Southwark and The City of London

August 28 - afternoon

We docked the bikes at Waterloo Station and went inside for coffee and a spot of people-watching. This weekend was the Summer/ August Bank Holiday, so presumably the train stations were extra busy. From the upper level we could look down on the crowds, and there was plenty to see.

After Waterloo Station, we went on to Gabriel's Wharf and Southwark.

We went inside Southwark Cathedral (1106), something I didn't do when I was here before. It is amazing, with a lot of tombs, statues and stained glass windows. 

Through an alley and tucked in behind the cathedral, below London Bridge (in the "vaults"), was our destination: a bike shop called On Your Bike, where we arranged to rent bikes for a ride to Greenwich tomorrow.It is hard to believe from looking at this photo (from their website) that it is really quite a big bike shop, with a large selection of bikes and accessories. 

Folding bikes are an especially big deal around here, ranging in price from around GBP 400 to GBP 1,500. I've seen quite a few people riding them here in London, but also back home, and I am always surprised at how fast and efficient they seem. Maybe someday...

After making the bike rental arrangements, we grabbed another pair of Boris bikes and headed across London Bridge and east to The Tower of London.

We wandered around here for a while, marveling at the fact that people in the 11th-14th centuries could plan and construct such a vast and relatively complex structure.

I also marvel at the fact that people are willing to pay $50+ to go inside. I dunno -- maybe it's worth it, but I would need quite a bit of convincing before I'd be willing to pay that much.

I was surprised that it wasn't busier here; I think it was just as busy when I visited in April.

It's always nice to get some random tourist's head in your photos!

As we left the Tower and headed up towards St. Paul's, we came across All Hallows-by-the-Tower church -- the oldest church in the city of London. It was founded in the 7th century but was rebuilt after being damaged during WW II. William Penn was baptized and John Quincy Adams was married here. There is a small but fascinating museum with examples of Roman pavement from the old city of London. 

And then -- St. Paul's. 

 

The "Feed the Birds" front steps of St. Paul's

From here we went to the Museum of London, just a short walk away. This museum is quite incredible -- it shows the history of The City of London from Roman times to today. For some reason, I didn't take any photos, but this is something I would highly recommend for visitors to London, especially with children. (It's free, by the way!)

By this time it was about 5:30 p.m., so we used the Boris bikes to ride back towards the hotel, stopping along the way whenever something caught our eye. We rode through Piccadilly Circus and stopped in at Selfridge's on Oxford Street. We had watched "Mr. Selfridge", a mini series about the founder of this store, and upon Googling learned that it is now owned by Canadian Superstore/ Loblaws magnate, Galen Weston. I like this store better than Harrod's; it is more "real" yet still rather classy. When I was in London before I had tea here, but Dave and I just looked around.

Actually our destination wasn't the hotel, precisely, but Edgware Road, which I discovered on my last visit. I had noticed the abundance of Middle-Eastern restaurants and thought it would be a good area to have dinner. There are so many restaurants that it was hard to choose just one! We finally decided on Fatoush Express -- I had "baby chicken and rice" while Dave had beef shwarma. The food was fantastic, and they even throw in a plate of 6 pieces of baklava for dessert.

After dinner, we decided to hire the Boris bikes one more time for a ride around Hyde Park and back to our hotel.