London, Day One

Our Friday night plans got derailed by canceled flights, but we we were ready to take on London bright and early(ish) on Monday. I'd booked us 10am tickets at Westminster Abbey, so we got up early enough to have breakfast at the hotel and get to the church for our ticket time. We took an audio tour of the cathedral, which helped a lot with navigation:

View of the nave and stained glass

Another view looking in the other direction

We explored all these little rooms with interesting tombs. This one has a lord carried by his four sons, two of whom were dead before his own funeral

This one shows death hounding the dying

Tomb of King Edward I

These effigies are so detailed

This tomb is for Elizabeth I

The Lady Chapel Ceiling

Stained glass window dedicated to the air force. It was damaged during the blitz.

More of the lady chapel

I just liked this one because she looks bored, but also there is a reminder of death at her foot.

Poet's Corner

I told Abby to pick her favorite to pose in front of - she chose Shakespeare

The coronation chair

Out in the courtyard

Trying to get a picture with us and the Abbey was challenging

From the back side

Right around the corner you can see Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings

From Westminster, we headed to Kensington, where we had planned to join a "London City Tours" group. These tours had come highly recommended from several people, but this was the only one that fit our schedule. We popped by for a look at Kensington Palace first, which is surprisingly modest. The tour itself was interesting, but there was not that much to photograph, and it ended at KP again, which was a surprise. This did leave us within walking distance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I had hoped to see. We had about an hour before closing, so we sort of just browsed through interesting rooms:

Statue for Princess Diana

Statue of Queen Victoria as a young woman. She was born at Kensington Palace.

Our tour guide spent a lot of time pointing out these plaques. This was, of course, my favorite.

Back at Kensington

Monument that Victoria built for Albert when he died

Abby and I were both taken by this funny little piece at the V&A

Chihuly chandelier in the foyer with a medieval triptych in the background

To end the night, we headed to Skygarden, which is something like Freedom Tower in NY (new, built to be tall with great views).  A student had recommended this to me and let me know that (unlike in NY) Skygarden gives out free tickets every week. I was able to snag some for the last slot before closing on Saturday, but even still Abby and I had to hoof it to get there on time. It turned out to be totally worth it, though - the views were great and we had a really fun time there.

Tower Bridge

St. Paul's Cathedral

We took it slower going back to the hotel and were able to explore the Southwark/Blackfriars neighborhood a little bit more:

Monument to the Great Fire

The Shard, which we could also see out our hotel window

Another view of Tower Bridge (from London Bridge, which we were crossing)

Just past the bridge marks the actual boundary to the City of London

Southwark Cathedral, with the Shard in the background

Winchester Castle was an important medieval building but was destroyed by a fire in the 1800s. The ruins still stand for visitors to see

Glad we got a chance to see the neighborhood - lots of history in it!