Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Buckingham stops here

I'm really kicking myself for leaving my camera cord at home, as I'm taking some really lovely photos and wish I could share them. I guess that'll just have to wait until we get home. I promise not to post more than 500 or so.

We had a lovely day today, and got to spend the whole day with PetDoc and Noise, which was of course the best part. We started with a tour of Buckingham Palace, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was really neat to see all those places I'm familiar with through tv and photos, and to really take in the grandeur of the place. The set up for a grand state dinner was especially interesting ... PetDoc asked me how we get invited to one of those!

After leaving the palace we took the tube over to London Bridge, and walked across the bridge (Noise sang the song for us) to the south bank of the Thames. We found a fun little pub (The Bunch of Grapes) where we had DELICIOUS steak and ale pies, then wandered the Borough Market for awhile, seeing lots of fun things for sale. We also popped into Southwark Cathedral for a quick visit -- I was interested in the cathedral mostly because it's where Shakespeare attended services, but it was also a beautiful building and an oasis of quiet and peace in the middle of the very busy market.

Then we walked a ways down the south bank of the river to the Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian bridge across the Thames. We crossed the river on this bridge, giving us a stunning view of St. Paul's at the other end, and up and down the river to all the sights. The sun had come out at this point (it was grey and cool earlier) and it was just a beautiful, interesting walk. PetDoc and Noise hadn't been on the bridge either, so it was a first for them! I didn't want them to spend the whole time we were here "re-doing" stuff, so I'm glad they saved some stuff (like Buckingham Palace this morning and the Tower of London tomorrow) to do with us!

So now Serdic is cooking dinner in PetDoc and Noise's little flat, and I think we're going to eat out in the garden. So I'd better get going. Hope everyone is well!

No comments: