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Up early and out the door. Found out our Starbucks mobile app works here as well, so coffees for our walk. On the way to get the Original Bus Tour we stopped at a place called Piggy's for a quick bite. English breakfast sandwiches...hot and delicious. It was a bit of a challenge finding the right spot to catch the tour, but we finally did and we were the first ones on the first bus of the day. After two stops we were the only ones on the bus so the guide sat with us and gave us a "private tour" for a good portion of the ride. We took the yellow tour which takes you all around Westminster and eventually to old London.
We learned some interesting things on the tour. For example, the English are very creative at naming things... Haymarket St. is where the hay market use to be and Hyde Park Corner is named that because it is the corner of Hyde Park! Also, there was a law that there could be no train tracks in London, hence the London Underground. Piccadilly is named after a shirt collar from the days of Shakespear. Early hat makers use to experiment with mercury to try and soften the materials used to make hats. This mercury poisoning would cause them to go crazy... hence the phrase "you are as mad as a hatter."
The area in London know as Belgrave is one of, if not the most expensive housing in London. Properties price in excess of 30 million pounds and you don't even own the property. The Duke still owns the land, you get a 100 year lease along with your purchase. This area use to be a neighborhood of robbers and people with questionable motives. The Duke received the land when he married a 12 year old and the land came as part of the dowery. He decided to build mansions on the land but no one wanted to live there which put him on the verge of bankruptcy until the Queen decided to move in to Buckingham Palace. Suddenly everyone wanted to live in Belgrave because it was "the Queen's neighborhood."
We had decided that we would get off the bus at Westminster Abbey and take the tour there. There was a short line to pay but once in the Abbey it did not feel crowded. They give you an audio tour device and you listen to the stories about the Abbey, the events there and, of course, all of the people buried there. Kings, Queens, Poets, Playwrites, Abbots and Scientiests... it is truly amazing.
After the Abbey we got back on the bus and stayed with the tour until we crossed the Southwark Bridge. There we hopped off and headed down to the water's edge. We walked along the Thames and ended up at Borough Market. It is an open market under the train tracks and it was such fun. Fresh food, baked goods and deserts.... so many sweets! Jayme got a really good latte and we walked back along the Thames to Shakespear's Globe Theater. The theater was PACKED. So we sat outside and enjoyed the break in the rainy weather. After a bit we were back on the bus until the tour ended.
After the tour we walked back to the hotel for a quick breather. After a very short rest we took our first turn at the London Underground. We told the ticket agent we were going to Knightsbridge and back and he charged us over 14 pounds! We were shocked. After the $2.50 per trip in NYC this was SO much. Turns out the Underground is quite expensive and what he sold us was an all day pass which is less than two trips so he actually did us a solid.
We got to Knightsbridge and did our shopping at Harrod's. Jayme and I got separated (not the first time) and it took a while for us to find each other. Once we did meet back up we were ready to pay and head out for dinner. We had decided from a Google search we were going to go to Maggie Jones' in Kensingon.
We looked on the map and figured we could do the walk. Maggie Jones' is on Kensington Church Road which is at the other end of Hyde Park. We did not realize how truly large Hyde Park is. So when we got there we were HUNGRY. The place was really quaint and the food was excellent. We ate at a small farm table and the table was set with miss matched china. The only light at the table was from a candle. It was even better than we had expected. Bellies full and oh so tired we grabbed the first cab we saw and high tailed it back to the hotel for the evening.
Tomorrow is up early and off to the National Gallery and then White Harte Lane for Logan's Tottenham kit.
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