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London June 2022

Welcome to London

View from our Flat!
“Mind the Gap” Underground Map
Kay and Kenny sitting on the train into London
Kay and Kenny on Train to London

Arriving in London early on a Thursday morning, we immediately set out for our AirBnB in Central London. Getting through Gatwick Airport was a breeze and we hopped on the new Underground Elizabeth Line to the City Thameslink station. We had about a six block walk to our flat.

That first day we unpacked and then set out to find a late lunch and then a grocery store. We were successful on both. Immediately across the street from our flat was a place called Editor’s Tap. It was our first chance to have a true London Fish and Chips meal and it was wonderful. Seems the area of our flat is known for being the home to several newspapers and literary references – hence the name of the pub Editor’s Tap! It is also right off Fleet Street which was mentioned in A Tale of Two Cities!

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Day two brought some much needed rest from our red-eye flight and a trip to St. Paul’s Cathedral for an evening service. Having just watched the Queen’s Jubilee Celebration on TV back in Florida, it was easy to remember all the royals arriving at the cathedral and walking up these same stairs.

On the inside, the cathedral is stunningly beautiful. Photographs are not allowed inside the church, however I was able to “borrow” this one from the Love London Facebook post.

Inside of St. Paul's Cathedral. Soaring ceilings with elaborate paintings and gold gilding. The great hall is surrounded by high stone arches with carved columns leading to openings. The floor is a gleaming black and white checked tile/marble design. A raised wooden dais is in the middle of the room with large candlesticks and an altar.

The choir that performed was breathtaking. The majority of people in attendance participated in the breaking of the bread for communion. It was a solemn and deeply moving experience.

Pictures from the outside of the Cathedral

Kenny and Kay in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.
View from London street looking up towards St. Paul's Cathedral
Front of St. Paul's Cathedral. Two towering columns - one with a large clock face - flank the center of the building. Two tiers with three sets of two columns on the top level and five sets of two columns on the bottom level. In the courtyard is a large statute of Queen Victoria with a black metal fence surrounding it. Tourist are milling around the front of the cathedral and sitting on the stairs leading up to the massive doors.
Front of St. Paul's Cathedral. Two towering columns - one with a large clock face - flank the center of the building. Two tiers with three sets of two columns on the top level and five sets of two columns on the bottom level. In the courtyard is a large statute of Queen Victoria with a black metal fence surrounding it. Tourist are milling around the front of the cathedral and sitting on the stairs leading up to the massive doors.

London Symphony at St. Paul’s

Later in our trip we made a return visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral to hear a concert by the London Symphony as part of the Queen’s Jubilee Celebration. (I snuck a quick picture during the concert.)

Picture of the Program with a drawing of St. Paul's Cathedral with musicians in front and the word Triomphale, London Symphony Orchestra
Program from Performance
Picture of the symphony orchestra playing inside St. Paul's Cathedral
Picture of Jodi on the rooftop overlooking St. Paul's Cathedral.

British Museum

Next day was a trip to the British Museum. Walking from our flat to the museum, we made a few wrong turns, but that doesn’t matter because everywhere you look it is incredible. London is a mix of old old buildings next to modern and gleaming skyscrapers. You see quaint little narrow alleys and walkways next to bustling city streets. The ole time pubs sit next to five star restaurants.

The British Museum was wonderful. We saw an exhibit on Stonehenge, the real Rosetta Stone, Greek statutes and art, the Sutton Hoo Burial treasures, and more. Here are a few pictures from the British Museum (where we were allowed to use cameras).

Image of a large slab of stone enclosed in a glass protective case. On one side the stone has inscriptions in hieroglyphics, Demoitic scripts, and Ancient Greek.
Rosetta Stone from the back.
A close up of of the Rosetta Stone showing the hieroglyphic and Greek inscriptions.
Close-up of the stone showing the inscriptions
The original Rosetta Stone – From Wikipedia: The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences between the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts.
The original Rosetta Stone – From Wikipedia: The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences between the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts.

Our Flat in London

We had the good fortune to reserve a small (440 sq ft.) one bedroom one bathroom flat in the heart of London. Located near Fleet Street, our AirBnB suited us well except for a few quirks. First, there was no freezer – no way to make or store ice. For people from the USA, we like our iced drinks. Then we learned that bagged ice was not available at every grocery store. We soon located an Amazon Fresh store that sometimes had ice and a Sainsbury up by St. Paul’s Cathedral that usually had ice. We became frequent customers! Another quirky thing (to us) was that the washer and dryer was a combo unit – meaning it washed for 30 minutes and then dried for 30 minutes in the same drum! Washing worked great, but the drying part actually took a couple of hours. We ended up using the dryer for 30 minutes, then hanging the clothes up to dry around the flat. With the windows open 24/7 (and no bugs coming in the windows) things dried fairly quickly.

The views out of the flat were amazing. The kitchen was the smallest kitchen I’ve ever seen, but it was functional! If you are interested in more information on the flat, send me a message and I’ll give you the name of the owner! Here are a few pictures:

Small kitchen only 5 foot by 5 foot. At the end is a sink and small refrigerator with two cabinets. Along the two sides are three drawers with a countertop on one side and a small stove on the other.
Kitchen
Image of the view from the flat showing an old church and it's steeple in the foreground and the skyline of London with skyscrapers in the backgrround.
Daytime view from Flat
Image from the flat at night with the lights on in the church and the night lights of London and a full moon.
Nighttime view
Street view on Fleet Street commemorating the newspapers that were published there. Side of the building lists: The Republican, the Pall Mall Express, The Morning Post, News Chronicle and the Daily Herald.
Listing of newspapers published on Fleet Street
Image of a red brick three story building with the London News Agency signage.
Another newspaper
Image of the sign in front of the Ye Old Cheshire Cheese Pub. Sign reads: Hot & Cold Bar Food, Restaurants Open Daily For Lunch & Dinner. Private Parties Catered For Famous Through Four Centuries. Ye Old Chesire Cheese Rebuilt in 1667. Known Haunt of Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens & Countless Others
Cheshire Cheese Pub – Rebuilt in 1667 and open since then. Was a frequent haunt of Charles Dickens! Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Wikipedia

British Library

Wait … you went to a library when you were in London??? Yes, and it was fabulous. There was a special exhibit on the Treasures of the British Library and treasures they were! We saw an original copy of the Magna Carta from 1215 and a reissued one. There was a Guttenberg Bible, drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci, and sketches by Michelangelo. A section on writers included the writing desk of Jane Austen, hand written notes from Robert Burns, Emily Barret and the first edition of all William Shakespeare’s plays. There were handwritten music scores by Mozart, Chopin, and Handel. They had Florence Nightingale’s research on Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East that showed how they needed to sterilize and clean surgical instruments.

The best exhibit was one for the Beatles! They had the handwritten notes, with scribbles and mark outs for one of my favorite Beatles’ songs – There Are Places I Remember. There was a letter from Paul to a friend, the words to a Hard Day’s Night on the back of a child’s birthday card, and lyrics by George Harrison to a song that was never recorded.

Small foldable writing desk belonging to Jane Austen with a letter from her to her brother. The desk has an ink well and places for pens. The writing surface looks to be leather with a wooden frame.
Jane Austen Writing Desk
The handwritten score for the song God is Our Refuge by Mozart.
Score by Mozart
Writing and sketch by Robert Burns, Scottish Author and Poet.
Writing and Drawing by Robert Burns
Display of Beatles including the handwritten lyrics to There Are Places I Remember with lines marked out and replaced. The lyrics to Hard Day's Night on the back of a child's birthday card.

For more information on the British Library: The British Library – The British Library (bl.uk)

High Tea at the Park Room by Hyde Park

You only go around once in life … so when in Rome, do as the Romans! We treated ourselves to High Tea at the Park Room Grosvenor House. Our High Tea was complete with champagne and delicate finger sandwiches, scones with real clotted cream and pastries specially crafted for the Queen’s Jubilee Celebration. Not to mention the best selection of tea ever!

High Tea celebration with champagne glasses (empty), tea pots, tea cups, and two three tiered sandwich and pastry trays. The first tier was assorted finger sandwiches, the second tier was scones, and the third was pastries and chocolates. Jodi is sitting across the table.
High Tea celebration with champagne glasses (empty), tea pots, tea cups, and two three tiered sandwich and pastry trays. The first tier was assorted finger sandwiches, the second tier was scones, and the third was pastries and chocolates. Jodi is sitting across the table.