Day 5 - When a man is tired of London he is tired of life

The title quote today is from Dr Samuel Johnson, the gentleman who codified the English language into his dictionary published in 1755.  The Oxford English Dictionary didn’t make an appearance for another 150 years.  We saw his house today on a walking tour, but I’m going to share a picture of a tribute to his beloved cat Hodge instead.    

Our walking tour today took us from Westminster where our hotel is to the actual City of London. There is a ceremony required if the royal monarch passes from Westminster to London that happens at this monument in the middle of the street.

We were on our way to St Paul’s cathedral, but did take some time out for scones. No tea though.

St Paul’s is one of the many Christopher Wren designed churches we saw today, and certainly the finest. There was actually a service going on with a children’s choir. No photos allowed but a nice experience to hear music as we admired the church. 

This is where Charles married Diana, and William married Kate, and where the funerals of important people like Winston Churchill took place. 

There is a section called the American Memorial chapel behind the alter that has a book listing the names of the 28,000 U.S. Britain based men and women military who lost their lives during WW II. And the stained glass windows depict American symbols including the state seals for all 50 states.  

But it’s not just Americans who are paid tribute here.  Historic figures in British history like Admiral Horatio Nelson have statues here (and burial in the crypt below)

We also found the resting place of Florence Nightengale

Our walk took us by many old pubs. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese has a sign listing all the monarchs that have ruled during its history(and recently updated to include Charles).  It’s also a place where Charles Dickens liked to tipple. But then, where isn't?  It seems every pub lays claim to either Shakespeare or Dickens - British writers like to drink, apparantly.

We walked through an old gate called Temple Bar that used to be the marker between London and Westminster where the griffin statue we saw earlier now stands. The gate was moved here fairly recently after spending some time on a rural estate. 

And for my musical theatre friends I also found the famous Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He’s pretty reasonably priced…but I don’t think I’ll eat any pies around here. 

We popped in to have a look at St Brides church and found a lunchtime Mozart concert. It was lovely!

We also wandered around the former cockney market area.  Many of the streets were quite literal and named for their commodity - Bread Street, Milk Street, or these two:

We also stopped by Gringotts to buy a wand.  Ok not really, but we did go to Leadenhall Market where the Harry Potter movie filmed that scene. 

We had a little time to kill before our tickets to visit Sky Garden, so did what any self respecting Londoner would do with spare time…had a pint at a pub. 

Then I’d was on to Sky Garden a free view from above on the 35 floor of the "Walkie Talkie" building. You can see many of our sites from previous days (and earlier today): Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s and a few you haven’t seen like”The shard” and  “The Gherkin” skyscraper behind us. 

This woman is not bored of London-but she is tired. See you tomorrow.