All Good Things Must Come To An End (#27)
I'm writing this from the comfort of my living room in Walnut Creek. Our 28 day adventure in England has come to an end, we are back to sleeping in our own bed, our laundry is all done, and the suitcases have been put away. But I had a few things I hadn't written about. (Well, I actually did write about them on the plane, but somehow the post was not saved so it all disappeared...so I'm writing it all again!)
Knowing we had 10 days in England, I had a huge list of things I wanted to do and see. However, once in London, we ran out of steam and didn't get to many the things on my list. I think this was due to a combination of things: we were so totally relaxed and in such a mellow zone after our idyllic time in the Cotswolds + the fact that we had walked between 13,000 and 18,000 steps every day finally caught up to us + we arrived in England right in time for a heatwave (the hottest Bank Holiday Weekend in history with temps up to 91 degrees) + we are both in (or close to) our 70's. But have no fear...we still did a lot and saw a lot. I've written about some of our London adventures but we also did these things:
- Greenwich and Thames River cruise: I had thought it would be fun to take a boat ride to Greenwich and see the Prime Meridian. One of our taxi drivers said we should do it on a sunny day so that was our plan...little did we know that the "sunny day" was going to kick our butts! There are 2 ways to get to Greenwich, the narrated tour/cruise boat...and the speedy UBER boat. We took the more leisurely cruise boat down the Thames and it was really fun...the guide did a great narration and it was really interesting to see the city from the water! In addition to all the old/historic things in London, there is some really amazing modern architecture. The entire skyline is totally different than when we were last here in 2000!
We boarded the boat right near Big Ben.
We saw the Tower of London from the river viewpoint.
The Tower Bridge is so identifiable.
Apparently the Londoner's like to give nicknames to their buildings. This is called the "Kim Kardashian" building because the bulging shape looks like her booty!
The building called "The Shard" because the top looks like shards of glass.
The top of The Shard deserves a closer look (and you can see how the building got its name!)Once in Greenwich, we toured the Cutty Sark, the fastest clipper ship, famous for use in the tea trade.
The had quite a large collection of figure-heads from the front of lots of different ships which was really interesting. They are quite large (which doesn't show in my photos) and so beautifully painted.
- The British Museum: We thought in the heat spell, a museum would be a nice cool place to hang out...WRONG! No a/c combined with huge crowds (I guess all the tourists thought it would be cool!) made it a little unbearable. But we stuck it out for a bit! Of course you have to see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles when you are there...
The marbles were pilfered from the Acropolis. The Greeks have asked for them to be returned for centuries, the Brits have said no...the discussion is ongoing!
I really liked this Aztec guy made of tiny rice size pieces of tourquoise !
This large "fabric" wall hanging caught my eye in the African Hall...I thought it was made of paper or feathers...I was so surprised when I got up close and saw that it was all 1-inch wide strips of metal taken from the twist tops of beverages bottles!
There was so much more to see...but we had to escape and go find a cold beverage...iced coffee, here we come! (Seriously, on a cold, rainy day, I would love to spend an entire day here just wandering! However, today was not such a day! - Our last Sunday roast: The bar was set pretty high with our fantastic Sunday roast in Chipping Campden. This is our last Sunday in England so the pressure was on to end with a bang. We asked our AirBnB host for a recommendation and she said she loved the Sunday roasts at The Hereford Arms in South Kensington, just about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.
The pub was was nice and light inside, service was great, and the roasts were fabulous! I think they tied with our first one in the Cotswolds. Of course the beef came with roasties, a roasted carrot, Yorkshire pudding (they even gave me Gary's in addition to mine...and no, I din't eat both!)...but also came with cheesy cauliflower mash, and a yummy squash mash. Oh...and a very healthy pour of gravy!
- The National Portrait Gallery: Sadly, I did not take any photos here. We really no intention of going to this museum, but we found ourselves with some time to kill one day before our dinner reservation and theater tickets to The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind...but we didn't have enough time to go back to our apartment and then return. We popped into McDonalds to use the bathroom (!) and as I was sitting waiting for Gary and relishing in the amazing air conditioning there, 2 women sat down next to me and we struck up a conversation. I eventually asked if they knew the area well, and asked for a suggestion to kill a bit of time. One of them recommended the Portrait Gallery which was just a few blocks away. We headed off, and it proved to be a great suggestion. The museum was not crowded at all, it was free, it was interesting, and it had a lovely tea shop!
- Fortnum & Mason: While in the Cotswolds we had read about the annual contest to find the "world's best marmalade"! The contest is put on by Dalemain Mansion in the Lake District. Over 3000 entries are judged each year. The year's winner was just chosen and the marmalade is only available at Dalemain Mansion and famous Fortnum & Mason. So off we headed so I could get my hands on some of the prize winning marmalade (seville orange and passion fruit). I refuse to open my jar until I get some crumpets to enjoy it with!
Realtively small on the exterior...but PACKED with goodies inside!
The store was founded in 1707 by a footman of Queen Anne. She insisted on having fresh/new candles each night. Mr. Fortnum took the day old, partially burned candles, and resold them...and so the business began. They are most well known for their food hampers, filled with yummy provisions from their shop.
- We visited Westminster Abbey. Man, if those walls could talk; since 1045 this has been the site of 40 coronations, and a burial site for 18 monarchs, and at least 110 royal wedding have taken place here since 1100. There has been a church on this site since the mid 10th century, but the current building was only completed in 1245! More than 3,300 people are buried in here...everywhere you look there is a grave marker! Kings and queens, poets, actors, scientists, military leaders, prime ministers...but the most important is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is the only grave that nobody is allowed to walk on. Even during Kate and William's wedding and Charles and Diana's, the brides had to step around that particular grave as they walked down the aisle...it is really sacred ground.
This is the altar where all the coronations take place.
And this is the coronation chair (located in a different part of the Abbey but placed in front of that alter for coronations. Every monarch since 1308 has sat in this chair when coronated.
This little chapel is dedicated to the Royal Air Force as a remembrance for lives lost in WW2.
The hole in the lower part of the wall is damage from shelling in WW2. It was not repaired, just filled with glass. It's amazing that the entire Westminster Abbey didn't get destroyed.
I took this photo of a beautiful brass inlaid grave marker because it reminded me of when my parents and grandparents took a trip to England together in 1975 or '76 and my mom got really into "brass rubbing". She came home with a collection of rubbings she had done in various cathedrals in England. Black paper laid over a grave like this, and then rubbed with a gold or bronze colored wax crayon. The images she brought home were huge and very striking. She had quite a few hanging in her home and Gary and I had one as well...wonder what ever happened to it?!
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This trip was really so fabulous. We had so much fun. (And I have never slept better than I did on this trip!) YORK was charming and so full of history, and our B&B was so lovely (and omg...that bed was the best I have ever slept in!!), LIVERPOOL was interesting, and I love all the Beatles music, but I don't feel the need to ever return; although I would explore more of Wales, perhaps Southern Wales next time - that was a fun surprise part of our Liverpool leg of our trip. But it was the COTSWOLDS that surprised me and totally stole my heart. I would go back in a flash to the Cotswolds, and my one regret on this trip is that we "only" had 8 days there...I could have spent many more days there...the pace of life was so relaxing, the people were so friendly, the food was so good, the scenery was so beautiful - it was PERFECT in every way! When we were planning this trip I told Gary that I was afraid that I might fall in love with LONDON and love it more than I love Paris. This did not prove to be the case. I enjoyed London, but did not love it. What I did love in London is the theater - we saw such great shows! Honestly, I think perhaps if we had structured our trip differently I might have loved London more...maybe London, York, Liverpool, Cotswolds would have been better...do the big bustling city first, and finish with the mellow village life! But really, the trip was super and I feel like we got a good balance of various parts of England, which was exactly what we wanted! Mission accomplished!
I read something online so these are not my words, but they are so true to what I feel: "What a privilege it is to travel, what a privilege it is to wake up in a new city. What a privilege it is to be tired from walking all day. What a privilege it is to collect moments instead of things. What a privilege it is to see the world with open hands and an open heart, and what a privilege it is to be present enough to notice." What more could I ask for?!? (well, maybe a few more days in the Cotswolds!!)
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