- the Ritz Hotel where afternoon tea will set you back £25
- Eros Statue is next to the Queen Mothers 90th Birthday gates (not a pretty site)
- Leicester Square is the theatre district with major shows (Les Miserable and Phantom of the Opera) and lesser known shows and actors
- Nelson's Column
- Trafalgar Square -in honor of the battle of Trafalgar being won by Captain Horatio Nelson in 1805, who with one eye, one arm, and one leg, won the Battle right before his death on the field and became a national hero.
- Fleet Street -where all the newspapers were located & now moved to East end of town
- Covent Garden - shopping area originally Convent Garden next to Westminster Abbey
- Hyde Park -a park where Marble Arch sits and its next to Kensington Park
- Piccadilliy Circus -named after the collar invented here and circus meaning round in Greek, a shopping area with large neon lights -reminds you of Times Square, NY USA.
- #10 Downing Street - up until recently, #10 was the residence of the Prime Minister. Since Mr. Blair has a large young family, he switched with the Assistant Prime Minister who is single and "living" with someone in #11 which is a bigger flat. It's behind guarded steel gates in which Maggie Thatcher installed.
- Big Ben - only the bell that tolls (BONG, BONG) is BIG BEN, not the tower as we think of it being. It sits beside the parliament building.
- Parliament - this is the British legislature, which contains the House of Lords and the House of Commons which sits beside Big Ben.
While in Saint Paul's Cathedral, I was able to visualize Princess Diana walking down the aisle as I walked down the same aisle possibly in the same footsteps. Standing outside on the street, again, I can see the coach arrive, she gets out and walks up the stairs into the cathedral on Earl Spencer's arm. Then I can see Diana and Charles as they leave the cathedral at the top of the stairs with smiles and waves. OH, what a heartbreaking afternoon. A day that was full of love and fantasy now forever gone and only a memory.
Later, while going into Westminster Abbey, I see the podium where her brother Charles, Earl Spencer spoke at her funeral. A sad and tearful day that was September 6, 1997. The happiest day of my life -marrying James - the worst day of my life - saying good bye to my hero. She had done so much for so many children, the elderly, the sick. She really cared for people and that's why they loved her for her compassion.
Saint Paul's Cathedral was built in the late 17th century by Sir Christopher Wren. The present church had been built where earlier churches stood since 604AD and is Anglican. (£4)
Westminster Abbey is a medieval gothic structure which is very ornate as it sits beside the Thames River. The abbey is located across the street from Big Ben and Parliament. As you walk in, grab a brochure which has the layout of the building and some descriptions of what's there. While you walk along the corridors, there are "rooms" dedicated to the elite society of London with magnificent tombs and very plain slabs in which you walk on . It is rather dark inside, and very austere. You certainly feel transported in time while you walk around and see the names of nobility and the dates in which they lived and died. There are 17 monarchs here, they are: Edward the Confessor, Henry III, Edward I, Edward III, Richard II, Henry V, Edward V, Henry VII, Edward VI, Mary I, James I, Charles II, Mary II, William III, Anne, and George II. All monarchs since George II have been buried at Windsor. A real history lesson. (£5)
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