Tuesday, July 17

We maneuvered our way through the tube, Circle Line to Westminster, and emerged from underground right at Big Ben. Even after all the pictures you’ve seen of it, the sight is still incredible. The weather was beautiful, sunny but breezy. We headed down Millbank to Westminster Abbey, snapped this shot of Michael with the statue of Oliver Cromwell. As we walked down the sidewalk, Big Ben started ringing out the time and we realized it was noon so we stopped to listen to all twelve clangs.








After crossing the street Michael & Grace studied the sun dial of sorts. A Shakespeare quote is engraved around this calendar.

At Westminster Abbey we found out there’s no photography allowed so we don’t have any shots of all that we saw. It was very crowded and single-file lines through many of the tomb rooms. Michael was thrilled to stand in the Poets Corner where Chaucer’s tomb was constructed in 1556. Browning and Dickens are buried here too, and monuments to many other writers – Keats, Henry James, T. S. Eliot. Altogether there are more than 120 writers, actors, poets and artists buried or memorialized. We sat in the quiet Cloisters and shot these photos.








As we returned out to the street it was raining and we headed in a direction that we hoped would hold lunch options. After consulting our trusty map we decided to move by tube to a different area. But right across from the tube station we discovered The Feathers, a lovely pub with a great menu of sausages. However we were ready for our first London fish & chips. With lots of squirts of malt vinegar and we devoured lunch. Michael washed his down with one of their ales, a Timothy Taylor’s Landlord brew, that they claimed was Madonna’s favorite. Home for an afternoon nap and/or reading time.

That evening we at an amazing place called Giraffe, an eclectic place with vegetarian options but fantastic mexi-exotic dishes. We ordered some delicious tostado and enchiladas, then sat and discussed our train trip to Paris on Saturday.