Steps today: 25 055
And so it ends; another great vacation is over and it’s time to get back to real life.
We covered a lot of ground on our Farewell Tour! As usual, the day began with a walk in the park.
For the rest of my life whenever I see or think about the Diana Princess of Wales’ Memorial Fountain I will always think of Vesna’s reaction: “It certainly is subtle!” LOLOLOL That must be the BEST way to describe it that I have ever heard!
Breakfast was at The Lido – it was a little impromptu but I found the weather SO NICE and I thought this might be my very last chance to eat outside for 2016. You never know, I might get another chance in Paris, but just in case I wanted to eat al fresco and what better setting than this?
We then went to see The Monument. When I climbed it in 2005 it was being restored so I didn’t get a good look at the base. This time is was bright and clean and marvelous.
I climbed to the top again (311 steps) while Vesna patiently waited for me below.
She’s down there near the lamppost by the car…
Maximum zoom…
After this, it was time for a drink and I wanted something with a view so we found a nice place along the Thames Tower Bridge in the background.
Lunch was in a nice Brasserie just across the River from where we had drinks…
From there we just aimlessly wandered the city saying goodbye to London.
We came across a graffiti’ed phone booth with homages to Sherlock Holmes near St Bart’s Hospital – I suspected it might have something to do with the current BBC TV show so I took a picture. After Googling it, I see that it is indeed a significant location for fans: Holmes fell to his death from the hospital roof… or did he? LOL
We then explored Smithfiled Market, or rather: the tiny bit we could see since it was closed. Aside from being a meat market, it was also the location where men could sell their wives! HA! gives the expression “meat market” a whole new meaning!
We gawked at St Pancras Station…
Then tubed it back to Soho for supper. I thought fish & chips for my last meal would be a good bookend for the trip since it was also my first meal!
We continued our goodbye tour with a night time stroll through Trafalgar Square…
And then when we were almost home, we discovered St Christopher’s Place – a tiny road off Oxford street that opens up into a Restaurant Row! I couldn’t resist.
That’s it! It was 11 fantastic days in London and I can’t wait to come back again. I can’t fathom now that before coming on this trip, I hesitated about bringing the camera. I thought to myself it’s my 5th visit! How many pictures am I going to take??? The answer, with the camera and phone combined: almost 900.
Thanks for following along…. see you in Paris in less than 3 weeks!
