Another thing about this expensive one room place we have for just another few days is that it has daily maid service. This includes fresh towels that are uniquely displayed each day (see photo). Until I arrived they provided only one swan; now there are two. (I think they are swans, but at times they appear like cobras to me.)

Tuesday--With most of the subway lines down because of the strike, I had to be creative in choosing what to do. I did not want to be caught in the rush hour at the end of the day. I decided to do the Westminster and St. James's walk from the Walking London book, and what a nice choice it was. London has had beautiful weather since I've been here and yesterday was no exception.

The walk started opposite Big Ben, then past the Treasury, the Foreign Office, the entrance to No. 10 Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence, and the Banqueting House (where King Charles I was beheaded). Then I went into the Horse Guards Parade (the former jousting field of Whitehall Palace) past the new Household Cavalry Museum and skirted St. James Park on my way to Waterloo Place, then past all the gentlemen's social clubs on Pall Mall St. and into St. James Square. In addition to all of the large parks, London has some lovely gated squares, or small parks really. I proceeded onto Jermyn St. with its men's shirt shops and "outfitters" and then past the old St. James Palace, through Green Park to Buckingham Palace, then onto Birdcage Walk with St. James Park on the left and the Guards Museum and Guards Chapel on the right. I didn't go in, but I did stop into the Toy Soldier Centre which was like a museum. I have never seen so many miniature toy soldiers, of EVERY variety imaginable, and VERY expensive. Then I walked down the early 18th century Queen Anne's Gate with it's lovely architecture, then I passed Cockpit Steps which is the site of the 17th century royal cockfighting arena (did we really need to know that?), to Westminster Abbey. I was struck by how quiet some of these streets are--you would never guess you were in the heart of a city the size of London.

I went into the abbey's cloisters, which are free, and was able to wander into part of the church itself. The poet's corner was interesting with gravestones and memorials to some of the finest writers: Chaucer, Lord Byron, Dylan Thomas, Lewis Carroll, T. S. Eliot, Tennyson, Robert Browning, Shakespeare, Dickens, to name only a few. I also went into the Abbey Museum and saw the wax and wood statues of some past kings and queens, and some restoration projects underway. Very picturesque were the College Garden and St. Catherine's Chapel beyond the museum.

Then it was past the Houses of Parliament before heading home. Went to a pub for dinner. I had fish and chips and a pint; Gord had something else and then decided that a pub was a good place to have a beer but he would prefer to eat elsewhere.

Favorite plaque of the day: Sir Isaac Newton

Today it's off to the Tate Modern if I can figure out how to get there despite the subway closures.