Final day in the old UK

It is our final day here and instead of heading out to Oxford with Annie, we instead decided to see more of London.  Annie knows this city inside and out, so she suggested we head to the Bankside area of London.  Our trek took us first to Tate Modern, a free modern art museum.  We saw a few Picasso and Francis Bacon paintings, just to name a few.  Next stop was St. Paul' s Cathedral where Prince Charles and Princess Di got married.  Walking along the Thames, we stopped at the Globe Theater, where Shakeperian plays are still held. Very cool to see. From there we headed off to see the Southwark Cathedral.  We did get to see the inside of that and we are so glad we did as there was a group from Virginia performing.  The music, comprised of ten harpists, three violinists, and some bass and celloists, was exquisite.  We could have sat there forever as it felt like we were in heaven with the sound of the harps and the beauty of the old cathedral.  Eventually our stomachs won out so off to the Borough's Market we went.  Jan opted for a Middle Eastern dish while Dave had a stilted burger with blue cheese.  Meandering down the street, we stopped to get something to drink and soon found ourselves viewing dancing of the Hammersmith Morris (London German dancers) group and Austrian dance group.  They each put on separate performances and were really friendly folks!  Last stop was at Greenwich where we visited the National Maritime Museum  and hiked up to a peak where we were on the prime meridian which, due to GPS has shifted a bit from where it was first determined to be (Dave saw that on the TV while we were here!). It was a long subway ride back but here we are in our little flat packing away for our return home. All in all, a very good way to close out our 2015 "expedition"

Off to see more London sites

After seeing War Horse last night, we decided to make today a history day.  We started out by going to see Winston Churchill's War Rooms.  This underground complex became the British government's headquarters in its fight against the Nazis in the darkest days of the Battle of Britain.  It was where Churchill and so many others - from secretaries, to switchboard operators, to Morse Code and cipher interpreters - strategized the war efforts and lived for six years.  We could not believe the Map room where the original maps they used to pinpoint battles and naval operations were still hanging on the walls!  There was also a great museum there that related the life of Winston Churchill.  Not only was he a great politician but also an author and painter!  From there we hiked over to see the outside of Westminster Abbey, had a great English lunch at a little pub, and then headed to the Imperial War Museum.  This a free museum that has an excellent exhibit of how WWI came to be and the role Britain had in it.  It so tied into War Horse and was much more detailed than anything that we in the States would have, since England was in the war since day one.  They also had a great exhibit on the Blitz and WWII.  It had such human side to the displays that even I (Jan) had a hard time pulling myself away from the museum.  Dave, being the history buff that he is, was certainly glued to the displays.  He especially liked the espionage section!

London by foot

With the prediction of the London area getting as much rain in the next 24 hours as they normally get in a month, we thought we better get going early to see some of the great sights of this famous city.  So off we went opting to see the city by foot rather than the Tube as that way we could take it all in. First up was Trafalgar Square which  has the National Gallery on one side and the church of St. Martin's in the Fields church. A very busy place to say the least. Walking down Whitehall road, and after seeing many huge buildings with fabulous architecture, we came upon the changing of the horse guards.  It was rather neat but we were in the midst of a number a Asian school groups so we really could not see that well. However, we did get a few good pictures.  We continued down the street and found ourselves in the Parliament Square area where we went past the Churchill war rooms, 10 Downing Street, and the Cabinet building. Then we found ourselves in the Westminster area of the city where the majority of the structures include churches, schools, beautiful private residences and more official buildings.  We could tell that the one up ahead was magnificent.  It was the House of Parliament buildings and Big Ben.  They were totally awesome!!!  On we explored-finding the home of the first director of the BBC and the home of T. E.     Lawrence from Lawrence of Arabia.  Our wanderings eventually led us to Buckingham Palace right in time for the changing of the guard.  We could not have planned that better!  The rain started right after that so we headed for the Tube and headed to the Victor and Albert Museum.  This museum is huge with the most eclectic collection of objects anywhere.  It bills itself as a museum for the decorative arts.  Our favorite parts were a gallery of Rapheal and more of Rodin.  Many people were sketching these sculptures so it was lots of fun looking over their shoulders.  Of course, because it was now raining out, the museum was bonkers with people.  We could only last so long after having been in quite a few museums the last week, so we decided to come back to our flat for a rest and dinners no our cute little kitchen.  We picked up half price tickets to go see War Horse at a theatre down the street tonight. It should be a real treat!