Day 127, 8 November 2012, Phew! Going crazy London style - St Paul's Cathedral, Royal Albert Hall, Squirrels!!!! in Kensington Park, Kensington Palace, the High Street and free hot chocolates at Crussh. The most excellent No. 12 bus, Household Cavalry Museum and a pub curry on Whitehall
Must. Struggle. On. Having so much fun... and no one ever actually died from sightseeing. Did they? We started the day at St Paul's Cathedral - amid flashbacks of the first Royal Wedding either of us ever saw.... Prince Charles and Diana. (Believe it or not, still possible to purchase memorabilia from that wedding - and junk versions of the famous sapphire ring... which of course was recycled for Prince William and Kate Middleton). St Paul's was stunning - the mosaics glittered with gold leaf and jewel like colours. The dome was however painted... At the time it was considered too popish and Catholic to have mosaics in it. Though I think that ship had already sailed. Near the RAF Chapel we were fascinated to see a tombstone for Oliver Cromwell.... As it turns out, whilst he had been buried there, it was only for 2 years. Once declared persona non grata, they dug him up, tortured the dead body, decapitated it and disposed of it elsewhere. But a young female relative had been buried there also - blameless, so left in peace under the Cromwell headstone. We visited the crypt and saw the tombs for the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson and then made our way above ground once more and headed for our tour of the Royal Albert Hall. Which ended up somewhat of a non-event - no tours available because the building was locked down prior to Remembrance Day commemorative events. Oh well... round the back of the Albert Hall we went and saw the memorial to Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens - then - WOW! - squirrels.... everywhere, running and jumping and sitting on their back legs and nibbling illicit food given to them by illiterate tourists who hadn't read the "Do Not Feed the Squirrels" signs. Just so cute. Have only seen squirrels once before, in the mountains of Park City, Utah - tiny little dark coloured ones - these were much bigger. And of course, therefore, much cuter. James patiently watched me chasing squirrels with our camera and then we headed to our destination - Kensington Palace. They have an exhibit devoted to Queen Victoria at the moment and we visited the rooms she was brought up in - including standing on the very spot where she found out she was going to be Queen. We stood in the room around the table and chairs where she held her first cabinet meeting and saw the jewellery and gifts she and Albert had given each other during their happy lives together. Altogether a great visit. We made our way out to the Kensington High Street and spotted an organic cafe called Crussh - featured in our London Pass and willing to give us free hot drinks... which worked out well for them too as we sat and had sushi for lunch with our hot chocolates. Win. Win. We were trying to get to Bayswater Road and took off down a street which had a Guard Hut and signs saying No Photography. We headed that way on the basis that if you can't take photos, there must be something worth seeing. And there was. This street was Palace Green and was chock full of massive mansions dedicated to the Embassies and consulates of the richest nations on earth (the poor nations can't afford this neighbourhood). France, Russia, Israel - all there. USA not - but only because they'd already snaffled Grosvenor House in Mayfair. Eventually made our way back to Oxford Circus and caught the Number 12 double decker which is just a regular bus, but makes it's way through Trafalgar Square (Nelson's column), Piccadilly Circus (looks a little like Times Square), Whitehall, past Big Ben, and various other tourist icons - before making it's way to the Dulwich Library. Now without wanting to offend Dulwich, we stayed on until just after Waterloo station then jumped off, crossed the road and took a Number 12 back to Whitehall and Horseguards Parade. We hadn't planned on going to the Household Cavalry Museum - but it was on our Pass and the bus had driven past the guards on their huge black horses - so we thought it was worth a look. It was - and being the end of the day we were the last tourists through and heard all about the cost of the uniforms - £2000 for just one of the shiny gold helmets. The Household Cavalry have a range of ceremonial duties, and as horses just don't function well in battle these days, the members of the Cavalry are now the tank regiments. Obviously all this sightseeing takes a bit of energy, and several people since we reached Ireland a couple of weeks ago, have mentioned Wetherspoons - a popular chain of pubs in England that's reasonably priced. As luck would have it we spotted one near Whitehall and it being Thursday, it was Curry Night. Brilliant - pub and curry all in one. It was very dark and cold by the time we finished and we thought it was also very late... easy 9 or 10 pm. As it turns out we were foiled by the early darkness once more - it was barely 6 pm. But still, a big day, an intense day and two full tummies - so we took a convenient bus to Liverpool Street station (and got there an hour later). The moral of the story is, never underestimate London traffic - Tube is better, just a wee bit less to see along the way!