London – Day 14 – July 23, 2019
Had Gregg’s for breakfast. Yum! It was already heating up. The last couple of days had been hot. Not super normal for London. I don’t think London is built for hot days. Many of the Underground lines didn’t have AC and many of the museums and galleries didn’t either.
We went to the British Museum and met up with our friends Jamys and Emma who are both English, but who we met in New Zealand. The NZ Blacketts joined us and we headed inside. The British Museum is one of my favourites and is just so overwhelmingly filled with artifacts and pieces of history – things you read about in books and see in movies. There’s so much to take in. There’s no way to see it all in one go, but I do love to take the time to look at pieces and read the information about them. There’s so much to learn. We looked at some of the Egyptian, Roman, and Assyrian stuff. I love seeing things from Biblical times, showing events that happened in the Bible. It was so good to go through with Jamys and Emma as they are both scholarly and are into the historical stuff.
Again, the facility is amazing and I love the central hall with the modern, light filled ceiling leading out into more ancient areas. So little time!
Then it was off for another supermarket meal deal and lunch in Russell Square. It was hot inside and out, but sitting in the shade was lovely. Then it was time to say goodbye to the NZ Blacketts as they made their way back to NZ via a few days in Singapore.
We had the rest of the day and hadn’t planned anything so the Victoria and Albert Museum, which had to be dropped earlier because of time was back on the menu! This is another of my favourites. It’s all about Art and Design. There are heaps of sculptures, fashion, furniture, photographs. One of the main things I wanted to see on this visit was the Cast Courts which are some huge rooms full of casts of famous works of art and architecture from around the world including a replica of the statue of David.
We found another lovely park near the Imperial College London, the Prince’s Garden, and had an ice cream and lots of chatting while the boys played.
Then we took a long walk through Hyde Park past the Serpentine which was super busy on such a hot day – many people out on the water and in the park. The Serpentine was another thing that had to be cut from my list, so it was good to add it back in.
We carried on walking to Victoria Station and after some searching and starting to feel quite hungry, Jamys found a great little basement pizza place and we had a lovely dinner together. Then it was time to say goodbye and I am, again, so thankful for friendships across the miles.
Back to Stratford to buy some travel snacks and start the packing process. Packing to go home is never as fun as packing to go on a journey somewhere else.
The next day was to be our earliest morning and departure time. Getting to the airport at rush hour was predicted to be interesting and challenging!
26,653 steps
11.1 miles
Lamppostings 