Day 3: London

Quick note: Sorry I didn't post last night. We had to get up very early to catch a train, so I wrote this en route to Paris this morning!

Yesterday was our last day in London, and certainly our busiest. After a quick breakfast, we assessed our progress through the list of must-see attractions we'd built up months ago, and we realized we had a lot of ground to cover before moving on to Paris. On the docket this morning were St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Veeraswamy, The British Museum, Kensington Palace and a freehouse (a pub not tied to a particular brewery, thus allowing the pub to pick and choose what they serve). We hit 4/5, which I think is pretty solid.

In all  honestly, we'd spent a decent chunk of our time here in London seeing St. Paul's from a distance. It was designed to stand out on the London skyline, and given its size and grandeur, you can't help but notice it. Seeing it up  close, however, was an entirely different experience. Juxtaposed against the sleek office buildings that neighbor it, the intricately decorated exterior is stunning.

 

We were guided through the cathedral with an audio tour, which pointed out all the major parts of the cathedral (the baptismal font, the nave, the quire, etc.) and gave a little bit of history on each piece. We went through the basic tour and skipped the supplementary audio clips, given how many sites we wanted to visit later in the day, but the amount of information available to visitors was impressive.

There simply aren't words to describe the sheer majesty of the St. Paul's. Framed by towering marble columns, the path to the altar is breathtaking. We walked past marble tombs, carved dark oak, and gilded gates, taking it all in under a ceiling of sparkling mosaic. It was sensory overload in the best possible way.

We left St. Paul's and made a beeline for Westminster Abbey which, although it was flooded with tourists, was filled with that quiet that only a truly awe-inspiring site can have. Sun filtered down through stained glass windows and set the whole place aglow, and as we passed down the line of tombs of medieval kings, I couldn't help but marvel at how surreal it was to be walking where they once walked, centuries ago. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay as long as we wanted to, but if and when I return to London, I certainly plan on returning to Westminster.

After the Abbey, we went to lunch at Veeraswamy, the oldest Indian restaurant in the UK, established in 1926. The restaurant is something of a landmark and has been on Matt's "To Visit" list for quite some time, and it certainly lived up to the hype. We took the elevator from the ground floor to the daytime dining room, which overlooks bustling Regent Street below. Between the four of us, we tried an assortment of starters, ranging from "crispy chicken lollipops" to a goat cheese and beet root salad to a particularly delicious raj kachori. The main dishes were equally impressive: vegetarian sampler platter, tandoori chicken, and lamb biryani. Nearly ninety years of practice had, I would say, made perfect.

After lunch at Veeraswamy, we went to the British Museum, an enormous collection of items from all over the world spanning all of history. We saw everything from modern art to ancient cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia and really only scraped the surface of all that the museum had to offer. I think we could have easily spent a few weeks wandering around in there.

 

Before leaving the museum, Matt wanted to check out the British Museum Book Shop, which sells the kind of rare and obscure books that he loves so much. He picked up a copy of Teach Yourself Complete Babylonian and hasn’t put it down since. We left the museum thoroughly exhausted and made the executive decision to skip Kensington Palace. Although it would have been a real treat to see it, we simply didn’t have it in us.

Instead, we did a quick Google search for directions to a freehouse my Uncle Lew had recommended. According to the GPS, it should have only been a 15 minute walk, but we devised a route via the Underground to save our already-aching feet. Following the directions, we walked the route to the station and found it absolutely packed with people. Not only that, all of the incoming trains were packed. Like, “no need to hold on to the bar, you aren’t going anywhere” kind of packed.  We waited, passing up the first train hoping the second would be easier to get on. It wasn’t. By the time the third train rolled around, we cut our losses and got reeeeal up close and personal with London.

We reached our destination, pulled up the GPS again and realized we still had a bit of walking to do. Following the weird, squiggly, back-alley directions, we finally found The Gunmaker and choosing from the varied selection of beers and ciders on tap, celebrated our last night in London. Thanks to Uncle Lew for a great recommendation!!!

We did some quick shopping for our trip and called it an early night, given our early train the next morning. Next stop, Paris!