England 5: Wednesday in London; Westminster Abbey in The England Chronicles - June 2013

A day which was not very dramatic at all for me and Kim, happily, but was quite dramatic for Baker B. Well, London was not dramatic for Baker B, as he was in Devizes, but he had a harrowing evening in Devizes. We didn't find out about it until our day was nearly over, so I'll be chronological. And start with our very pleasant day in London. Whereupon we just had fun and toured around and didn't experience any mishaps at all. For a change.

We started with Westminster Abbey. I'd really wanted to go to Westminster Abbey on our last trip, but it wasn't part of the London Pass then and we were trying not to do things we had to pay extra for. It's been added, though, so this time we went. And it is SO worth it. It would have been worth paying extra, actually. It is amazing. It's one of those places that just takes your breath away. I'm not sure how long we were there, but it was hours. Sadly you can't take photos inside, except for the Cloisters. So I have lots of photos of the outside and of the Cloisters, but nothing inside. We took an audio tour, which was very interesting. I think my favorite part was the Poets' Corner, which was packed with grave markers and monuments to poets and writers. Chaucer (actually buried there), Shakespeare (monument), Tennyson, Browning, Dickens, Kipling, (all buried), Jane Austin, the Brontes, Milton, Wordsworth, Shelley, (monuments)... oh, I could go on and on. It was torture not being able to take photos! There are tombs and shrines all over the Abbey, and you walk over top of an enormous number of them, which is a little unsettling. There are over 3000 people buried there. And of course it's also been the site of many coronations and royal weddings (including the most recent one) in the past 700 years or so.

It's massive, and impossible to really capture in a photo:

A bit of the inside:

I'm not sure who George Walsh was, but there were memorials all through this area. Well, all through EVERY area, but this one allowed photography.

Mostly illegible marker for a grave in the floor:

Britain's oldest door!

Floor tiles:

On the outside after you exit through the gift shop:

WELL, for a place I whined so about not being able to take pictures of, I certainly took a lot of pictures. And since it is now one in the morning, I will save Part 2 for tomorrow. Or, Part Whatever It Is By Now.