A Sun-day in London

After what had happened Friday night and all day Saturday I woke up Sunday morning expecting it to be pouring buckets outside and unable to really enjoy walking around London. I was pleasantly surprised to find it sunny outside. After grabbing an early bite to eat I made my way towards the river and towards Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Since I was on the far east side of London my plan of seeing the city pretty much involved starting at Tower Bridge on the east side and making my way towards Harrod's on the west end of London.



After getting some nice pictures of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and some other nearby buildings (see above), my next stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. On the way I stopped by the Monument that commemorates the Great Fire of 1666. Normally, you can go to the top, and I had done that the last time I was in London, but it was being refurbished and was closed to visitors. I went through Paternoster Square, and the cathedral is just outside that square. With it being Sunday, the cathedral was closed to tours, but you could walk in the back of the cathedral and look around if you weren't disturbing the worship services. Unfortunately, they don't want you taking pictures inside the cathedral, so my only pictures are of the outside and surrounding area.



Next, it was off to Trafalgar Square. I hadn't been to the National Gallery before, so I thought I would visit there and take in some of the paintings they have there. The Gallery is separated by time periods, and it was very interesting to see how artists in general changed the overall appearance of people in their paintings as it got nearer to our time. Some of the artwork dated back to the 1200's, and let me tell you, when artists painted people back then people ended up looking creepy. Anyway, lots of good stuff there, but once again, you cannot take pictures inside the Gallery.



After taking in the Gallery, I headed towards Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. I was able to get some nice pictures there. From there I headed towards Harrod's and the Hard Rock Cafe. I've been to the Hard Rock in London before, but it's the original, so I had to go back. After eating there, I made one more trip over to King's Cross Train Station to get a picture of "Platform 9 3/4". If you've seen the Harry Potter movies then you'll know that's the platform that the students use to board the Hogwarts Express. I thought my niece would appreciate seeing that pic. Finally, I headed back towards Piccadilly Circus and then back to the hotel. I was pretty satisfied with all I got done today, especially since I lost a day because of the car incident on Saturday. I did walk near the Thames to get a nice evening picture of Tower Bridge, too. Then it was time to get some rest for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Trowbridge Monday morning.