December 10th
This was
probably the busiest day of our trip. There were several things we wanted to do
and they all happened close to each other, so we did them all! First, we went
to the changing of the Horse Guards.
Next, we
spent some time walking around St. James Park. Many of the WWI monuments were
decorated with poppies.
We were
able to take a picture of the "other" side of the Admiralty Arches
and the admiralty building.
We also
got a nice shot of the Horseguards Parade with the London Eye peeking over the
top.
We
started to make our way back to the Embankment Tube Station to meet up with one
of the Original London Walks. We passed
another WWI monument on the way.
And we saw a
door that had an interesting knob.
And a
taxi cab covered in Scotties! We had seen one earlier in our trip too.
We
finally made it to Embankment and met up with the "In the Footsteps of
Winston Churchill" walk.
Our guide
took us past Benjamin Franklin's house, which was newly opened as a museum. We
also saw several buildings that Winston Churchill worked in before he became
Prime Minister, including the Admiralty buildings that we took pictures of
earlier.
While on
the walk, there was a demonstration urging action on Darfur that went through
Trafalgar Square, down Whitehall, to the area across from number 10 Downing
Street.
We really
enjoyed this walk and the perspective it gave us on the buildings we were
walking by. The walk ended at the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. This
is an excellent combination of museums to visit. They really give you a lot of
insight into both the life of Churchill, and the way life was for those in the
government during WW II. Here is a Christmas tree that they had displayed in the
museum.
We walked
from the Cabinet War Rooms to Westminster Abbey, where we went to Evensong
services.
After
evensong, we walked back to the Embankment Tube Station, where we went on
another Original London Walk, "The Real World Of Harry Potter - Wizards,
Werewolves & Vampires." It was too dark to get a lot of pictures, but
we took a few, including the security system warning in Diagon Alley.
We made
it to the same area on a later day and Patti couldn't help trying to call the
Ministry of Magic. Jeff tried earlier, but his phone booth was in the wrong part
of town.
