We woke up on Friday morning, grabbed coffee and scones at the Patisserie Valerie and then made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Paul's is England's national church.
Our favorite part was definitely climbing to the top of the 365-foot-high dome. The climb consisted of 528 steps (perspective: UNC's Bell Tower is 128).
The views of London's skyline at the top of the dome were gorgeous.
Certainly making the climb worth it, but whew, the steps were dizzying to me.
We grabbed tea at the oldest shop in the City of Westminster, Twinings. Then it was onward to find London's oldest pub, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Tavern, for lunch. It took us awhile to locate, but we didn't give up. We asked two locals which way to The Cheese and one friend pointed up the street, the other down the street, one was sure it was on the left and the other was positive is was on the right. Needless to say when we found it... Celebration.
The Cheese dates back to 1667, when it was rebuilt after the Great Fire, but it's been a tavern since 1538 (!!!). We sat at a table across from Charles Dickens' favorite seat next to an old coal fireplace. We sipped on some pints, ate, and well, it was really, really cool. So much history! (Our table was even parked next to a fellow Carolina grad - we're everywhere.)
After lunch we made our way to Hank's favorite exhibit (biggest wink ever), This is London by Miroslav Sasek. The This is series are some of my favorite children's books, and Sasek has written them for many of my most treasured cities. I love Hank's enthusiasm here.
Afterwards we popped into the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone and then made our way to Abbey Road. I felt we needed a Beatles photo op on the famous crosswalk.
We walked by Paul McCartney's current home, took a walk through Harrod's department store and then found our way back to our neighborhood, Soho, for burgers, beers, etc.
Well... That was London. It was all things magical. Next up... Barcelona!
