It was so much fun having sweet friends to spend the day with today! Everyone woke up systematically this morning. Stan woke first and made the coffee. I woke next and was first in the shower and first to dress; then I began work on yesterday's blog. Stan got his shower and came out looking all fresh and handsome as ever! As I finished the last upload, Mary and Greg woke up and came to see us, still in pj's. We chatted for a bit then made some breakfasts. They got dressed - by then it was a little after noon. Whoa! But isn't that the idea on vacations . . . rest, release and few hard-schedules!!! I like holidaying with Mary and Greg. Noon-ish is good for me.

In spite of the late hour we made a day of it. We jumped on the Underground and first visited Westminster Abbey. While Stan and I had visited the Abbey before we realized that we probably had not actually toured the interior before. We popped out of the Underground just minutes before Big Ben chimed for 1 pm and was able to hear it ring!

We bought our tickets for the Abbey and as we waited we took advantage of the many photo ops. We took photos of each other; we took selfies; we volunteered to take snaps of other tourist groups so all members could be in the photo; they in turn took photos of us. I'm so very curious . . . there are so many nice people in this world!!!! We all seem to love meeting and being with one another, want to lend a hand to each other and we all seem to appreciate each other. That is true! But why then do our governments seem to want to disagree???

Inside the church we were not allowed to take photos. Stan very discreetly did anyway. What an old and magnificent place. It has been the coronation church since 1066 but its birth began in the 7th century. Oh my, that's 1400 years ago!!!!

Westminster Abbey was not always as it is today. It was built, re-built and expanded by abbots and kings many times over the centuries. Since 1745, construction on the Abbey has been for restoration purposes only. No new additions.

Over 3300 people have been buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey -- Chaucer, Oliver Cromwell, Sir Isaac Newton, Handel, untold members of royalty like Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. David Livingstone, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Sir Lawrence Olivier and poets like Alfred Lord Tennyson and writers like Rudyard Kipling are buried here. Plus more modern notables like Sir Winston Churchill and Great Britain's unknown warrior are also buried on the site just inside the entrance. There are so many more.

Westminster Abbey is a truly remarkable place that, consider this thought, makes one living today feel like only a speck in time. That is what we are; that's what every person before us was.

Whew! That was heavy!

After a 4 pm sandwich, we moved on to Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street. A young British couple Stan and I met in Berlin advised us to visit this place when we reached London. They said it was very nice and the best place to see the London skyline for free—but one must make reservations far in advance. It is atop a new tall building nick-named the Walkie-Talkie because of its value hints like this from people we meet along the way. We made online reservations that very evening in our Berlin apartment. From the glass-lined bar, restaurant and large mingling area, the view of London is fantastic - even on a hazy day. We took snaps from all directions and up and down. We had a glass of vino, a ton of fun and made great memories.

With more time left in the day, we walked to the Tower of London. What an amazing castle! Again, just getting our arms around its age, its story and the fact that it is still here today is unfathomable. Yet it is.