Day Forty-two from Melissa - Walking London

Today I walked over ten miles. We started out at Westminster for an assignment. We'd hoped to get in and see Parliament, but got there too early and couldn't wait. Maybe later.

Richard the Lionheart. Even the parking lots have statues!

Oh, and I found a postcard of the birth of baby princess Charlotte!  I've been waiting for one to come out. 

Then we went on a walk for another assignment. We went by the British Museum and couldn't resist the chance to go in. 

I could've stayed there for days! It's probably good the fire alarm went off and forced us to leave. 

Moving on with our walk, we went to the British Library and finished looking at the Treasures room. I especially liked the Tyndale Bible - one of only three surviving copies from the 1526 printing. And I could read it!  I mean, that's the whole point of having an English Bible. I was surprised at how closely it went with the King James Bible. 

There was another neat Bible from the 900s. It's called the Lindisfarne Gospels, and was carefully written in large print Latin. Two hundred years later, another monk went through and translated the whole thing, word for word, into Old English, neatly writing the translations above the Latin text. I'd never heard of that one before. 

Then we saw the earliest printed book in the world, from China in 868. And we saw the oldest printed scraps of paper from Japan in 761. And, of course, a Gutenberg bible, lovingly illuminated. 

Tearing ourselves away by force, we continued down to Kings Cross station. Legend says the ancient queen Boadicea is buried far beneath platform 7. 

Heading back, we passed an old horse trough turned flower box. 

Then down another train station to home.  This one had fun old signs, tiled straight into the wall.  

Dinner was meat and beans and rice. Very good. And we got our dinner money for Wednesday. Every time we get dinner money, Dr. Durham gets out his table and sets up the "Durham Bank."

I told him to smile and he did a Simon Legree impression instead. That's Dr. Durham for you. 

Then Miriam and I tried to do some of the next walk. 

This is me on Tower Bridge.  If you remember the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, they flew a helicopter under it. Google it - it's on YouTube. 

The lighting was lovely for pictures. Say hi to the Thames!

Then Miriam had to run, and my phone had the directions, so she took it with her, so the rest of my photos are on my camera. But I walked along the river, and went home in the underground. Then it was too pretty to go home, so I walked around in Kensington Gardens until I was totally worn out. 

All in all, a really good day, and very full.

Update: camera photos at last!

Tower of London

Tower of London with Tower bridge on the left.

Big pointy building called "The Shard."

The Thames.

The Thames and the Shard through a gap in the bridge.

Me on Tower Bridge.

Can you tell I like this bridge?  Now imagine flying a helicopter through that opening.

Downtown London.  Called "The City."

This used to be a dock for clipper ships to sail into and be unloaded.  Now its covered and has a  roof on it and a bocce ball pit.

Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace with Queen Victoria.  She grew up here.