Friday, September 22, 2017

London, England

My last day here. The plan was to see Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and sort of walk around the Westminster area. As you will see, it was finally a sunny day.

No photographs were allowed in the Abbey, so this will have to do:

Like the others, it's stunning inside. More amazing are the people buried or commemorated there: Edward the Confessor (next to last king before the Normans) King Edward I, Henry I, Henry III, Richard II, Henry VII, Elizabeth I, Mary I (known as bloody Mary), Oliver Cromwell (unexpected), Mary Queen of Scots, Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Shakespeare, and on and on and on. There was a memorial to FDR in one corner. There's a statue of Abraham Lincoln outside.

It was first completed in 1065, the year before the Norman Conquest. This is where kings and queens have been crowned since then. The keep the coronation chair, used since 1301, there.

Outside is a hustle and bustle, people everywhere. Across the street is Big Ben and the Parliament building (the equivalent of our Capitol Building):

Both of which are right on the banks of the Thames River:

And just up the river from the London Eye – a huge ferris wheel. It takes about ½ hour to go around once and will hold 800 people at one time. It was built as a celebration of the milleniem in 2000.

All of this can be seen from one spot on the Westminster Bridge. Here's a video showing the area, from Big Ben around.

It really gives a feel for the area. Lots of people – this was around 2:00 in the afternoon on a Friday. People will set up battery powered amplifiers an play music for tips. On this walk, I heard guitar, bagpipes and steel drums.

Tomorrow, I fly home.