The National Gallery

In Trafalgar Square, along with Nelson and his lions and the Boy and Dolphins fountain, is The National Gallery. Admission is free, which is always nice, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It had been a long time since I had gone to a really good art museum (my apologies to the Alberta Gallery of Art, but somehow a household door as art just doesn't do it for me) and I was quite surprised at how much I liked this place. Even though it was a reasonably nice day and I generally prefer being outside, I spent quite a lot of time here.

Of course, photos can't possibly do justice to such a majestic building and to priceless artworks, but I had to snap a few.

I also liked this Edith Cavell memorial, located at the edge of Trafalgar Square, near the Gallery and St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church.

It was time for lunch, and when I saw this menu at the Gallery Cafe, I was drawn in. Partaking in afternoon tea was one of my goals for this trip, and as Paddington the Bear would say, at £17.50, this seemed like very good value indeed. But, you know, I should have realized that you get what you pay for. After all tea at the Ritz is £50.00.

The actual tea, as in the hot drink, was excellent, but the food was disappointing. The main 
thing was that it arrived more than half an hour after the tea, so that I had pretty much 
finished drinking, and what was left was cold. The sandwiches and "cakes" were nothing 
special -- quite dry -- and the scone was cold and hard as a rock. But it was still kind of fun,
and of course sitting and waiting always gives an opportunity for people-watching.

After lunch, I went into the gift shop of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The sign said that it was in the crypt, so that sounded intriguing, and it was kind of cool. The gift shop had some cool stuff, too, such as this coffee mug. But at £18.00, it was a little too expensive for my liking, so I settled for a photo.