London - Day 3
Sunday 3rd December, 1989
Mac and Rosemary at the Old Curiosity Shop
ur last day in London. We managed to get out relatively early. First stop was "The Old Curiosity Shop" of Charles Dickens. It was walking distance from the hotel, past High Holborn and Lincoln's Inn Fields. It was very cute and commercial but in a deserted Sunday morning street it looked authentic. We took some photos and hope they turn out - it was very dull. I bought a postcard of the shop to send to mum, she is the Dickens fan. We had taken a walk on the first night here to Doughty Street, where Dickens' House is but had not been able to get back in daytime.
St.Paul's Cathedral
e went then to Holborn Station , and took Tube to St.Paul's. It is really impressive, and totally unmistakable, a sight to remember. We then walked to the City and saw the Bank of England , Threadneedle Street, etc. Then to Westminster to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. The Abbey is really close - beautiful but covered with scaffolding at the moment. I will have to leave the interior for the next trip when hopefully we will have more time.
Big Ben
utside the Abbey we found the start point for our free Cityrama tour, so we took it. It's a bit difficult to see buildings and monuments from the window of a bus especially when they are misted over but we saw Trafalgar Square, Lambeth Palace, Horseguards Parade, all the tourist sights (after all we are the veriest tourists) even Harrods. When the tour finished we had lunch, then walked from Victoria to Buckingham Palace where we saw the Guard being relieved. I don't think it was the "Changing of the Guard" but it (the Palace) is certainly an impressive place.
e walked on through St.James Park, talking to friendly grey squirrels to Hyde Park Corner but it must have been too cold for the speakers. Passed Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington, then into Hyde Park where we walked beside the Serpentine looking at the ducks, geese and swans. Came out at Lancaster Gate where we caught the Tube to Holborn and walked back to the hotel. Unfortunately, Mac still has an upset stomach, his progress anywhere is from toilet to toilet. Geoff too is a bit queasy. Poor Geoff, his gold bracelet unclipped from his wrist as he was trying to force open a jammed lift door and dropped down the lift shaft. They say the lift mechanic comes in at 8 a.m. tomorrow so he may hopefully be able to recover it. Tomorrow, however, we leave for the Midlands, God send good vibes!
Spoke to mum today on the phone and she told us that there had been an attempted coup in Manila on THURSDAY, Manila had been bombed, the airport under siege! She had been worried not hearing from us and had contacted Neil who rang his grandfather who told him we had arrived. We will have to find out how things are before going home through Manila. What next?!
