Day 19 – Goodbye Bath, Hello London

 At breakfast this morning, we met a new couple from Australia who were celebrating their 25^th anniversary. The family from Cork joined us and we all had a good time together. William had scheduled a taxi to arrive at 8:45 A.M. We were packed and ready to go! Our Irish driver took us on the short drive to the train depot where we had plenty of time to catch up on some writing. “Good bye, Bath and lovely English countryside!”

An hour and a half later we were in London learning very quickly how to use the tube. We took the Paddington line to the West Brompton exit, walked about a minute, and found the Sara Hotel/B&B.  We are in Earl’s Court district which looks like it was built in the middle 1800s. The street is just lovely! I can just imagine horse drawn carriages passing each other right in front of our window. The hotel, while not decorated to the period, is clean and basic.

We settled in our place and within half an hour, off we went again! With about 24 hours total time to spend in London, we had settled on a few things we wanted to do. After eating some sandwiches in a nearby park, we headed for the British Museum. It was free! The first thing we saw after passing into the Great Court was the Rosetta Stone! We followed Rick Steves’ abbreviated guide to the museum which guided us to the highlights. What a thrill it was to see Egyptian, Assyrian, and Ancient Greek exhibits along with the actual Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon. From the mummy of an old woman who was preserved so well that you could see her fingernails to recovered shipwreck treasure, and old clocks to wall carvings from Nineveh – this museum was magnificent!

From here, we began a walking tour (again, thank you, Rick!). Walking along White Hall Street, we saw Trafalgar Square with Lord Nelson bravely standing on top of a tall column and a huge ship in a bottle (which Gus would just love!). Then came St. Martin in the Fields Church, the Horse Guard, #10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben (which rang beautifully at 5:oo), Westminster Abby (already closed for the day but gearing up with press from around the world for the wedding), The London Eye, and the Waterloo Bridge. How’s that for covering some ground? We walked and walked. Bicycles zoom within inches of city busses and cars. It’s kind of crazy! We rode the Tube back to Earl’s Court and now we are resting before we have a simple dinner.  We are officially done!

Rosetta Stone

Egyptian Mummy

Trafalgar's Square

Big Ben & the House of Parliament