08.03.10 - London: Day 6

Can I first just say that WOW I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to finish my London blogs! The last few days were jam-packed with activities and I didn't feel much like blogging after all the flights home. And then, I just plain forgot! But here is the next installment of my London posts:


I got up at 8:10am this morning and left the hotel half an hour later. We had breakfast at the Café Spread Deli. I had a sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and freshly squeezed orange juice. We got to the Westminster Abbey at 9:45am and toured it for two hours. There was an audio tour here as well. Westminster Abbey has been here since 960AD (at which point it was a Benedictine monastery) and the building that stands there now was built in the 13th century. Every coronation since 1661 has been held here, as well as a number of weddings and funerals. There are many many MANY tombs here of royalty, poets, and other famous/important people. There is a memorial for Franklin Roosevelt, and it is the only memorial in the place for a non-Brit.

Among the royal tombs I saw were King Henry III (died 1272), King Edward I (1307), King Edward III (1377), King Richard II (1400), King Henry V (1422), Elizabeth of York (wife of King Henry VII – 1503), King Henry VII (1509), Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, and Mary Queen of Scots. Geoffrey Chaucer was the first literary figure to be buried of memorialized at the Abbey. He was later joined by William Shakespeare, George Frederick Handel, and others of the like. There is a memorial for Winston Churchill, the Unknown Warrier, and Sir Isaac Newton.

After we finished the tour of the Abbey, we walked towards Big Ben/Parliament and started looking for a place to eat. We ate lunch at Pizza Express at noon. I got the “American” pizza – pepperoni and onions! After lunch, we did some shopping on Oxford St. Hello H&M and Urban Outfitters :) We also went in the HUGE Nike store and heard Party in the USA playing! That was a highlight of my day :) After shopping, we went to Costa Coffee to get off our feet for a bit, then my dad and I headed back to the hotel while my mom and sister finished shopping. We had several hours at the hotel to relax before dinner at 7:00pm.

Dinner was at a seafood restaurant called Bentleys. It was VERY posh. My dad wore a suit and the girls all wore fancy (cocktail length) dresses with wraps/shawls (aka our scarves stretched out to their full width.. who knew they could be so versatile?) My mom, sister, and I all got steamed lobster, which was DELISH! Seriously, it was awesome. That’s probably the best meal so far. I had a brownie and ice cream for dessert. Our sommelier was French, but he knew all about American football (he lived in Florida for a bit a few years ago) so we had great conversation with him about the Cowboys :) He gave us a bottle of champagne on the house down in the bar after dinner where we continued our convo with him about the Cowboys and the Dolphins (his fav team). All in all, dinner lasted 3 ½ hours! We got back to the hotel at about 10:45pm! I skyped with Joel (for the 3rd night in a row!) and typed up my journal before bed at 12:45pm.

Tomorrow: St. Paul’s cathedral and the Tate Modern Museum!