Monthly Archives: June 2015

This morning we were out early to beat the long queues at Westminster Abbey.  Pro tip, though: even getting there twenty minutes before opening on a Monday morning, the lines was really, really long.

Thankfully it moved pretty fast. Sadly, no pictures were allowed inside. But I will tell you this: it was one of the most moving experiences I’ve had, and I’m not religious. It was simply staggering in scale and beauty and history.

Neve, Maddie, and I each lit a candle in the nave and paused to take it all in. Then we moved through, taking care to read as many of the tombs as we could.

We lingered over the tombs of Elizabeth I and her sister Mary, and I’ll admit I got a bit emotional, having studied her for so long and finally being that close to her earthy remains. I also reached past the rail and put a hand on her marble crypt. It was an experience I’ll not soon forget. Just a foot or two, some marble, and a few hundred years separated us.

We left the Abbey amazed at how close we had come to nearly a thousand years of history, and headed for lunch at a cafe in the crypt of a different church, St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Yes, they have a cafe in the original crypt. Yes, there are still burial stones and markers in there. No, it was t creepy. And the food was well-priced and very, very good.

We managed our way over to Oxford and Regent streets so Maddie could find the London Coach Store, and then we browsed a Top Shop and Marks and Spencer.

We’ve also gotten very adept at navigating the Underground. We love it!

We planned some time to try the Eye, but it was rather expensive, honestly, it would have cost more than our tour of the Abbey had, and that hadnt been cheap at £40. Instead, we found a nice little cafe called “Giraffe”, and had a nice early dinner before meeting a group for a Jack the Ripper tour.

Our guide, Lindsay, was fantastic. She works for Scotland Yard as well as for the tour company, and she’s met descendants of the Ripper’s victims. She has research coming out soon, and she’s been interviewed many times for documentaries.  We went to each spot where the victims’ bodies were found, and she showed us photographs of how each place looked at the time of the murders. The sky had gone grey and it was windy, with a nice chill and the smell off woodsmoke in the air. It was perfect!  It was one of our favorite things we’ve done, for sure.

The last thing we did was stop at The Blackfriar Pub next to our hotel for a last pint in the UK, as we leave in  the morning for Paris.

We were right under Big Ben on our way to the Abbey.

On Whitehall Rd.

The Cafe in the Crypt

The floor of the cafe

Big Ben and Parliament from across The Thames

Church in Spitalfields from the Ripper tour.

The Spitalfields Market, which was there at the time of the killings.

We ended the tour just under The Gherkin at “Ripper Corner”, the site of the second-to-last murder.

Such a fun night!

Ah, Hampton Court. A must-see for any Tudor enthusiast. Maddie and I have been looking forward to this for ages.

And you know what? It didn’t disappoint. In fact, it surpassed all of my expectations. It was magical.  It is sad, though, that William and Mary spent time ripping down and rebuilding the palace to “update” it.  The newer Georgian section is wonderful in its own way, but I wish we could see it exactly as it was during Henry VIII’s time.

It did, however, have a lovely and authentic smell today, as there was a big fire going in th great kitchen, filling the air with a lovely woodsmoke.

After an incredible time at the Palace (with beautiful, sunny, and mild weather), we hopped on a bus and met my old friend Jenn for lunch. We haven’t seen each other since high school (and I’m NOT admitting how long ago that was!). Even worse, she lived just outside Richmond for quite a few years and we never got together despite being less than an hour apart. Now she lives in London with her family. And so arranged to meet us at a pub today in -fittingly – Richmond, UK.

I am so grateful I got the chance to see her and spend time with her here. I can’t think of a better way to top off a brilliant day.

Yes, we took one of those hideous bus tours.

We had wanted to see The Cotswolds and Stonehenge, and I wasn’t too keen on renting a car and finding our way on our own. But honestly? In a way I wish we had. There were some great advantages to the bus tour: I didn’t have to drive, and our guide pointed out many interesting things all along the way.

Like: The Top Gear test track!! We drove right by it!

BUT.

We spent far more time warming our bus seats than anything else, and very little time able to see what we wanted to see.  We started in Stratford Upon Avon, which was absolutely lovely, but had a mere hour for touring the Shakespeare birth house and the village.  The drive through the Cotswolds was, of course, heavenly (so many sheep!!!!), but we got to Bath after two pm and had roughly an hour to both eat lunch and explore.  And let me tell you: when there are hundreds and hundreds of people getting off tour buses at the same time as you?

Yeah.

We did manage a bite at a small take-away selling meat pies and sandwiches. On our way to find the Abbey we happened upon a little yarn shop, and when we popped in: YES!  They were selling Junioer Moon Farm yarn!!! We had a nice chat with the ladies there, bought some locally-sourced Sheltand yarn, and ran for our bus.

Another hour later, we were at Stonehenge. The wonderful thing is, they’ve torn down the visitors’ center that was just next to it and moved it out of the landscape. It’s sad they no longer allow people to wander through the stones, but it was still impressive and mystical nonetheless. We did our best to be still and in the moment as much as possible.  I really, really loved it.

Back in London, we were dropped off on the West End by Earl’s Court. This worked out very, very well for one reason: there’s a TARDIS right outside of the Earl’s Court Underground stop.

We found a light dinner and went down for our train, only to find that the entire loop servicing our station was closed for the weekend. Fortunately, the young men working there put us on the correct detour (and also, I cannot tell you how much better the London Underground is in every possible way than NYC Subway. It’s clean. It’s brightly-lit. It’s easy to navigate. So we weren’t off-put by having to go around a bit), and we got back to our hotel just as it was getting dark.

The Cotswolds, through the bus window.

Bath

I was thinking of my dear friend, Tanya, the entire time I was there.  I knew she’d love it.

Our temporary hone home base in London welcomed us back with this view.

Cant no even tell you how much I love it here.

Today us Tudor-history geeks (and I mean that in a “We studied it in college” way, not the crap fictionalized history way of a certain female writer I shall not name), went to The Tower of London today!

We took the Yeoman Warder tour at first so we could gain access to the chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula, where both Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard are buried. After paying our respects to two queens we’ve spent an awful lot of time studying, we wandered the rest of the palace grounds and happily saw some of the ravens as well.

After lunch we popped over Tower Bridge (and got held up by the drawbridge opening, which, let’s be honest, was pretty great to watch), and wandered down along the Queen’s Walk along the Thames to The London Eye. It was just over two miles to walk, and we loved it. In particular, I was absolutely thrilled to stumble upon The Burrough Market. It was an overwhelming feast for the senses.

We didn’t go on the Eye, as the line was miles long. Instead we popped into a little pizza cafe on the water and enjoyed the beautiful weather (I got sunburned today! In London!).

We called it a (relatively) early evening back to the hotel (it stays light later even here than at home, which is still throwing is off) because we have to be at a meeting point for our country tour by 7 am tomorrow.

Henry VIII’s famous suit of armor with the crazy codpiece!

The Burrough Market

So so much fresh food! I was wishing I could bring it all home!

The Globe Theater

Big Ben and Parliament (look kids!)

This view is right around the corner from our hotel.

so far we are loving London, and have been pleasantly surprised by how walkable it is!

Our last full day in Edinburgh was Wednesday.  We spent much of the day at the National Museum of Scotland, which was brilliant!

After dinner we met with my bestie Jessie and her family for a tour of Mary King’s Close and a whiskey nightcap. I’m so glad we were able to coordinate our trips that way!

Yesterday we sadly bid adieu to Scotland as we rode the train to London, where we immediately walked about 5 miles taking in the sites.

At the museum

Whiskey Still

Ha!

We loved Edimburgh, and are missing it already.

But, on to London! We successfully navigated the Underground, checked in at our hotel, ate dinner at a pub, and walked to Piccadilly Circus through Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square. It was vibrant, busy, and beautiful.

Fountains at Trafalgar Square

Neve climbed the lions on the monument.

Maddie and I didn’t realize how perfectly we were mirroring each other until we looked at the picture and pronounced it “eerie”.

Big Ben from Trafalgar Square.

Today: The Tower of London!