First task for the morning — get our passport photos (which Warren took last night in the room) printed up on the high street. Cost us £16, but we got 4 of each. Took all of 15 minutes!
Warren at breakfast
Suzie in the courtyard
Decided to start the morning at Covent Garden. Tip to young players — nothing in London really gets started until after about 10am, so the markets had not really hit their speed when we got there. Wandered around, had a cuppa and toast for breakfast, watched a street juggler, then started wandering the streets towards the Strand. There are some really tranquil little hideaways in London. Went into the courtyard of St Pauls Church, Covent Garden — a lovely little garden with benches along the footpath where you can just sit and relax.
We made our way down to Charing Cross Station, where we organised our Two-for-one card and booked our tickets to Preston on Tuesday. Another tip for young players — book any Britrail tickets early, as you might find the choices dwindle dramatically towards the date of travel. There were only first-class tickets remaining for our trip (not that we're complaining), but the ⅓ off with the Two-for-one deal, meant they were still quite reasonable.
Dragon on Thames Embankment
Tasks done for the day, we then went for a long walk along the Victoria Embankment to the Millennium Bridge, where we crossed over to the Tate Modern. On the way, we walked through the Victoria Embankment Gardens, where Suzie was entranced by the displays of tulips. Suzie, on this walk, commented that London is a Cardiac Nurse's paradise, in that the overweight person is an absolute rarity. Unfortunately, the same positive comments cannot be made about smoking.
Panorama of Millennium Bridge (The Shard at the centre, Tate Modern to the right)
St Pauls and Millennium Bridge from Tate Modern
Suzie on escalator
in Tate Modern
The Borough Market
After dropping in to the Tate Modern — didn't stay long, mainly because of rapidly decreasing blood sugars — we walked just past Shakespeare's Globe to Pizza Express on New Globe Walk, where we had a delicious Fiorentina Pizza that really hit the spot. Then continued our walk towards the Golden Hinde replica and Southwark Cathedral. Were surprised at the number of people sitting in he grounds eating delicious lunches. Got the answer when we walked a little further and found ourselves in the Borough Market. Not nearly as well known as Covent Garden, but absolutely fascinating. It nestles beneath the London Bridge railway network, and is a hive of activity.
Starting to get weary. Wandered down to HMS Belfast, and a little further. Took photos of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, but decided to leave these for another day — at least we visited these properly last time, in 2008! Walked back to the London Bridge tube station, and made our way back home to the hostel. Settled down to start watching the current (2005 and onwards) series of Doctor Who and, lo and behold, in the first episode, the Doctor and Rose were on the Thames Embankment beside the very police call phone I photographed this morning.
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