Ok Finishing up Saturday: (5/14)

On our first day in London we decided to visit the Westminster Cathedral….But I had forgotten to get directions until we found one of the London You Are Here signs.  After investigating we had a fair idea on what and where we were going

SO handy camera in hand we were off.

we wandered thru London

Seeing London above

and below ground.

Looking for a Catholic cathedral in London Town

The world’s first traffic light was erected outside the House of Commons in 1868. It blew up the following year, injuring the policeman who was operating it.

London is one of the most civilised places in the world for the procedure of making architecture and urban design. Renzo Piano

and we really enjoyed the search and all the lovely buildings that we saw.

 

A Beer Wave of 388,000 Gallons (or 1.4m L) flooded London in 1814 after a huge vat ruptured

 

It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside. -Arthur Conan Doyle

All kinds of interesting people about looking for that Cathedral

and then:

There it was down an alley way…that’s the tower above another building.

Westminster Cathedral on Ashley Place.  The building is Byzantine style echoing the great Basilica of St. Marks, Venice.

 

Over 300 languages are spoken in London, one of the most diverse cities in the world.

You are now / In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow / At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore / Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more / Yet in its depth what treasures! –Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

This is the principal Catholic Church in England

and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.

It was began in 1895 and remains unfinished.

The church ran out of funds to finish the facing 14 stations of the cross carved by Eric Gill

The church contains a very medieval item….the body of St. John Southworth–a priest from a Lancaster family who studied and took the priesthood in France and returned to Protestant England.  He was arrested and tried under Elizabeth I and was drawn and quartered.  The Spanish minister took the body to France…it was not rediscovered until 1922 when it was brought back to England and placed in a clear casket in one of the side chapels of the church.   (that’s a picture of the chapel below and that glass between the candles is the saint’s crystal coffin–I did not take a picture of the body it just seem tooo…..)

Oh that tower by the way is 237′ tall and has a lift—that’s an elevator for those of you across the pond which supposedly give good views of London….while we visited the museum of treasures we didn’t make the tower as one of us doesn’t like towers.

The church is a mix of Byzantine and Romanesque and includes a great gold cross with Christ crucified.  There is also a grand Lady Chapel.

and then we were off and about London again

Sam Smith’s caused a bit of a stir with the latest refurbishment of one of their pubs. From the owners of the lovingly restored Princess Louise, this is a bit of a surprise.  Well, it turns out a few people were upset with the name change, to one which pre-dates the current (already very old) one. Even Archbishops (who should’ve been grateful it wasn’t bought by Nandos) waded into the non-event.  http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/bars/the-windsor-castle-victoria-review-7427051.html

Traffic in central London moves at the same speed as horse-drawn carriages a century ago.

Dinner at a NYC style Italian restaurant at the Mall at Victoria Station

The food was good and the place was very well done.

Here’s our waiter and a fellow Blogger

In the new Victoria Place Shopping Centre, situated inside London Victoria Train Station, our Frankie & Benny’s restaurant is ideal for a quick bite to eat before a train journey or trip into London! With great tourist attractions close-by, bring the whole family and we guarantee you’ll leave with a smile – and a very satisfied appetite!

 

Our room in London–very energy efficient

 

Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner,
That I love London so;
Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner,
That I think of her wherever I go.
I get a funny feeling inside of me,
Just walking up and down;
Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner,
That I love London town.
Hubert Gregg

We left London this morning (5/16) and look what we missed:

A six-metre tall green monkey statue sailed down the Thames this morning; the latest of London’s riverine publicity stunts.

Made of 110,486 fabricated green tea leaves, the huge primate is depicted clutching a mug, encouraging people to try green tea.  DAMN