For a hundred dollars... what am I referring to in the title, anyone, anyone??Well time's up. I will get to that shortly, but for those of you playing at home this is a line from Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein." I will get to the actual subject in a few moments.
First thing this morning I went for a run; as they would say here in England "it was a bit nippy." Understatement- it was cold; however, I got in a good run around Green Park and noticed as I ran by Buckingham Palace that the queen was there since her standard was flying from the top of the Palace. In the past it seemed whenever we were in London the queen wasn't; she must not have seen the notice that we were coming.
Robyn fretted last night and this morning about what we were going to do; she had no plans and that was distressing her. As we were finishing breakfast she remembered I was going to take her to see the Temple Church and St Brides Church since both are off Fleet Street just a few blocks apart. Then she also added that we should go over to Abbey Road and see the Abbey Road Studio where the Beatles did the majority of their recording work. That explains my pithy title to this entry (big groan from Fidel).

This trip has already been a struggle for Robyn to get around, her back and ankle are really bothering her. We have to take everything slow and steady. Taking the tube at times is a challenge but it is really the only option to get around the city timely. To get to the Temple Church we took the tube to the Temple station which is where I commuted to when I worked briefly in London in 1996. I forgot the uphill walk from the station to Fleet Street, I wasn't sure Robyn was going to make it. The other challenge I am having is making sure there is locating a bathroom primarily for Robyn but also for me--- the bladder is aging. Fortunately there was a public toilet at the top of the hill on Fleet Street and I had the correct coinage for Robyn to use it; I could wait. Walking down Fleet Street I pointed out the Royal Courts building, where there are four ancient societies of lawyers of courts and each has a church. The Temple Church represents the Inner and Middle Courts.

The Temple Church round church was first constructed by the Knights Templar and consecrated in 1185. The Knights Templar always built their churches as circular buildings. The remainder of the church was built during the 16th century after the Knights Hospitalier had been abolished by King Henry VIII. The church was refurbished by Christopher Wren after the Great London fire of 1666.

Unfortunately, when we were there the church was closed to visitors because of a recording session. Oh well we could hear the organ--just couldn't see it.
A few blocks down the street was St Brides church. This was another church that was designed and built by Christopher Wren. Wren's designs had a great impact on the city of London after the 1666 fire. The significance of this church is the tiered steeple which was the inspiration of the wedding cake. In 1704 a baker's apprentice wanted to make a special cake for his wedding and modeled the cake after the church's steeple. So every man who has ever lamented the size and cost of their daughter's wedding cake can blame the baker's apprentice. The church is beautiful inside but unfortunately they were doing reconstruction work and most of the church was closed to the public. The crypt was open and we went down there. During the London Blitz in 1940 when the Germans relentlessly bombed the city, St Brides took a direct hit and the majority of the church was destroyed. All that was left standing were the outer walls and the steeple. During the 1950's, while starting reconstruction work, the crypt beneath the church was discovered. Further digging revealed various church foundations dating all the way back to the 6th century and eventually the remains of a Roman road dating to 180 AD. From the Roman road to street level it is approximately 40 feet which shows how much London has built on top of itself over the last 2000 years.

After we finished at St Brides, Robyn was ready to rest for awhile so we slipped into a pub so I could have a pint, we could use the restroom and eventually had lunch. It was a long rest but good for her legs. Afterwards it was off to Abbey Road via a few tube stops and a side trip to a public toilet; however, that toilet was free--yea.
Abbey Road, where the Beatles took the picture for the Abbey Road album, is in a very residential part of London. The studio is still there and is still producing albums. The cross walk that they used is right outside of the studio. The road itself is pretty busy and I believe when they shot the picture it was done early on a Sunday morning, not absolutely certain about that fact and I am too lazy to research it. Idiot Beatle fans are always trying to take a picture as they are crossing the road just like the Beatles were. Robyn wanted me to do that and I absolutely refused, there was no argument or changing my mind. Beatle fans are also constantly writing graffiti on the white wall in front of the studio and it is repeatedly repainted. The studio itself is not open to the public; however, there is a gift shop next store and of course we went in and Robyn bought some souvenirs. By the way, the woman in the picture was one of those idiot Beatle fans who insisted on continually crossing the road while her husband took pictures.

After we left Abbey Road we were going to attempt to see the horses at the Horse Guard stable, but there was some kind of special parade in preparation for the queen's birthday so no horses. We were going to go through the National Gallery but by the time we got there we were both pretty tired so we headed back to the hotel. Robyn did take one more picture of Buckingham Palace from the Mall; it turned out pretty good so I am attaching it.

Tomorrow we are off to Edinburgh via Virgin East Coast train. We are in First Class; yes we are travel snobs after our now infamous "Michael Jackson" second class train trip. See blog from 4 years ago entry 8 titled "Well that was a fun trip -- Not" if you need details.