Thursday - Westminster Abbey, Parliament & the Tube

Sleeping in was a bust again. But we did try to lay in bed and relax until a decent hour (6am) to get up. After breakfast we headed to run some errands before heading out. We hit the local mall and bought a "pay as you go" phone. We got the phone, sim card, charger and nearly 80 minutes of time for 24 pounds. Then we headed bus station to go up to Parliament Square via the 87 bus. We came up along the back side of the House of Parliament and as we got out to view it Mike was really impressed by the size. We walked towards the front to see the infamous Big Ben. In Parliament Square there were dozens of protestors against the war in Afghanistan and asking for troops to be returned home. The scene mirrored the protestors on the White House green back home.

From there we walked to Westminster Abbey and luckily the crowds weren't too bad. We got a free audio tour and started on our clockwise tour of the humongous Abbey. It is always disappointing that photography is not allowed inside but it is still impressive. The Abbey has been open since 960AD, and been the home of every Coronation of a monarch of England since 1066AD. It is an amazing place and awe-inspiring. The Abbey is quite expansive, having been added on to several times. Each small chapel or nave has many raised tombs with effigies with walls covered in large monuments (with or without remains) as well as floor markers indicating people buried beneath your feet. The floor markers make Bree sad because many are so warn away the detailed crests and engravings of names are no longer visible; unlike the more recent stones of Poet's Corner.

We also got a chance to see the tombs of Kings and Queens of old including Henry the VII and the two daughters of Henry the VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I. It was all quite interesting to Bree who's been reading about Henry VIII and his six wives. We also walked to the back of the nave to see the Tomb of the Unknown and Winston Churchill's tomb.

After we left the Westminster Abbey we walked down Victoria Street to look for some food. Determined to have something real and different from what we could get back home we stumbled upon the Strutton Ground Market. We ended up getting some food from a catering company that had an outdoor wok/ grill at the market. Bree got an au gratin potato type dish with bacon and sausage while Mike got a fish cake with a salad variety. We sat in a park down the street to eat some lunch before heading back.

We walked along the front of Big Ben again and down Westminster Bridge and back again before finding the 87 going back to Wandsworth. On the way back we sat on the upper deck so that we could see the view. We got back in the early afternoon so Bree could try and take a nap. Mike had a cold earlier in the week and Bree was starting to feel achy with a sore throat. After a quick nap we got up, gathered some of our stuff and headed out. We were heading to Heathrow to meet Richard before heading up to Norfolk to see family.

We were going to take the 220 to Hammersmith again but Mike thought he heard Maggie tell him to take the 270 instead. But the 270 ended us at Putney Bridge Station, a far ways from Hammersmith. So we had to get on the Tube to get to Hammersmith to switch from the District line to the Picadilly line. Unfortunately for us, the Picadilly line was having a strike so service was interrupted. The trains to Heathrow were positively packed and we barely got on. The cars were stuffy and hot which wasn't enjoyable for Bree. Finally as we neared Heathrow the cars emptied out and we were able to sit. There were however several times that the train had to stop in order to provide enough space between it and the next one.

With all those delays we got to the airport to meet Richard nearly an hour after we had originally planned. Luckily his flight was also delayed and we headed to the rental car lot. After getting our car squared away we headed up north. We manged to get there in about three hours! Our inn was a little difficult to find but we eventually got in. We had (luckily) contact the inn about coming in late so they were expecting us. We got into our room and are headed to sleep!