#WanschurasHopThePond: London Part 6

Saturday was our last full day in London. Here you can see the very tiny little room we called home for the week. Off to the left is a tiny little bathroom, but it was extremely nice to have one in our room and not have to share showers with people.

We took a bus to Wimbledon and saw center court. we passed through some really cute looking towns on the way there - I wish we would have had some more time to explore. 

We had left Saturday pretty open, and since we had seen pretty much all the museums/historical buildings we wanted, we decided to take a last look at Big Ben.

Dan's take on the phone booth photo :)

The city map and I were pretty good friends by the end of the week. I should have counted how many times we would whip this out and try to figure out where we were headed. 

We occupied the remainder of Saturday by shopping at the various road markets that line so many streets. We went to the Green Street Market, the Camden Market, and the Portobello Road Market. The Portobello Road Market was my favorite, and unfortunately, the one we stumbled on about an hour before closing. Whereas the other two were lined with vendors selling similar touristy souvenirs, the Portobello Road Market was filled with unique stalls - many of them filled with vintage items. 

For our final dinner in England we ate Fish 'n Chips at the Tottenham. We secured the window seat and were able to enjoy the view while eating the traditional British fare.

Fish, Chips, and Mushy Peas

We made a detour on the way back to our hostel to see the Tower Bridge all lit up. It was worth the extra walking.

#WanschurasHopThePond: London Part 5

We toured the Tower Bridge on Friday morning. The view from the bottom is actually more impressive than the view from inside.

Here's the view from the top of the tower bridge.

 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI. To commemorate, there was a single ceramic poppy placed outside of the Tower of London to remember each British soldier that died during the war. 

 In all there were 888, 246 poppies placed.

It was quite a site to behold.

 "In Flanders Field the poppies blow, beneath the crosses row on row. That mark our place; and in the sky the larks still bravely singing fly. Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead, short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. Loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders Field. Take up our quarrel with the foe: to you from failing hands we throw. The torch: be yours to hold it high, if ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep though poppies grow in Flanders Field."

After the Tower of London, which was by the way, very cool (It is home to the Crown Jewels - the only thing in London we had to wait in line to see); we actually wished we would have had more time there, but we wanted to take the Sherlock Holmes walking tour which was only offered on Friday. We were literally ran through underground stations, hopped on a tube only to find out the exit we needed was closed on that line, ran back took another tube and made it just in time! It was worth the run though, the tour took us past many streets and buildings mentioned in Doyle's writings about the great detective. Covent Garden Market was an especially fun stop because it is mentioned in the "Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", which is the story we adapted into a movie several summers ago.

The tour ended at the Sherlock Holmes restaurant, and while it wasn't dinner time at the end of the tour, we did return and grab a bite to eat here.

Included in our London Pass was a boat ride on the River Thames. It offered a unique view of the city and some nice rest for our feet.

We concluded our day by taking the ride up the London Eye. The 30-minute ferris wheel ride gave us a bird's eye view.

Big Ben is so iconic.

#WanschurasHopThePond: London Part 4

Thursday began at Westminster Abbey. The final resting place of kings, queens, statesmen, and soldiers; poets, priests, heroes, and villains, the 700-year old building is a sight to behold.

The main attraction for me was seeing this statue of one of my heroes - William Wilberforce. Part of the inscription underneath reads "His name will ever be specially identified with those exertions, which by the blessing of God, removed from England the guilt of the African slave trade and prepared the way for the abolition of slavery in every colony in the empire: in the prosecution of these objects he relied, not in vain, on God..."

We missed the changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, but caught the tail end of the parade.

Afternoon tea! 

Dan composed and shot this one

Wow! Herrods in incredible. Floor after floor, room after room, item after expensive item.

It even has a grocery store inside

The fish counter

This wedding cake would only add 3,000 pounds to your wedding budget

Royal Albert Music Hall

We ended the evening by attending The Queen's Theater's production of Les Miserables.Wow! What a phenomenal performance. By far the best play acting I've ever seen. If you're ever in London...Watch.This.Play. 

#WanschurasHopThePond: London Part 3

We started Wednesday at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I didn't know before visiting, but it's actually the third Globe Theatre that has been built in London.  It's built in the same style as the first one, however, so it was pretty cool to see. 

 "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..."

After the Globe, we took a stroll by the River Thames.

White rocks on the moss covered wall = perfect for writing out our hashtag for the trip!

After a quick lunch at a little sandwich cafe, we toured the Dickens' Museum.

Charles Dickens' writing desk

Dan and I were in the play "Oliver!" several Summers ago, so it was fun to see this famous line painted on one of the walls in the house.

Dickens used to perform dramatic readings of his work to live audiences.

His bedroom

Wednesday afternoon brought us to what was perhaps our most anticipated stop in London. I'm pretty sure it was the whole reason we ever started talking about visiting London in the first place. For as long as I can remember, my brother and I have been Sherlock Holmes fans. We've watched the old movies. We've watched the new movies. We've made our own movies. We've read the books. We've listened to the radio shows. We've seen plays. We've watched the TV shows. I guess you could say that we're hooked on Doyle's famous detective. 

As we emerged from the Baker Street underground station, we were greeted by this statue of the super sleuth himself.

There it is - the famed 221 B Baker Street.

Sherlock's study was set up just as I always pictured it when reading the novels. A room with large windows, and a fire place, cluttered with books, busts, pipes, newspaper clippings, and of course, a violin in the corner.

Sitting in Sherlock Holmes' study in Baker Street? Dream come true!

Dr. Watson's study

The upper two levels of the house display small artifacts from the various stories, along with small portions of the story. 

"The name is Sherlock Holmes. And the address is 221b Baker Street."