Sunday November 3

We woke up to a gorgeous day this morning.  Sunny with a high of 13 degrees expected.  We were out of the room by 9:00, Picadilly Square is quite quiet at that time on a Sunday morning.  We are lucky in that our hotel is right in the centre of everything.  We are within walking distance of Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the theatre district, and so much more.

We took the train to King's Cross then walked to the British Library.  We hoped to do some research there, but the reading rooms are closed on Sundays.  We did see a beautiful collection of old manuscripts representing art, literature and science which included items from the 1400's, right up to handwritten lyrics from the Beatles.

We then took the train to Green Park and walked to Buckingham Palace.

The Victoria Memorial.

The Canada Gate.

We walked up the Mall...

then turned into St. James's Park...

and walked to Westminster, where there was a fabulous display of scaffolding.  This is Big Ben.

 Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  Just look at the intricacy and sheer quantity of the scaffolding!

A closer look at this fascinating display of scaffolding artistry on Parliament.

All joking aside, a lot of crucial preservation work is happening.  And they promised to keep at least one face of Big Ben visible at all times.

Westminster Abbey.

We turned down a small quiet lane to find...

Jewel Tower, built in 1366 for King Edward III.

We walked across Westminster Bridge.

I don't think I mentioned we can see the top part of the London Eye from our hotel room window.

Parliament from the river side.

We walked up Whitehall, unfortunately Downing Street was blocked off so we couldn't wander up to Number 10.  Further up Whitehall is the Household Cavalry Museum.

We headed back to the hotel for happy hour - wine, cheese and crackers, bread and fruit.