Day 10-Hyde Park, Harrods, Soho District, Covent Garden, British Museum and Westminster Abbey (Sept. 25)

After full days at the Tower and Hampton Court, you might think that we took it easy on our last full day in England. But you would be wrong, oh so wrong. Only one day left and still so much I wanted to see. As I mentioned before, Eric and Austin were along for the ride, so I pretty much mapped out our day and as long as we made periodic stops at pubs, they were game for wherever I wanted to take them. 

While Jennifer and Chris headed off to the next part of their adventure, Paris,
we started off our morning getting some breakfast at nearby Mimo's Cafe. Eric and Austin had to try the traditional full English breakfast and I got a mushroom omelette. In case you didn't know, a traditional full English breakfast typically includes bacon and/or sausage, eggs, baked beans, tomato and toast. It a lot of food and meant to tide you over for several hours. That's good, because we were in for a lot of walking!

Full English Breakfast

Our hotel was located just a few blocks away from Hyde Park, so we decided to forgo public transportation and take a walk through the park. This park is largest of the four Royal Parks that surround Kensington and Buckingham Palace. 

Aerial photo of the park from Google

The park is about 350 acres (huge) and we could have easily spent all day exploring. However, as there was so much else to see, we just took the walk across the park and headed towards the area south of the park known as Knightsbridge. 

As we exited the park, we heard some very loud music and saw horses coming up the street. We ran across the street in order to get some good pics and video. It's not everyday that you see British soldiers on horseback marching by!!

City Block in Knightsbridge

The area of Knightsbridge is a very high end residential and retail center. My main reason for wanting to go there was to see the Harrod's department store. On our way to the store, one particular shop caught Eric and Austin's eye...a McLaren dealership.!

You can look, but you can't touch these beauties, as the starting price of a McClaren is about $200,000. Sadly, Eric wouldn't buy me the red one to take home :(

Now on to Harrods...not only is it the largest department store in Europe, occupying 5 acres, with 330 departments and 1.1 million square feet, but it even has its own postal code! To say that this store is impressive would be an understatement. It is decorated throughout in an Egyptian theme.  We spent some time wandering from floor to floor, checking out the displays and amazing merchandise and then headed onward to our next stop, Crumbs and Doilies cupcake shop in Soho. 

A couple of years ago I started watching a YouTuber named "Cupcake Jemma". She owns a bakery in Soho called "Crumbs and Doilies". I love her videos and she has really inspired me to expand my baking skills, including making some awesome cupcakes. I knew that a visit to London would include a visit to her shop. 

The walk from Harrods to the shop was about 1.7 miles. The area of Soho is near the West End of London and is know as a fashion and entertainment district (and I mean all sorts of entertainment is present as the sex shops abound). The area is a mix of restaurants, cafes, bakeries, shops and all sorts of interesting looking people. It was actually quite a fun place to walk around.

Crumbs and Doilies is a little shop, tucked down an alleyway with several other food shops. We popped in, grabbed a treat and a copy of her cookbook and headed out for a walk to our next stop (as I said, we packed a lot into this day). 

Decisions, decisions!

I went for the ooey, gooey, chocolate brownie, pretzel caramel thing and it was delicious!

Looking in the window of a bakery in Soho

A mere 1 mile away was the British Museum, so off we went on another walk through downtown London. Every since I first read my first book by Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank, I have wanted to go to the British Museum to check out the Egyptian artifacts. 

The museum is very large and one could definitely spend a day or two looking around, but for sake of time, we stuck to the Egyptian floor and then a quick trip downstairs to see the Rosetta Stone. 

The museum is home to the world's largest collection of Egyptian antiquities (over 100,000 pieces). It was truly a privilege and a really incredible experience to see some of this collection, including Cleopatra's mummy.  

Last but not least on our tour through the museum was a look at the Rosetta Stone. No, it's not just a company that wants to teach you Spanish, but the real Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 and is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis Egypt in 196 BC. Due to the three versions, the stone ended up being the key to unlocking the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphs. 

Rosetta Stone

Next stop on the walking tour, Covent Garden. Its another district in Central London, home to a variety of arts and entertainment, including the Royal Opera House. There are lots of little shops and restaurants and it is also home to the London Underground Museum. 

By this time, we were getting a bit hungry, so we went on the search for some lunch. We walked by a little pizza shop that smelled wonderful. It's called Franco Manca and they have several locations around London. The place was packed and super noisy but the food was delicious!! Some of the best pizza I've ever had. 

Amazing lunch at Franco Manca

With our bellies full, we headed out and about around Covent Garden for a while and then set our sights on Trafalgar Square and the government area of London. 

Trafalgar Square is a public square in the area that was once known as Charring Cross. It was built as a remembrance of the Battle of Trafalgar, a British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars in 1805. At the center of the square is Nelson's Column which is guarded by four lion statues. They day we were there, they were doing some construction work and it was very noisy with jackhammering. We stayed long enough to snap some pictures and headed towards Parliament. 

We definitely could tell that we were entering into the government area of the city, as we saw a lot more security and barriers were placed in front of many of the buildings. We headed in the direction of Westminster, taking a look at the beautiful buildings and history along the way. 

Corner of Downing and Whitehall-near the home of the Prime Minister

Parliament

 The walk to Westminster took us alongside the Thames River, past the London Eye and Big Ben. Sadly, Big Ben was undergoing refurbishment and it was covered by scaffolding. I guess I will get to see it on my next visit :)

I spy the London Eye across the River Thames

Big Ben all covered up

There really is a pub on every corner

Our last stop of the day was to Westminster Abbey. I had read online that they had discounted tickets for a visit in the afternoon. When we arrived, everything was locked up and people were told that it was closed for the day. However, I found a docent outside and asked them and they told me that it would be closed for a half and hour and then re-open for the cheaper tickets. Yay!! I would have been terrible disappointed to have missed out on seeing this amazing cathedral with so much rich history. 

Unfortunately, they do not allow any photography inside Westminster Abbey, but there are millions of pictures of it online, Westminster Abbey pics. It's been the place of coronation, weddings and burial of so many royals.

 Kings and Queens of England have been coronated here since William the Conqueror in 1066. There have been 16 royal weddings and more than 3,300 people are buried here, including 16 monarchs, 8 prime ministers, poets, actors, scientists and military leaders. It's definitely worth a visit. 

After an exhausting but amazing day, we headed back to our room to pack for the trip home.