Got up this morning to have a typical English day. Got on the Tube and headed to Hyde Park.
Had a big low carb breakfast, didn't have to work but had tea and sandwiches about 10:00 am. Finished up about 11:00 and went to shop at Harrods. At noon we went to a pub and had lunch. After lunch we went back to our hotel and had afternoon tea with cakes and sandwiches. Then we went to church AGAIN at Westminster Abbey. After church we went to a pub and drank beer. Very English; no offense.
Actually, we didn't have THE traditiona English breakfast, but we did have scones, clotted creme and Katie had bubble and squeak. They eat bubble and squeak at room temperature too.
Walked around a bit.
The above I thought was interesting. This is a taxi green shelter. By law, cab drivers could not leave the cab stand while their cab was parked there. This made it very difficult for them to obtain hot meals and could be unpleasant in bad weather. If they drove to a pub to buy food then they would have to pay somebody to look after their cab while they were inside, otherwise it was likely to be stolen. The Earl of Shaftesbury and other worthies therefore took it upon themselves to set up a charity to construct and run shelters at major cab stands.
These shelters were small green huts, which were not allowed to be larger than a horse and cart, as they stood on the public highway. Between 1875 and 1914, 61 of these buildings were built around London. Most were staffed by an attendant who sold food and (non-alcoholic) drink to the cabbies and were provided with a kitchen in which the attendant could cook this food and also food provided by the cabbies themselves. The attendant was not generally paid, but was expected to make an income from these sales. The shelters were also provided with seats and tables and books and newspapers, most of them donated by the publishers or other benefactors. Most could accommodate ten to thirteen men. Gambling, drinking and swearing were strictly forbidden.
There are 13 left in London.
We did spend about 3 hours in Harrods.....
Since Henry VIII, pineapples have mean wealth in England. These are the nicest I have ever seen.
These are whelks, a kind of sea snail. They sold me a bunch of them at Harrods for about $2. It was the cheapest thing in the store. They must sell them by the truckload at other fish mongers. I thought they would be terrible. They were very good.
Then we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum....
Another great free museum. It's hard to see these exhibits in a museum when they could be in Egypt, etc. That's another story.
The jewelery exhibit is astounding. Thousands of pieces, many with huge gemstones, gold. I wouild imagine some of these are worth millions.
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Tea is great, you get 4-5 different sandwiches, scones, clotted creme, and pastries, one of which is usually chocolate genache. Great tea. Got on the plane to come home this morning and the tea tasted terrible. English make great tea.
Westminster Abbey is amazing. We went again for the Evensong service with the boys choir. As you look around you, you are sitting amongst and near life size statues, busts etc. They are so detailed, you almost expect them to walk before your eyes.
The above photo is blury, but Katie got to sit right at the steps where the royal wedding vows were said. If you look at the photo below, Katie sat on the first seat next to the bottom step on the right side. We sat next to Dr. Livingstone I presume. It really was him below our feet.
After church we did as all English do and went to a pub.
We took in an amazing theatre performance; Wicked.
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Wicked was great. The set must have cost millions. Great singing, great performances.
