September 4th - our last day in London
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| Walking along Pall Mall |
It is with much sadness that Catherine has had the last of her beloved waffles for breakfast today. Tomorrow we head to Milano - and have to get up and 4:15am to get to Heathrow on time for our flight - UG!
It was a huge relief that David's back decided to hold up for the morning and after breakfast in Covent Garden we headed down "the Mall" to Buck Palace. It was a lovely walk with the trees just starting to change into their autumn colours. St James park was lovely and green!
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| Liz wasn't in today so we carried on to Westminster Abby. |
As we were standing looking at the Palace a police car went screaming around the roundabout with it's sirens blaring and the policeman in the passenger seat calmly drinking his morning coffee - great style :-)
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| Spotted this on our way to Westminster Abby |
One of the challenges of London is figuring out where to look. There are small blue round signs on lots of walls saying "John Lennon lived here" or "Herman Melville who wrote Moby Dick lived here", then there are the pavement plaques like this one we spotted after leaving the Palace.
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| Arriving at Westminster Abby with the Houses of Parliament in the background. |
Our goal for the day was to spend some time at Westminster Abby. What a place, SO much to see and the history! Incredible!!
The Coronation Chair, otherwise known as St Edward's Chair, is the throne on which the British monarch sits for the coronation. It was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward to contain the coronation stone of Scotland - known as the Stone of Scone - which he had captured from the Scots who had kept it at Scone Abbey. The stone is now back in Scotland but comes back to London as required. Since 1308, all anointed sovereigns of England (until 1603) and Great Britain (after the Union of the Crowns) have all been seated in this chair at the moment of their coronation, with the exception of Queen Mary II (who was crowned on a copy of the chair - wouldn't you feel ripped!). The most recent coronation was of course for Elizabeth II in 1953. The chair sits behind bullet proof glass - not surprising given its significance.
The history that is represented (read mostly buried) in this Abbey is incredible; poets, composers, writers and of course Kings and Queens.... and who can forget these most recent events in our time.....
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Princess Diana's funeral
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| ... and the wedding of her son William. |
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| This ornate ceiling is a sight to see - just stunning |
Afterwards we took a stroll along the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye - Catherine would describe it as the London eyesore... however, there were many people using it, so it can't be all bad.
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| Houses of Parliament |
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| Looking along the Thames - yes, that ugly London Eye... |
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The Houses of Parliament.... check out the sky - thunder storms in the distance.
Right, next stop Milano, via the theatre. We are seeing The Book of Mormon - it was highly recommended to us.
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The Coronation Chair, otherwise known as St Edward's Chair, is the throne on which the British monarch sits for the coronation. It was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward to contain the coronation stone of Scotland - known as the Stone of Scone - which he had captured from the Scots who had kept it at Scone Abbey. The stone is now back in Scotland but comes back to London as required. Since 1308, all anointed sovereigns of England (until 1603) and Great Britain (after the Union of the Crowns) have all been seated in this chair at the moment of their coronation, with the exception of Queen Mary II (who was crowned on a copy of the chair - wouldn't you feel ripped!). The most recent coronation was of course for Elizabeth II in 1953. The chair sits behind bullet proof glass - not surprising given its significance. 
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