Ambling Ramblings #6- The London Dash

On to the next continent and into London-the great and historic metropolis. Marnie and I met up at heathrow and then we were off on our adventure. We managed to navigate the underground (which is a labyrinth of tunnels at each station) to find a train to take us to our accommodation. In London the trains run very regularly so there is very little wait time and the platforms for each line are well signed and fairly easy to navigate. On the first night we both crashed into bed as we were both tired and I was struggling with yet another time difference.
On our first day we went at a very fast pace and saw most of the iconic sights of London. First stop was St Paul's Cathedral where we sat on the steps (like the bird woman in Mary Poppins)and then walked through the amazing building. It truly made me stop and wonder in awe at the God that inspired men to create such a building in His honor and glory. The cathedral was definitely my favorite place, closely followed by our second stop, the replica of Shakespeare's Globe theatre. We managed to find our way across the Thames to the Globe where we went on a tour-it certainly made me appreciate and better understand the historical contest of his writing as well as giving me a deeper knowledge of how Shakespearean theatre works. We then walked along the Thames, taking in then sights towards the iconic Tower Bridge which we went up inside and walked along. There is so much history to be seen at every corner and the cobblestone walkways, lamp posts and buildings have been there for hundreds of years! I found it quite surreal to be walking the roads and past buildings that people I have studied, read about and written essays on walked down! From the Tower Bridge, we went to the Tower of London, where so many people were once imprisoned and beheaded. We saw the Traitor's Gate, the famous crows and the crown jewels (the highlight of which was Queen Victoria's small diamond crown that is seen in so many pictures of her). We also saw a lot of armour from kings from centuries past-all things that I had only ever seen pictures of! I loved seeing all of the historic relics in real life, now when I read or teach about them, I can say that I have been there and seen them myself and that they definitely are real!
By the time we had walked through the Tower, we were footsore and tired, so went on a ferry back down the river to Westminster where we saw Cleopatra's Needle, the London Eye and the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship that the circumnavigated the globe in. Once at Westminster, we found the easily recognizable Big Ben attached the the Houses of Parliament as well as Westminster Abbey. This was another one of those awe inspiring places, seeing all of the tombs, plaques and headstones to great people who have shaped and influenced the world in so many ways, making it a better place for those who came before them because of their contributions to society. It was also fun to be at the place where the Royal Wedding was held last year!!
We have discovered that many things in London are fairly close together or in easy walking distance of each other, and from the Abbey, we walked to Buckingham Palace, via Trafalgar Square. Unfortunately I did not get to have tea with the Queen as I had dreamed of doing as a little girl(although she was at home while we were there), but I still enjoyed seeing the royal residence. We then walked around three sides of the palace grounds (it is a lot bigger than just what you see from the front!) towards Hyde Park and Kensington Park, which we walked through at a very brisk pace back to our hotel. By the end of this, we were both completely exhausted, sore and rather overwhelmed from absorbing all that we had seen and done! London truly is an amazing historic city from which so much of the world has been influenced.