London - Day 7 through10

 DAY 7

SKY GARDEN

The Sky Garden, also known as "The Walkie Talkie" building due to its unique shape, features a top-floor restaurant and garden. The building in the back is nicknamed "The Gerkin".

We obtained free timed tickets in advance.

Sky Garden is a three-story glass dome that offers incredible views of the city from the 35th floor.

Building names were conveniently etched on the windows.

Looking to the west and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Looking to the east overlooking Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

LONDON MITHRAEUM

The Temple of Mithras, originally constructed around 240 A.D., in the ancient Roman city of Londinium was discovered in 1952 during the excavation of a WWII bomb site.

Once we entered the temple, we experienced the sounds of what a Mithraic ritual would have been like. Very weird and eerie. Like a trip to the "Outer Limits".

DAY 8

NATIONAL GALLERY AND TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Today we got off the red double decker bus at Trafalgar Square to visit the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and St. Martin in the Fields Church.

The National Gallery with Trafalgar Square fountain in the foreground.

The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square, founded in 1824. It houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. 

Rembrandt Self Portrait

The Red Boy 1825

ST. MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH

St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church was completed in 1824.

Since it was Maundy Thursday, we decided to attend the 1:00 pm choir concert of Sacred Music.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

We really enjoy learning about the monarch linage, so it was especially fun to put faces with the names.

Portrait of the House of Commons 1833.

DAY 9

THE BRITISH LIBRARY

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the largest libraries in the world. As a legal deposit library, it receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

We decided to visit the library because of its Treasure Room containing original documents and books.

Original manuscript for the Beatles Song "In My Life."

Original Magna Carta 1225

King George III's complete book collection is stored in the central column of the library.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM

The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture containing over 8,000,000 historical objects.

The most unique object in the British Museum is the Rosetta Stone. Discovered in 1799, it features hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek scripts, providing a key to deciphering hieroglyphs. 

Nereid Monument from Turkey, 390-380 B.C.

We discovered an entire room filled with ancient clocks, many in running condition. This 1760 Organ Clock contains 32 wooden pipes that actually play music.

One of the statues from Easter Island.

Royal Crown Reliquary is said to contain a thorn from the Crown of Thorns that was placed on Jesus' head prior to his crucifixion.

DAY 10

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM

The War Museum has recreations of WWI trenches and the Blitz, many tanks and planes and revolving military exhibitions from both World Wars.

Sherman Tank

Main Lobby

London - Day 3 through 6

DAY 3

LEADENHALL MARKET

Just down the street from our flat is the covered Leadenhall Market. It is one of the oldest markets in London, dating from the 14th century.

Under the arches and cobblestones lies the remains of an old Roman Forum (market).

HORIZON 22

Horizon 22 is a commercial skyscraper on Bishopsgate. Completed in 2020, it sits one block from our flat and is the second tallest building in the United Kingdom.

Only a limited number of timed free tickets are available to go up to the observation gallery on the 58th floor.

St. Paul's Cathedral from the top of Horizon 22.

Sky Garden (which we have tickets later in the week) in the foreground and the Shard across the Thames River.

Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

DAY 4 - Palm Sunday

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

St. Paul was about a half mile from our flat, so we walked to church on this gorgeous Spring Day.

Approaching the Cathedral on the narrow streets of London.

The high-domed structure was completed in 1710. To worship is free, but tourists pay 26 sterling pounds to tour the Cathedral.

The tulips were blooming their heart out.

Palm Sunday Service began outside the Cathedral with a lone riderless donkey walking across the steps.

After the Choir Anthem we sang "Ride on, Ride on in Majesty" as we proceeded into the Cathedral.

Spring has definitely sprung.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE GREAT

St Bartholomew the Great, sometimes abbreviated to St-Barts-the-Great, is a medieval church in the Church of England's Diocese of London. The building was founded in 1123.

Statue of St. Bartholomew, an apostle of Jesus, who died in martyrdom by being skinned alive.

Incense still hung in the air following the Palm Sunday Service.

YE OLD RED COW

We found a lovely historic pub built in 1854 that served the traditional English Sunday Roast.

We both ordered the same thing, roast loin of pork served with fresh vegetables, cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and apple sauce.

BARBICON CENTER AND OBSERVATORY

The Barbican Center in London, an arts and culture center, is the home of the London Symphony Orchestra since 1982,

The Barbican Center Conservatory. 

DAY 5

VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

This life-size cast of Michelangelo's David was a gift to Queen Victoria from the Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany.

The Cast Court

The magnificent plaster cast of Trajan's Column is one of the stars of the V&A collection and has towered over the cast collection in two halves since the opening of the Courts in 1873.

Dale Chihuly Glass Work in the main lobby.

HARRODS LONDON

We made a quick stop at Harrods of London for dinner and a quick look around. All the merchandise was very high quality as was the restaurants located on each of the 5 floors.

DAY 6

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM AND QUEEN'S HOUSE

Another bus ride, this time to Greenwich, south of the Thames River to the National Maritime Museum.

The artwork is a scaled-down replica of HMS Victory, Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

This uniform jacket of Admiral Horatio Nelson contains the musket ball hole that shattered his shoulder at the battle of Trafalgar and resulted in his death.

Models of English War Ships.

These stained-glass windows were once installed over a staircase at the Baltic Exchange in London in 1922, is a memorial to the members of the exchange who were killed while serving during the First World War. They were moved to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich in 2005.

The Astronomy and Planetarium Center is located on a hill behind the National Maritime Museum.

Adjacent to the Maritime Museum is the Queen's House.

The Queen's House is a former royal residence in the London borough of Greenwich, which presently serves as a public art gallery. It was built between 1616 and 1635 on the grounds of the now demolished Greenwich Palace, a few miles downriver from the City of London.

The famous "Armada Portrait" of Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.