The Burrough Market was filled with a throng of people on Sunday. Shoulder to Shoulder. It was a bit unsettling to me to be honest and we really weren't able to even to get to the various stalls. I wish we could have returned on a week day to see it without the crowds. We headed away from the Market and started our RS walk through Bankside. I had cut out the various walks we wanted to do from my book, so it was great having an informal guide to help. We walked much further than we anticipated- all the way up the Jubilee walk, past the Eye, County Hall and across the Westminster Bridge. My daughter's phone logged us a 27K steps on Sunday!
It was a beautiful day out again, so many people wandering about and enjoyed the view of the Thames and the city.
After an early dinner at a pub near our flat, we rested a bit, then about 8:00 pm we headed back down to Tower Hill tube station to be ready for the Ceremony of the Keys. After such a crazy time trying to get tickets for this, I was worried that it would not live up to my expectations. Boy, was I wrong! It was worth all the stress and early mornings. First of all, since we were here in the summer, it was still light enough out to see so much that in other times would have been too dark. Mark, the Yeoman leading our group of 50, was a delight. And the actual ceremony was incredibly impressive. To be a part of an event that has been going on night after night for 700 years...where else does something like this happen?!! So cool.
Monday, June 27 Westminster Abbey/ Diamond Jubilee and the Churchill War Rooms. We got to the Abbey when it opened and toured with our headsets. What else can be said about this place? It literally stopped me in my tracks when I entered. The media tour was very well done and offered a great overview of each area of the Abbey. We then went up into the recently opened Queen Jubilee Exhibit. Talk about expecting something and it being something else! I had thought this exhibit was going to be centered around Queen Elizabeth's reign but it was more of a comprehensive exhibit of the Abbey's beginnings, and the pieces from so many of England's former Kings and Queens. We spent a good hour up there and were enthralled. I highly recommend getting tickets to this part of the Abbey.
We had a nice lunch in the Abbey's cafe. Delicious salads, cream tea and scones and great service. Very reasonable prices, too.
We walked to the Churchill War Rooms and got our media devices to use. What a vast museum. You could easily spend 4 hours in there. Fascinating stories of not only Churchill, but all of those men and women who sacrificed so much to help win the war. I learned so much there. I don't know if the jet lag was getting to me, or if just being underground all that time, but I was exhausted after going to this museum- there is just so much to take in.
After leaving the museum, we walked around Westminster and kind of did RS Westminster walk backwards. We went down Birdcage Walk and down to see Buckingham Palace, then walked the Mall up toward Trafalgar Square. Poked around there a bit and then walked up to be at our Afternoon Tea time at 5 at The Wolseley, which I read about in my RS book. We had a lovely tea. Beautiful place, not too stuffy, but classy. We shared two afternoon teas between the three of us and added a pot of tea. It was a lovely way to end the day!
So, three days of our stay were in the books. Whew! :)