Day Two

Day Two
Thursday, November 29, 2007


Woke up with very sore feet and legs—I should have brought a pedometer!

Ate the “Prêt” breakfast supplied by the hotel—yoghurt parfait, fresh OJ and a banana, then off to another busy day.

I took off walking towards Cannon Street, looking for the Temple of the Mithras (but never finding it). My disappointment was short-lived as I caught a glimpse of St. Paul’s. I hadn't expected to be as moved as I was by the sight—a sentiment that would definitely be repeated during this trip.



I made my way to the Blackfriar’s Bridge—which took some fancy footwork to cross some very, very busy roads, London is not always friendly to walkers. Crossing the Blarckfriar’s I caught my first glimpse of the London Eye, then looked back to the east and wished I had taken the Millennium Bridge straight from St. Paul’s! I hopped back onto the Queens Walk and came to the Tate Modern.



The Tate was hard to miss with the giant spider (Louise Bourgeois’ extraordinary sculpture Maman) gracing the walkway.



Not to be undone, the first thing I saw walking into the gallery was “Shibboleth” by Dorris Salcedo—a long, snaking crack running across the length of Turbine Hall.



The rest of the gallery did not disappoint, some wildly abstract exhibits—a room filled with cots—and some classic like Pollock and Monet. I had a pleasant lunch in the café, mostly for a chance to sit down, and then on to the rest of my day.

Right next door to the Tate was Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, which I didn’t want to pay to enter, so I just took a picture of the outside, then headed on my way.



I crossed the Millennium Bridge, which was very cool, but scary to think how it had to be shut down when it was first built.



I headed down Embankment, passing some nice surprises along the way—the Inner Temple Gardens, the Embankment Gardens—passed the Waterloo Bridge, and then, finally, reached the Westminster Bridge.

I heard it before I saw it, a loud, booming “bong”, then looked up and there was Big Ben! I got ridiculously excited, nearly pushing people over to get towards the tower.



It cannot be missed. I just walked around for a while, taking pictures of the tower and Parliament buildings.



I headed into the Victoria Tower Gardens, which offers breathtaking views, and then continued to wonder around, not really sure of where I was headed, until I stumbled across the Westminster Abbey.

It wasn’t open to tourists at the time, but I spent some time wondering around the outside, admiring the architecture, and yes, taking lots of pictures.



Finally, with aching legs I made my way back to Parliament to take the tube back to the hotel.

After enjoying a cup of tea and soaking my feet I got a call from Dan inviting me to dinner with his coworker Leah. Although excited for my first night out on the town, it meant more walking. Ugh. I got changed and headed back out to his office on Fenchurch. We met up with Leah, and then headed out to The Dickens Inn, a wonderful little Italian restaurant on the Thames. The lower level is a fancy restaurant, but the upstairs is a more casual pizza/pasta place, which was fantastic, and offered wonderful views. We left the restaurant and crossed the Tower Bridge so Dan could experience it.



Leah introduced us to the wonderful Oyster Card, and then it was back to the hotel.

Only two days into this trip and London had really started to feel like home.