We walked around Trafalgar Square; here is Nelson's Column:
As you might be able to see, they were doing some work, so we were unable to get too close. By that time, the National Gallery was open, so we headed there. The outside of the building:
We spent several hours looking at masterpieces. As it approached lunchtime, we decided to eat lunch in the crypt restaurant at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. There was a concert at 1 pm we wanted to see, so we ate first and then headed to the church.
On our way to the church, we noticed that there were many pigeons flying about, sounding an alarm call. We soon realized why when we noticed some official-looking people with a ladder: there was an injured hawk in front of one of the windows of the National Gallery.
Here's Rose, in the crypt. There was a little room off to the side with a table. We ate there, isolated from the other diners:
And a not-so-flattering picture of my travel companions:
Here is the outside of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Like so many other London attractions, inside pictures were prohibited:
We were a bit disappointed that the concert was an organ one (since we had just heard one yesterday), but the pieces were short and as upbeat as one can expect for organ music, which was nice.We then crossed the street to return to the National Gallery so we could see the rest of the rooms. In front, a newspaper was staging their photo for the following morning (Election Day in the US). We're not sure which paper this was for, but Brian noticed they took several pictures, with signs saying "Obama wins!" and "McCain wins!"
We next took the Tube to the Burlington Arcade and then walked around the area some. We stopped in Fortnum and Mason for a look around. I had never heard of this store before, but it was quite possibly the most elegant store I have ever been in. I would have loved to take a picture of the inside, but felt too gauche. Here is Rose looking in one of the windows they had decorated for Christmas:
We stopped at a pub, Blackfriars, for a quick drink.
Then, we went to yet another pub for dinner. Brian and I were able to get vegetarian versions of British specialties. He got bangers and mash, and I got shepherd's pie:
After dinner, we took the Tube back home. We rested a bit and planned some things for the next day. However, we couldn't relax too much because we had tickets to see the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Once again, no cameras were allowed.This ceremony has been taking place for 700 years! It was quite interesting to witness this piece of living history. Once the Tower was safely locked up, we were escorted out through a hole in the door and we crossed the street to return to our apartment.
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