Last London day

Last day in London today so I headed into town to visit a few favourite places.

First stop was Trafalgar Square and a visit to the National Gallery.  The Gallery is huge, and without significant effort and dedication it's not possible to see the whole thing in one sitting, so I drop in from time to time to visit different areas.  My room choices this visit were mainly dictated by ones that allowed me to avoid shrill groups of primary school children and their teachers, with their constant calls of "shhhhhh now", "Wilbur, don't let go of Mavis' hand" and "One more outburst and you are all going back to the bus." All threats are completely useless and actually more irritating than the noise of excited children enjoying a day away from their classrooms.

Then I popped next door to the Portrait Gallery and wandered through my favourite wing - the Tudor period - and watched still more school children sitting on the floor beneath portraits of King Henry XIII and Queen Elizabeth and making their own copies of the priceless masterpieces.  Some of them were very imaginative!

It was lunchtime by the time I came out so I went across the road to the St Martin in the Fields church to have lunch in the crypt downstairs.  I'd read that the lunch there is something not to be missed and now I know what people were talking about.  For a very reasonable sum I got a chicken, leek and mushroom pie with vegetables and a mint and chocolate chip ice cream.  

St Martins in the Field is renowned for its support of the homeless and its musical performances.  A pianist was preparing for a concert when I walked through the church and I sat and listened for awhile. The notes danced around the columns and up into the ceiling. It was serene and beautiful.

Next I walked up to Covent Garden to watch the various street performers and browse the shoe shops (for some reason they have a lot of fabulous shoe shops in CG!). 

All this walking wasn't helping my blisters any so I refulled with a coffee - and then kept going.  London is like that though - you keep planning to stop because your feet are threatenning to fall off but then you realise you are just down the road from Piccadilly Circus and off you go again.

I finished the day lying under a tree in Kensington Gardens and watching children playing, couples snuggling and joggers...... being irritating and fit. Then I walked down the high street to pick up Chinese roast duck and stir fried vegetables for dinner, Thanks London, it's been fun.