I See London (Part II)

Day 3 in London was a busy one! We started off on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. It was actually lucky we went in September because the Queen is away on vacation. Which means you can tour the staterooms of the palace!

But first stop was the Queen's Gallery. It's a museum which rotates the Queen's collection of art and artifacts. They say she is just keeping hold of them for the nation. One of their most famous paintings is The Man in Red. Not confirmed, but most likely Henry VIII.

Next we headed to the Mews to see all the royal carriages. Very fancy!

This one is the coronation carriage. They only use it for coronations. It's extremely old.

Last stop was Buckingham Palace itself. We have no photos from inside because they don't allow them and are really watchful. As soon as we walked in, A made the comment "This is just like Disney World. Except it's real." It is difficult to believe someone lives there!

Here's what some of the rooms look like (courtesy of the internet):

After the palace tour, we went on a hunt to find Sputino. Thankfully it was where we expected, because we would not have found it otherwise. No sign, just a hole in the wall. It looks like just a small bar, but serves delicious food. The pickled melon salad was particularly tasty.

We were close to Leicester Square, so we headed over to see if we could score cheap theater tickets.

We were in luck! 3rd row orchestra seats at half-price for 39 Steps. My friend had recommended the play when she heard we were visiting London.

They were setting up for the world premiere of Rush. Look, red carpet!

Our next stop was one of A's favorites of the trip: The Churchill War Rooms. Besides the War Rooms, it includes a museum of his entire life with many of his things, including some of his famous coats.

It brings history to life to see the Map Room.

And Churchill's bedroom.

It was a beautiful evening, so we walked over towards Chinatown to find dinner.

We actually ended up at a Malaysian restaurant, something we haven't tried before. Super yummy!

39 Steps is a mash-up of Hitchcock's spy films. It was very entertaining and the actors had us laughing the entire time. Again, another beautiful old theater.

We started the next day early at the Tower of London.

A Yeoman (aka "Beefeater") named Andy led our group around and entertained as well as informed us. The Yeoman and other Tower personnel (including the doctor) actually live on the Tower grounds. 

This is the White Tower, which was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It's almost a thousand years old! The Tower itself has been a royal residence and a prison.

It was in a stairway in the White Tower where they discovered the remains of two young boys who are believed to be the sons of Edward IV. They were put in the Tower for "safe-keeping" by the man who stole the throne and never seen again.

Something amazing is the armor collection has been a tourist attraction since the 1800s!

Sometimes you have to stop for a bathroom break.

Being good tourists, we saw the Crown Jewels. No photos allowed, of course. They are very impressive.

Another fun fact: Buried in the chapel are three wives of Henry VIII who died (two by beheading). Anne Boleyn was beheaded on the Tower grounds.

Having had enough history for the moment, we found what claims to be the "oldest pub in England" (there are many which have the same claim) and is a popular tourist destination: Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. A had bangers and mash.

St. Paul's cathedral was our next destination. Again, no photos inside, but this time because we made sure to join a tour led by a member of the clergy. Our guide was very knowledgeable and fun. He quizzed all 8 of us in the group during the tour. Without him, we would never have seen a rocket hidden in an intricate wood carving for the memorial to U.S. troops who aided Britain in WWII. It's a rocket pointed to the stars - seems the wood carver believed the U.S. would win the space race!

The cathedral dome is the second largest in the world (St. Peter's Basilica is the largest) and you can climb it! We climbed to the first level, the Whispering Gallery, then up to the second. We didn't go to the very tip because the view was beautiful enough!

We headed towards the river to cross over and visit the Tate Modern museum.

Turns out some Londoners (or tourists) want to make the pedestrian Millennium Bridge similar to the one in Paris with all the locks.

The Tate Modern is another free museum. Very much as we expected - some very strange art. They do have pieces and artists we recognized (Picasso, Mondrian, Monet). But some pieces just boggle the mind.

For dinner we were intent on finding a good Indian restaurant called Dishoom. Thanks to the medieval street patterns we got lost, but happened to walk down the correct street. Super delicious! We were also grateful many restaurants stay open until very late in the evening on weekdays, since we were so busy walking around London we almost forgot to eat!

Coming Up: K's favorite site and the spoils of robbery