I Say is That You Winston?

 SONG -  London Town by Paul McCartney

Day 35 - Mon. Jun 3

Our last full day in England as we head home tomorrow afternoon. We finally made it to Westminster Abbey today and it is spectacular!  We had taken a tour in 2017 so we knew some of what we were seeing. Mr. B did get headphones and I was armed with my camera. The last time we were here they didn’t allow photos inside the abbey but this time it was okay - just no videos or selfie-sticks.  

We took the tube back home to relax and then we were off to do some shopping.  Afterwards I decided that we needed a little tipple so we walked to The Gore Hotel to have drinks with The Rolling Stones….kind of!

It was where they held a release party for their album Beggars Banquet

Then a final dinner at our Spanish tapas place just across the street from our hotel. The night air was perfect!

So much to see & do in London! Oh but we mustn’t forget Winston for whom this entire post was named. 

Big Winston & Little Churchill Pozer

Night London.  I will miss you!

 

Of Poets & Writers & Kings & Things

 

On our final day in London we spent the morning in Westminster Abbey. Anticipating a warm day here with a 86% humidity we decided to do a few indoor things.  They will not allow photos to be taken in the abbey but they do have their own photos on their website that the public may use which I have done.  

 

Queen Elizabeth I was one of thousands of tombs & memorials - including Isaac Newton, Mary Queen of Scotts, Henry VIII, Charles Darwin, Rudyard Kipling, W. H. Auden, Yeats, C.S. Lewis,  Keats, Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, Handel, Sir Laurence Olivier, and so many more....ancient royalty, music gods, literary genius and scientists and nobility. We toured for 1 1/2 hours on our own then took a guided tour for 1 1/2 hours that took us behind the scenes. 

 

Above is the Corenation chair where the Stone of Destiny is placed in the base of the chair for the ceremony however that happens to be in Scotland right now and they are hoping it will be loaned back for future events!  We got to see it in Edinburgh along with the Crown Jewels. 

 

Then we went to the Churchill War Rooms....underground.  Amazing time capsule of where they were working from during WWII.  

 

Mr. B advising Churchill using his Audio Guide & secret codes.  

 

Did you know that Winston Churchill painted to relax?

 

While Mr. B was finishing up in the museum, I walked across the street to Bird Lake in St. James Park and then we headed home for lunch and relaxation and to pack for our return trip home tomorrow.  Yikes. 32 Days on the road.  

Glad to head home and see family & friends.  

Saying of the the Day -   "Not by might or power but by spirit" - Herbert Edward Ryle (epitaph at Westminster Abbey)