I keep thinking that eventually we will have a slow day, but there is just so much to see and do here in Jolly Old England. Breakfast at Goodman's Field (Wetherspoon) where I had scrambled eggs on toast that reminded me of how much I loved it as a child. Then off to buy Ray an Oyster Card and top up the one Margaret gave to me. We took the Metro to the Westminster station and headed to Westminster Abbey. There were demonstrators near Parliament, and, behind the Abbey, newsmen were setting up for something important for they had a bomb-sniffing dog—a really cute English Springer Spaniel—out running around, checking everything out.
The Abbey was founded in the 10th century. Then most Christians in Europe accepted the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. In the 16th century the Reformation brought about the independence of the Church of England from Rome. Since the crowning of William the Conqueror here in 1066, the Abbey has been the nation’s Coronation church.
Burial in the Abbey was a privilege mainly for a few of the aristocracy in the Middle Ages, but it became much more common after this and began to fill with tombs. Today around 3000 people are buried in the church and cloisters, and there are over 600 tombs, monuments, and memorials. The Lady Chapel is especially beautiful with its stained glass, colorful flags and vaulting. Both Elizabeth I and her half-sister Mary I are buried here. Other monarchs buried here are James, I, Charles II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, George II, Henry VII and his queen Elizabeth of York, and Mary Queen of Scots.
Just outside the chapel is the Coronation Chair that is used when a new king or queen is coronated. It held the Stone of Scone—used when Scottish kings took office—but this was returned to Scotland in 1996.
My favorite part was the Poet’s corner. It was not originally designated as the burial place of writers, playwrights, and poets. The first poet to be buried here, Geoffrey Chaucer, was laid to rest here because he had worked at the Abbey, not because he had written the Canterbury Tales. Later Edmund Spenser joined him there.
And burial or memorials in the Abbey didn’t always occur at or soon after the time of death. The creator of two of my favorite poems (“She Walks in Beauty” & “When We Two Parted”), Lord Byron’s lifestyle caused a scandal though his poetry was much admired. He died in 1824 but was finally given a memorial only in 1969. Even Shakespeare, who was buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, had to wait until 1740 until a monument appeared here in the Abbey.
Some of the more famous to lie here are Alfred, Lord Tennyson (creator of “Break, break, break”) Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Handel.
Those with memorials here included Milton, William Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Burns, William Blake, T. S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, all three Bronte sisters, Lewis Carroll, Longfellow
Near the quire (yes, that’s how it is spelled in the Abbey, unlike our choir) and in the nave was the monument to Sir Isaac Newton, who is buried just in front of it. This memorial was used in the DaVinci Code when Robert is trying to figure out the code for the cryptex. The grave of Charles Darwin and other prominent scientists are near by. Winston Churchill is just inside the west entrance.
It was amazing to walk amongst them all.
Then we walked through St. James Park and over to Buckingham Palace where people were gathered for what we assumed was the changing of the guard, but all we saw was a Scottish Regiment making their way down to the gates of the palace to the strains of bagpipes. The gates opened and let them in and we went on our way to Harrods, where we had lunch at a café and did some window-shopping. Harrods opened in 1849 and has 7 floors that cover over 4.5 acres, including 30 restaurants.
Then it was back to Temple Church to get some pictures that I missed yesterday. Then to find a post office, which turned out to be just as illusive as the launderette. Evidently, the postal service here likes to play tricks on you and move the offices around or just make them disappear all together. Of the 4 that we searched for from the information on the map, only one actually existed. We heard tales of, “Oh, I think there was one there years ago, but I don’t know…..Yes, they closed it, but you can go up this street and round the corner and ….on and on...but none of them were where they were supposed to be. But we finally just happened upon one where there wasn't even supposed to be one!
Exhausted by yet another non-stop day of activities, we have decided to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING tomorrow. I don’t care if the Queen herself calls—okay, well, maybe in that case, but….
So after a quick dinner and stop off for treats, we are in the hotel and beginning our “doing nothing” stage of the trip. Don’t expect much of a blog for tomorrow if we manage to keep our promise to each other to rest. : ) But if we do anything, I will be sure to let you know.
The Abbey was founded in the 10th century. Then most Christians in Europe accepted the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. In the 16th century the Reformation brought about the independence of the Church of England from Rome. Since the crowning of William the Conqueror here in 1066, the Abbey has been the nation’s Coronation church.
Burial in the Abbey was a privilege mainly for a few of the aristocracy in the Middle Ages, but it became much more common after this and began to fill with tombs. Today around 3000 people are buried in the church and cloisters, and there are over 600 tombs, monuments, and memorials. The Lady Chapel is especially beautiful with its stained glass, colorful flags and vaulting. Both Elizabeth I and her half-sister Mary I are buried here. Other monarchs buried here are James, I, Charles II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, George II, Henry VII and his queen Elizabeth of York, and Mary Queen of Scots.
Just outside the chapel is the Coronation Chair that is used when a new king or queen is coronated. It held the Stone of Scone—used when Scottish kings took office—but this was returned to Scotland in 1996.
My favorite part was the Poet’s corner. It was not originally designated as the burial place of writers, playwrights, and poets. The first poet to be buried here, Geoffrey Chaucer, was laid to rest here because he had worked at the Abbey, not because he had written the Canterbury Tales. Later Edmund Spenser joined him there.
And burial or memorials in the Abbey didn’t always occur at or soon after the time of death. The creator of two of my favorite poems (“She Walks in Beauty” & “When We Two Parted”), Lord Byron’s lifestyle caused a scandal though his poetry was much admired. He died in 1824 but was finally given a memorial only in 1969. Even Shakespeare, who was buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, had to wait until 1740 until a monument appeared here in the Abbey.
Some of the more famous to lie here are Alfred, Lord Tennyson (creator of “Break, break, break”) Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Handel.
Those with memorials here included Milton, William Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Burns, William Blake, T. S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, all three Bronte sisters, Lewis Carroll, Longfellow
Near the quire (yes, that’s how it is spelled in the Abbey, unlike our choir) and in the nave was the monument to Sir Isaac Newton, who is buried just in front of it. This memorial was used in the DaVinci Code when Robert is trying to figure out the code for the cryptex. The grave of Charles Darwin and other prominent scientists are near by. Winston Churchill is just inside the west entrance.
It was amazing to walk amongst them all.
Then we walked through St. James Park and over to Buckingham Palace where people were gathered for what we assumed was the changing of the guard, but all we saw was a Scottish Regiment making their way down to the gates of the palace to the strains of bagpipes. The gates opened and let them in and we went on our way to Harrods, where we had lunch at a café and did some window-shopping. Harrods opened in 1849 and has 7 floors that cover over 4.5 acres, including 30 restaurants.
Then it was back to Temple Church to get some pictures that I missed yesterday. Then to find a post office, which turned out to be just as illusive as the launderette. Evidently, the postal service here likes to play tricks on you and move the offices around or just make them disappear all together. Of the 4 that we searched for from the information on the map, only one actually existed. We heard tales of, “Oh, I think there was one there years ago, but I don’t know…..Yes, they closed it, but you can go up this street and round the corner and ….on and on...but none of them were where they were supposed to be. But we finally just happened upon one where there wasn't even supposed to be one!
Exhausted by yet another non-stop day of activities, we have decided to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING tomorrow. I don’t care if the Queen herself calls—okay, well, maybe in that case, but….
So after a quick dinner and stop off for treats, we are in the hotel and beginning our “doing nothing” stage of the trip. Don’t expect much of a blog for tomorrow if we manage to keep our promise to each other to rest. : ) But if we do anything, I will be sure to let you know.
***pictures from top: flowers at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Knights Templar atop column, Temple Church stained glass
