Feb 3: A Church, A Palace, And A Castle

After spending all day in a museum on Saturday, we woke up on Sunday with a mission. We had until 4:00 to take in all the London sights still on our agenda.

We first took the tube to Trafalgar Square, the most famous sqaure in London and the center of many political rallies.



Trafalgar Square hosts the National Gallery, the huge art museum seen above, and Nelson's Column, seen below. Horatio Nelson was the British admiral responsible for the Battle of Trafalgar, a huge naval victory that prevented Napoleon from blockading Britain and was the turning point in the war between the French and the British.




Enjoying prime real estate in the sqaure is also Canada House, home of the High Commission of Canada (our embassy, more or less).



A large boulevard leads away from Trafalgar Square towards the House of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Along the way you pass the Royal Guardhouse, seen below. It's within spitting distance of 10 Downing Street, but you can't get anywhere near for security reaons.



The Westminster Abbey.







Lindsay was keen on attending a service there so we had tried to make it by 10, but we were a bit late. We decided to take a walk and then come back for a service at 11.

The Abbey is roughly situated between Big Ben and St James's Park, which is the site of Buckingham Palace.



Walking into St. James's Park...






There it is, the official house of the British monarchy--and also, I guess, ours.






I have to say that it's not as impressive up close as I had it in my head. Compared with many of the other buildings I've seen so far in Europe, it's downright underwhelming.

Prince Harry is just back in London after it was exposed that he was deployed to Afghanistan with the British military. The military had managed to strike a deal with media outlets to have them keep the deployment a secret for security reasons (he would be a mighty big target for a prospective suicide bomber), but the deal was outed by an American blogger.

For the most part, I completely loathe the idea of having a royal family. I suppose it's nice for traditional purposes, but I think it's just ridiculous to put these people up on a pedestal for being conceived by certain parents.

Outside the palace is the Victoria Memorial, a tribute to Britain's naval history.




When we were walking back through the park we passed by a bunch of Horse Guards, on their way to the palace for the changing of the guard.



We went back to Westminster Abbey for the service.



Afterwards we wandered around the Parliament buildings a bit more. They're really nice.





That's Oliver Cromwell above, sort of the founding father of modern England. Below is a statue of Winston Churchill, the legendary bulldog of a Prime Minister who led Britain through WW2.



We walked back towards Trafalgar Sqaure, passing one of those straight-faced guards. What a crappy job that must be.



The huge gate below leads out onto The Mall, the road that goes straight up to Buckingham Palace.

We spent a bit of time inside the National Gallery, which really is one of the nicest art museums I've seen.



Looking back down on the square from the steps of the Gallery...




After that we got on the tube and scooted to the other side of the city center to the Tower of London, a famous castle complex built over 1000 years ago. Wikipedia informs me that the castle has been used at various times as a fortress, a royal palace, a prison, a torture and execution chamber, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, and an observatory.

It's now a giant museum and the home of the Crown Jewels. We didn't go inside, but it's supposed to be pretty neat-o.





Can you name the bridge below?



If you said London Bridge, you're....

WRONG. Just like you were wrong about Big Ben. It's Tower Bridge. Urban legend has it that a guy who paid a princely sum for "London Bridge" in 1968 thought he was buying this bridge; London Bridge is actually a rather ugly and dull bridge farther down the river.




Looking down the Thames from Tower Bridge. Our last grand views of London.





After a bit more walking around we jumped back on the tube to catch our train to Brussels. But not before I made sure to get pictures of a few London trademarks:




London is a gorgeous, busy, exciting city to spend time in. Three days barely did the place justice, although I think we did pretty well. I'd go back in a heartbeat.