Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Well, I awoke to what will be me last day in London. No bike just me walking shoes to get me around. Today....after the usual fun of getting into me teeny shower and hosing off I decided to start with a quest for real bacon. No cold cuts for moi this morning. Didn't take me long at all to get sorted...grab a map....and head out. I had an pretty good sleep so felt pretty refreshed.
Off I went and found bacon....it only took me about 3 minutes to find a nice lil Italian cafe that did full breakfasts...wahoooooo. Breaky was great and again...traditional breaky here is bacon, eggs, beans, mushrooms, and a fried tomato....very consistent. The bacon is by no means Canuck bacon...but it was pretty good none the less....so ate burped....looked at the map....and decide today is time to hop on the Tube.
Paid and toddled off..Lancaster station is only a few blocks away and it has a direct line to the Bank area...which is near the London Bridge and Tower of London....me target for the day. It is soooo easy to get around on the tube....pretty cool and it only cost 8 quid for a day pass all you can ride. the subway tunnels are quite a ways down and they do look like tubes funny enough....so hopped on the awaiting train...and was gone in a few secs....to was only a few stops and I was in the Bank district. With no idea what direction to head lol.
So I got me bearings....and headed for the Monument dedicate to the memory of the Great fire of London. It is a monument set up the exact distance as it is tall (202 ft).....from the point where the fire started...I thought that was neat. That fire pretty much burned most of London down....so it was a a pretty bad day for them. The monument was pretty interesting to look at but it is surrounded by office towers way higher than it.....so it is dwarfed and you have to kind of look for it to find it. No matter I did find it....and from there....a bridge across the Thames that leads to the Queens walkway....I guessed it was a tourist strolling path...as there were tourists everywhere, myself included. Off I went and it is a nice path I crossed the Thames for the first time on me feet....and there looked to be a big WWII ship parked...and behind it...the London Bridge...so that was the way to go.
The path is nice....and no matter where you look is some type of building that was something of historical significance at one point. The warship I saw turned out to be a museum.... HMS Belfast.....Britains largest Cruiser (just smaller than a battle ship with less armor to be faster...a cruiser with teeth) hmmmm this was too cool as it was a support vessel that was used at D-Day to pound the beaches prior to the landings....had to check that out.
Paid me ticket and got on and wandered all over the ship...its big and you can get lost on it....well worth the entrance fee. I ended up in the forward big gun turret and holy crap....can not believe the conditions they had to fight in. 21 people in a spaced smaller than some bathrooms. the display is cool as they play a movie off the armored walls and the guns move and fire with the story...the place shakes and lights go off and on....really neat. I made it the the Captains seat up top eventually...and the ships log for Jun 6 (D-Day) is on display...and each action is articled that the ship took that day. Very cool....as I was at the beaches ....wondering what the ships where doing .... and now on a ship seeing what it did....for me.....very neat. Somewhere a group of what seemed to be a boy scout troop from holland seemed to catch up to me and it was time to move on as they were literally hanging off the walls bouncing around and screaming and yada yada yada......
I crawled all over the ship from bottom to top...was impressed. With that I decided to move on....more walking this time to London Bridge....and wahoo a pub was inbetween.....just asked for a pint....and sat with it sipping watching the steady stream of tourists go by. this is shoulder season...hate to see it at peak. That beer tasted uber good....was time to carry on though...so I troddled of and ended up on the bridge....Its kinda coll more because its the "LONDON BRIDGE" than anything...it is famous just because they say it is famous... but was neat to see....so I took the usual pics and wandered across it to the Tower of London side. This is where some serious history was.
The Tower of London....is kind of the Hear and soul of England in a way and was of huge historical significance. It was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 (old in my books). This thing is so full of history its retarded....anybody who is anybody of historical significance passed thorough its gates...some through traitors gate to meet there ultimate doom. I can't do its history justice here so go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London to get the full skinny. I want to see it for a different reason that ties into my trip.......
When in Edmonton prior to travel I learned of a memorial that was being done to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI. It from the pictures I saw was something. They are using the Tower of London as a backdrop to the planting of ceramic poppies....one for each soldier who fell.....that should be close to 1 million if my math is right....the last are to be planted on Nov 11... to align with the armistice day. It looks like a river of blood.....from the pictures I saw.
So I came from the river side...and the castle looks cool.....turned the corner and you could start to see the Poppies....holy crap........its amazing how many there are. You have to always think and put it into perspective...1 poppy = 1 young life. It really takes your breath away to see. This really beats looking at a number in a book or a movie an puts a serious omg perspective on it. Pictures say more than I can....so I took a bunch and attached a bunch.
I was going to go into the tower...but lines ...... and they wanted a lot of quid for it....and my gut was telling me not to. It was telling me to head up the hill to a memorial. So I did. Gals I lstened. It was Merchant Marine day .... history lesson warning.... All the ships you pretty much seen blow up in old news reel videos of the wars....well that was these guys. They were put in crappy boats to ship goods to England....and Russia....and around the world and were cannon fodder for Hitlers subs. England almost lost the war due to this. It was called the Battle of the Atlantic....and a lot of people do not realise that this was the biggest threat to England, Canada played a huge roll in this to the point by the end of the War we had the 4th largest navy in the world and our specialty was killing subs....and it is to this day. Remember my story about the Enigma machine in Dieppe...well....it was only by cracking the enigma codes did this battle get won. England was starving...this is what worried Churchill the most.
So it turns out it was Merchant Marine day...and there was a huge ceremony going of open for the public full of veterans from the war....and royalty....seems Prince Phillip is here...the prime minister and George Zambellas tha Admiral of the Navy.... I thought something was up as I walked up I saw a car with the Royal sign on it.... rock star parking of course. So I wandered in just in time for the laying of the wreaths and it was a very nice memorial. I almost tripped over the Admiral...seems like a real nice bloke...we had a very brief chat....I was a bit tongue tied...kinda when ughfoolp....he kinda chuckled and moved on to inspect the troops. Time for some grub. I wandered into a pub across the road...it was packed with vets and all sorts of folks....so I looked for a chair and none were to be had....I wandered through and did 3 laps. Finally I saw a table with a chair that looked open....I asked the flks next to it and it was. Wahooooo...as I went to grab the chair...I looked to me right and an elderly gentle man full of badges on his jacket was looking at the chair.
I simply looked at him, the chair, pulled out the chair and said 'Sir, for you, least I can do." He gave me a big smile and sat down. I figured I would find another so off I went. Well after walking around in there I remembered there was a not bad looking pub under London Bridge...so off I went. Crossed the bridge again...sooooo many tourists......did not like the crowds at all. And found the pub....sat down for some classic Fish n chips....were delicious.
Off I wandered backtracking....and then went past where I crossed the Thames originally ...it is a historical path....found the pub that Shakespeare hung out....then the Globe theater...just around the corner of course. Just kept walking and taking pics. I figured I needed to find St Pauls Cathedral and there it was across the river via Millenium pedestrian bridge (kinda sticks out it does). So off I went. Turns out had I timed it better I would have bumped into Marq Marquez......(current MotoGP champion of the world and possibly will be for the next decade) seems earlier they closed the bridge for him to rip across the bridge and do burnouts on the other side....would have been cool to see the Repsol Honda up close...and that dude is a super star..... no fear.
Bought some fresh roasted almonds on the bridge ... they are good if you are ever here the street vendors that cook em seem to be everywhere. .... and I was at the Cathedral in no time. Went in and a mass was in session....no pics no noise...etc etc...so quietly looked around as much as I could...it is quite spectacular to say the least...sorry no pics for ya. I wandered out and sat on the front steps for a while just to relax and take it in....I had been doing a lot of walking thus far and more to do. After a bit....I figured off to find a tube to get me back to me hotel area. After a bit of walking voila...a tube entrance...and off I went and like a ground hog...popped up near me hotel....just in time for supper after a lot of walking. So found a beef house that made an awesome rack of ribs. Burped....paid....headed back to the hotel to pack n pass out...was a tiring day in the end...or the trip has caught up to me lol. I had a morning flight to get ready for.
Packing went okay...but had to figure a cheaper way to get the airport....when online....Heathrow Express folks....its a direct train and the station was just around the corner....booked a ticket and I was good to go...so just have to be up a but earlier than I have been getting up...so crashed.....
- comments
Shelon Lloyd Oh wow! It's so beautiful