our last stop was london! my not so secret wish was to bump into princess kate. surprise surprise, my wish was not fulfilled. :( we stayed in an air b n b flat in the outskirts of london (brockley, in lewisham) that took a couple of train transfers to get to from the center of london. it was fun, we'd commute home with the locals.
harrods bears. there's a princess diana memorial at the base of the escalator with a large sculpture and used champagne glasses from their last meal, it's a little eerie. in the food court we saw a man who looked very familiar and had a small crowd around him and we couldn't decide whether it was chip ingram. i got home and was flipping through the channels on tv and realized it was dr. oz.
big ben
westminster abbey - where wills and kate got married.
we went to a really beautiful evensong service there on thanksgiving night. westminster abbey is the stronghold of the anglican church, or the church of england. it's a break-off from the catholic church when king henry viii wanted to divorce his wife but was not allowed to under the catholic faith. the episcopalian church in the us is the most similar to the anglican faith. there was lots of singing, recitation, and prayer. there's even a spot in the program where the clergy specifically prays for the royal family. the service was very beautiful and reverent.
we minded the gaps! if you are going to london, do the math and see if it's worth it to get the unlimited seven day rail-pass. rick steves claims that for the price of a taxi ride from heathrow airport to london, you can buy a full week's pass! best advice of the whole trip!
we wanted to try fish and chips. the highest rated one in brockley, the area where we were staying, was owned by a chinese family. it was like we were back in chinatown. you have the option of several types of fish. we opted to get a fried chicken leg instead and it was very tasty. they wrapped it up on a big sheet of paper and threw it in a bag. this is a small size, i thinks.
there was a farmers' market happening the saturday we were there. there was a very long line so we hopped in and it turned out they were doing single cup drip coffee, just like the cool kids here!
buckingham palace. the queen wasn't home.
the tower bridge, from the tower of london. the tower of london had the craziest things - all the crown jewels and a big executioner's axe.
continuing the hipster trend, we were walking home from dinner when we came across an old style british telephone booth that had instead of a phone a bookshelf filled with books, a "community library." i took a peek and there were at least a few harry potter books and shakespeare plays.
the coffee shop chain over there is costa. to be sure, there's lots of starbucks still but lots of costas as well. at one of the starbucks i bought a duffin (a muffin made out of donut - yes, it tastes just like you'd think and no, it definitely has not made it stateside). i kept on seeing signs for a gingerbread man drink with a little cookie standing up tall on top, (see drink on the left) and really wanted to try it at least once. i was super disappointed to get the drink with a lid on top, thinking that the cookie was just for show in the ads.
turns out, he just can't stay standing and the barista had to improvise (see below). i tried in vain to pick out the cookie and make him stand, but all that served to do was make him sink even further down until he became nothing but soggy cookie dregs. it was a really good drink, MUCH better than the gingerbread latte at sbux.
we visited hillsong united-london. they meet at the same theatre that is playing a queen revival musical.
kensington palace.
we also visited some museums, but not very good pictures from there. there was in particular a really moving holocaust museum that we really appreciated.
we flew canada air home with a layover in vancouver. i think the first thing we did was get chinese food downstairs...good to be home!
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