, so we had a view of the top of the sets, and could see the floor open up for the hydraulically lifted staircase and other moving set pieces. The show was great, and the cast did an encore number, which I didn't expect at all.



We caught the train back to West Malling, where our kind host collected us. We sat and chatted for a little bit and went off to sleep around 12:30 AM. Another very busy and satisfying day.

London, morning sights

London, afternoon sights