A Mart of Many Nations

...which is what Bede said about London many many years ago, never having gone there.  Not much has changed.

So Dwivs flew back from Rome (pics will come eventually) with me and I decided to show her London.  Day 1 (Wednesday) was a foodie day, and we started off with an amazing full english from Valtaro Snack Bar.  If you ever go to London, go there...a full english spilling off the plate for under a fiver is a rare find indeed!

Next we went to the British Museum and Covent Garden...because free things are great. However, having been thus thrifty, we splurged on the nine-pound afternoon tea at Bea's of Bloomsbury, which was strangely enough started by a Cornell grad!  The delicious-looking pink tea concoction was my amazing Jing tea--the best I've ever had.  We drank a pot each and then some.  And of course, no tea is complete without scones and jam, cupcakes, meringues, brownies, and miniature cakes...aka lunch! Much to my delight, the substance in the picture is NOT clotted cream (which I hate) but butter, which is much more tolerable.  What can I say, I was raised on margarine...

 

 

Next we went to matins (an evening prayer service) at Westminster Abbey, the bottommost frame.  Also pictured are two scenes at Trafalgar Square, which was on our route--one of the twin fountains all lit up in front of the National Gallery, and an iconic double-decker bus zooming past Nelson's Column, named for Admiral Lord Nelson (now you have some Googling to do).

The following day was our trip to Paris so we called it a night on the early side, but Friday began our next adventures in London.

After a nice bit of sleeping in, we trekked back down to Whitehall (the Westminster area) to watch the changing of the Mounted Guard.  Not only did I get the horse to stare directly at my camera, but Dwi got a smile from the guard!  I hear the ones in front of Buckingham are a bit tougher to crack, though.

 

Westminster again, this time by daylight!  It's such a pretty Gothic church that it merits both views.

Secondly, Big Ben, the clock tower, and the London Eye...which will feature quite shortly in our story.

The view from the top!  Westminster (Parliament) and Big Ben from the London Eye.

Zooming in...

 The sun came out just as we were starting the second half of our journey!  It's peeking through the clouds and making the lovely Thames (it's not) shimmer.

 
Parliament, etc, again with the newly prettied sky behind it...what can I say--I love that building!

Next was a tour of the City--the financial heart of London. I took Dwi to a Wetherspoons (the McD's of pubs; they own 40+, all with different names, in London neighborhoods) called the Green Man and we had their gourmet burger & beer deal.  Or rather, not-beer, as neither of us drink it.  C'est la vie.  Above is Lloyd's of London, the world's leading specialized insurer.  They cover things like celebrity's legs and ship cargoes, as well as some of the more traditional items.  One of the coolest, most modern buildings in the City--it has more than 8 escalators inside and 4 glass elevators going up the outside of the building!  We also stopped by the Monument to the Great Fire of 1666, St. Paul's, Leavenhall Market (including a stop at Ben's Cookies!), the Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe (not the fake one in Rome; the fake one in London), and London Bridge (which is no longer falling down).

But by now it was quite dark, as daylight is in short supply in London.  This is the view of St. Paul's from across the Thames. You can see Millennium Bridge just off to the right, which was featured in the most recent Harry Potter movie (the one that twists and torques).  The ironic thing is that the bridge did just that, though without the dementors--opening day drew such a crowd that the bridge started to twist, and was closed for 2 years.  It's quite stable now!

Friday night ended with a half-price dinner at Pizza Express with friends (note to readers--go to restaurants with 4 other girls and you get waaaay better service)...but Rome's Forno at Campo di Fiori still takes the cake...or...pie?

Saturday morning means one thing for foodies--Borough Market! This incredible paradise has more than 150 stalls of baked goods, entrees, and drinks...this is a shelf at the Flour Power bakery stall.

A basket of croissants from some other bakery.  We actually got cheese straws and pain au chocolat (don't know how to pluralize!) here, but these were so beautiful-looking that I needed to steal a pic.

Since it was fall, we wanted a nice autumnal beverage, and we happened upon an organic cider stall.  Dwi got the pear and I got the apple, and we finally got to drink them by the time we were on the Tube (they were quite hot)!

After that, we were off to the West End by a rather circuitous route to see CHICAGO!  And being the avid theatrephiles we are, we dressed up.  Check facebook for pics (Dwi has them; I don't).

Sadly, she left Sunday morning.  London cried (aka poured rain) for just the 3rd time this semester (during the day).  I think it was a sign she wasn't supposed to leave.

Rome pics coming soon!