The Day we Walked Too Much

Today I learned how close together London is. The map is imposing but it's actually a lot more like a miniature painting with incredible detail than a large mural like most cities I've been in. We started in Leicester Square, where we picked up our London Passes and yet another book to look at as a guide. From there we headed into Trafalgar Square and let our tourist side loose. (Safely, among other tourists. Many, many other tourists.) The National Gallery sits at the head of the square, but we were more tempted to climb the lions of the naval monument than to go into the Gallery. That could have been a day all in itself! There were also new-to-me statues of mermen that had tails on each foot rather than the single fish tail version. Makes more sense in the procreation department if you think about it.

Instead we visited St. Martin's-in-the-field, a lovely, small church with a very odd stained glass window behind the altar-- like a time portal might be opening up in its center-- and a cafe in its crypt. Odd, yes, but very nice. Gently curving brick arches (like the insides of many tents) hold up the church above.

From St. Martin's, we walked Pall Mall, and up to Piccadilly Circus. Pall Mall was composed of rows upon rows of very white very ornate buildings. It must have been spectacular in the sunshine in Victorian days (read: without the violently red double-decker buses. Side note: It is very difficult to get a photo without one of them.) Piccadilly Circus's square is dominated by a statue of Eros covered in fat pigeons.

We strolled through Soho, did some interesting people-watching, and ate lunch in China town. I got my sesame balls and pork buns. Mission accomplished!

From there, since London is so darn close together, we explored the Covent Garden area as well as the official City of London (a separate legal entity). Covent Garden included getting lost (again) and finding Lincoln's Inn Fields and the Sir John Soane's Museum. The museum was an amusingly bizarre building cram-packed with bits of plaster casts, sculptures, Hogarth paintings, and sarcastic/morbid inside jokes created by Soane and usually involving his dog, Fannie. Soane enjoyed the play of light and space, an essential part of Gothic architecture which he collected, but despised the asymmetry and lack of mathematical proportions.

Lincoln's Inn Fields later featured in the Blood and Tears Walk that we took. This tour was a whirlwind of walking very fast to hear interesting if brief stories. Fun fact: Fleet Street is actually a buried river. In the 1800's it got so gross due to runoff from the slaughterhouses nearby that it was paved over and made into a road. It still run about 7m below.

Before the tour, we visited the nave of St Paul's in the City. It is BEAUTIFUL and the acoustics (there was a choir singing at the time) are perfect. I wish places were built like that now instead of using speakers. Maybe we will climb to the dome or descend to the crypt if we have more time another day. Sadly, no photos were allowed inside, but I made up for it by clicking away at the outside. 

We saw the spire of Greyfriar's on a neighboring block, but couldn't figure out if Blackfriar's was still standing anywhere. We walked along the Victoria Embankment (after 3 tries to find the correct path) in an attempt to find it in the area across from Blackfriars Bridge, to no avail. The walk was very pretty though. You can get a photo of the London Eye and Big Big and another place (Buckingham?) all together on the waterfront.

We also stumbled across the Apothecary's Guild Hall and were invited in by a very kind person who happened to be standing in the doorway. This led me to find the Goldsmiths Hall later when we were passing by. I got photos of the seals above the doors, as well as the official seal of the City (dragons instead of a lion and a unicorn for the Queen.)

Hopefully I've gotten all the events in here.