London Day 3

Day 3 started with us grumbling about having to get up so early.  But I really wanted to see the inside of Westminster Abbey.  When I was in London in 1998, I was there during the peak of tourist season and every time I walked by the line was several hours long.  Even though it was the off season, I didn't want to have to wait in line, so I decided we were going to get there at opening.  We ended up getting there about 30 minutes after opening, but there was no line.  Unfortunately photography was not allowed inside because the interior was even more beautiful than the interior of Notre Dame and we got to see the tombs of many famous British kings and queens, as well as several famous British poets, writers, and actors.  After walking through most of the Abbey, we stopped for some breakfast, which for me was the breakfast of champions: hot chocolate and a brownie.  We headed out towards the exit and passed the tomb of the unknown soldier.  There were also memorials to FDR and a Congressional Medal of Honor placed on the tomb by General Pershing.  I explained to Jeff the symbolism of the Red Poppies surrounding the tomb.

We walked over to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms (yet another thing I somehow managed to miss in London, however since the Churchill Museum wasn't open when I was last in London, I was almost glad I had waited).  On the way we passed a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln.  I had never noticed it before and we both wondered why a statue of Lincoln had such a place of honor (right on the traffic circle in front of Westminster), especially considering the British had taken the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War. 

Rick Steves had advised us to get the audio tour at the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum and amazingly it was free with the cost of admission.  Definitely well worth it too.  We spent about an hour and a half walking through.  The Churchill Museum was probably one of the best museums I have been to.  It was pretty small (one very large room divided into sections), but it was so informative and they used some pretty cool technology to make it very interactive.  I would definitely recommend visiting the museum and war rooms when you are in London. 

After that we walked past 10 Downing Street, saw the Queen's Guards and ate a really awesome pub lunch.  Jeff had fish and chips and I had a really good steak and ale meat pie.  I also had a pint of Pride of London, which was probably one of the best ales I sampled during our short trip.  As we were leaving I noticed some French tourists sitting at the table next to us.  It was clear that they did not know that at pubs you are supposed to order at the bar - there are no waiters that will come and take your order.  I thought about saying something to them, but I decided not to.  Be forewarned -- if you go to England and eat in a pub, order drinks and food at the bar.

Next on my list was visiting the National Gallery, but Jeff really doesn't like art museums and I had spent a lot of time there when I was in London previously, so I decided to just grab a bus to Covent Garden.  Covent Garden is now a shopping area and home to the London Opera.  Back around the turn of the century it was a hug flower market and the setting of several scenes in Pygmalion where Eliza sells her flowers to opera goers.  It is also home to another great museum in London: the transport museum which gives the history of the underground, the oldest and largest subway system in the world (another hint for travelers to London -- if you see a sign saying subway, that isn't the underground.  It's an underground walkway.  The "subway" is called the underground on most signs.)  Unfortunately, the museum (which I had already been to, but Jeff hadn't) was closed.  We walked around the shops and I explained to Jeff that punch and judy shows had also originated in Covent Garden.  I spent a decent amount of time in Lush - one of my favorite stores, and Jeff apparently spent his time being accosted by a mime while he waited for me.  I also spent some time in the Transport Museum Gift Shop which was open.  I almost bought a really cool poster which showed the underground system with each line representing a different type of music.

After shopping and Jeff making a narrow escape from the mime, we headed to catch the bus to the London Eye which wasn't open when I was in London in 1998.  We passed a theatre that was surrounded by people and a bunch of bobbies (that's policemen).  While we were waiting for the bus, we asked someone what was going on.  Apparently Prince Charles was at the theatre for some charity event and everyone was waiting to get a peak of him on his way out.  We didn't wait and instead got on the bus.  There was a huge, but pretty fast moving queue at the London Eye and I had time to think about chickening out (I am rather afraid of heights and I hate Ferris wheels!).  I bought tickets and consoled myself that unlike most Ferris wheels, the pods don't swing on the eye.  The whole trip takes about 30 minutes and it was well worth it.  The pod didn't shake and the views were really amazing.

On our way out, I had to go to the bathroom, so Jeff waited in the cafe while I went downstairs to the toilets.  As I opened the door to leave the toilets, I heard an alarm and saw a huge metal fire door sealing off the staircase that I needed to go up.There were a couple other tourists standing in the hallway looking confused.  I was afraid Jeff might have had to evacuate too and that we might get separated since there were so many people, so I wasn't going to wait around with the rest of the tourists.  I started following the green fire exit signs (all emergency fire signs in London are green) which led me through the kitchen and out to a loading dock.  I ended up having to circle the whole building and when I got back to the cafe everyone was sitting there as if nothing had happened - including Jeff.  Apparently only the downstairs bathroom area had had the problem and it was just a false alarm.

After having some coffee at the cafe, we decided to go to the tkts booth and see if we could get some cheap tickets to a show later that night.  We ended up getting half price tickets to see the Producers which coincidentally was in the theatre where Prince Charles had been.  Neither of us were hungry for dinner, and we had some time to kill before the show so I finally persuaded Jeff to check out the National Gallery.  I really only walked through the impressionist rooms (and noticed the original of a print we have in our kitchen that I bought the last time I was in London -- one of my favorite Monet's of poplars).  Then we decided to walk over towards the theatre and grab some dinner.  We stopped at a Pret a Manger on the Strand and had sandwiches.  Then we stopped in at a coffee shop and bought a paper which we read through until it was time for the show.  Bird Flu had just been found in the North of France and it was pretty much all over the news when we were in London.  The Evening Standard had the funniest headline that day which was displayed throughout the city on signs: "Scientists Say Lock up All the Chickens!!!"  Jeff and I both get a kick out of British journalism which is much more candid than American journalism.

Finally it was time for the show.  We had gotten front row seats and had a great view of the orchestra as well as the show.  Neither of us had seen The Producers before and we both really enjoyed it.  All of the actors were really strong, even though Ulla was the understudy.  After the show, we headed back to the hotel.  It was a great last day.