I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.

My family is mostly Scottish with a bit of Welsh thrown in for good measure (and an errant Norman Pettit http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Pettit on my mom’s side) and that’s not mentioning the possible Irish way back from the Scots http://archive.archaeology.org/0107/abstracts/scotland.html   and always lurking on all sides (except the Indian http://www.native-languages.org/wvirginia.htm ) Viking ancestors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Normandy So mostly Scottish—-but I early fell in love with England—the land that gave us legends of kings and knights (that were really more celtic and in the novel I’m working on Cornwall and Wales) and the Tudors dysfunctional even for royals (unless you look at the Russians and that I’m not even going to mention—ah—-again).  And one cannot fall in love with England without harboring in one’s heart an intense love for London.

As I have stated I have been in London three times—those times stretched over a total of  well over a month, exploring it’s by-ways and using it as a base for my excursions into the country side and the historic and/or scenic destinations of which there are hundreds within a day’s touring time.  I spent two weeks there by myself the first time and loved it on my own, but since then I have dragged others with me and shared my passion.

It has never disappointed me.  The historical–Roman and later city walls setting about the modern city like discarded and broken like a great child’s toys.  Churches with all manor of interesting sites and ages…from the burial site of Edward the Confessor in the mid-11th century which forms the core of Westminster Abbey http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us,  to the grave of Mother Goose at St. Olave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Olave_Hart_Street .   There are palaces (Buckingham https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/a-royal-welcome) and the remains of castles long gone like the Jewel Tower http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/281309-english-heritage-jewel-tower.   There are Museum like The British http://www.britishmuseum.org/ which hold treasures  many feel should be returned and one The Museum of London  http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/  whose treasures include a gold carriage that the Lord Mayor uses from time to time, as well as thousands of items that have been dragged from the earth below the city that has been here since the Romans.

The Modern with it’s recreation of the old like the Globe http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/londontheatre/whatson/globe.htm  which has a full series of plays throughout the year.  And the new buildings—some amazingly horrible—my late husband commented that the British were great at old buildings but had kinda lost it in the 21st century.   The Restaurants—and while I don’t have a problem with English food, if you do there’s lots of other cuisine—I love going to a an Italian restaurant and having the waiter–direct from Italy try to teach me Italian all evening—or order a lovely French dish from a woman who’s accent is so thick…There are areas to shop (some right around Tyburn http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/marble-arch-and-public-executions—which use to be the public execution spot in the city).

And the pubs have a life all their own.  Ye Old Cheshire  Cheese  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCXlgHcIvA , which was one of the first building built after the Great Fire in 1666—which goes to show that the Brits have their priorities straight.  And there’s at least one with a religious theme:  Black Friars http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/theblackfriarblackfriarslondon  decorated with monks on Queen Victoria St.    Ye Olde Mitre, Holborn  http://yeoldemitreholborn.co.uk/, established 1546 which includes Tudor arches and pictures of Henry VIII.

There’s theater areas like Coventry Gardens http://www.visitlondon.com/discover-london/london-areas/central/covent-garden with its shopping centers, old churches and lots more—or Soho which is a London’s walk on the wild side and which  a well meaning daughter of a friend that didn’t know her “aunt” very well (After Fantasy Fest in Key West London is really quite tame) warned me I might not want to go there as it might shock me.

There are museums in power plants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern and restaurants in churches http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/cafe-in-the-crypt/  and you can have your tea in a portrait gallery  http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/uk/london/covent-garden/portrait-gallery-restaurant/.

There are tours of buildings, the city its self and surrounding cities as well http://www.viator.com/London/d737-ttd?pref=02.  There are pre-historic beasts in the museum http://www.nhm.ac.uk/, and a torture chamber http://www.thedungeons.com/london/en/explore-the-dungeon/what-is-the-london-dungeon.aspx across the Thames.  There’s a Clink Street https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clink_Street which is the origin of the prison nickname and Tower Bridge http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/ who many think is London Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge, which the last one is now in Arizonia.  And I didn’t even mention the Ravens that are kept just in case in the Tower of London  which holds two fallen queen no longer attached to their heads and enough treasure to keep all of us in clothes and food for many years.  http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/22249-hm-tower-of-london

Well I think you get the idea and I didn’t even go into the canals http://www.visitlondon.com/discover-london/london-areas/central/regents-canal or abandon under grounds  http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php or the 46 major rivers and streams that flow under the city .  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/9197314/Londons-lost-rivers-the-hidden-history-of-the-citys-buried-waterways.html

 He [Holmes] loved to lie in the very centre of five millions of people, with his filaments stretching out and running through them, responsive to every little rumor or suspicion of unsolved crime.

Dr. Watson’s Observation of Sherlock Holmes

-The Resident Patient