London Sunday 7 June 2009 7th Jun 2009

We left the hotel around 8:45 and went to Victoria Tube station and sorted out the best tickets for our stay. So we are now Underground ready!!

This morning we met up with Linda and Keiron in Hampstead to do a London Walks tour of the area, and then explore a bit more of London with them. We were both looking forward to catching up with them. We caught the underground to Warren St Station and changed to the line to Hampstead. The walk was very good. It was run by an American who had lived in London for 30 years. He gave us a quick history of the area from a few ice ages ago to present day. He explained why the area is how it is, both geographically and historically, so he put everything in perspective for us.

The walk took us through some beautiful old areas of Hampstead, and to the highest point in Greater London, at about 427 ft. We walked past a very famous, and now national trust residence, “Fenton House”. Deb just had to have a photo out in front of it. We walked through heath lands and wooded areas. There were water ponds with all sorts of birdlife and many historically significant houses, even if it was only for the people that live in them. We stopped out in front of one house and the resident of it came out and gave us a bit of a talk about everything and anything. He was a bit eccentric, name dropped a lot, and was a lot of fun. We finished the walk next to a cemetery in a well preserved Victorian street, and then we went to a local pub, “The Flask” for lunch.

After lunch we got the tube into London Bridge Station, and walked around to the Tate Modern. We passed the Golden Hind, a replica of Sir Francis Drakes boat, passed the replica of Shakespeare Globe Theatre and onto the gallery. The gallery was interesting, but not the best we have been to. Deb found the third statue of The Kiss by Rodin on the top floor of the gallery. That means we have now seen all three statues of The Kiss that Rodin made. One in NY, one in Paris and the third here, J We also saw some Warhol, Pollock, Matisse and Cezanne which we enjoyed, there was also quite a few Picassos.

From the Tate we walked across the Millennium Bridge to St Pauls Cathedral. We got in for free (maybe because it was Sunday?) and were there in time to see/hear a ½ hour organ recital by a “famous” American organist. We got to sit under the dome of the Cathedral to listen to it. The acoustics were magic, the music debatable!! (It is a very beautiful church, glad we got to see it, we lit some more candles for you all )

We then went for coffee before Linda and Keiron had to leave. It was so good to spend some time with them. We always enjoy seeing them and exploring with them. It was sad to see them go.

We then walked to a tube station and got a train to Tower Hill Station, near the Tower of London. We went to a pub for tea and then at 7:30 went on another London Walks walking tour. This one was on “Jack the Ripper”, walking the streets in which he committed his murders and seeing the sites and locations of all things to do with the crimes. The tour was done by a guy named Donald Rumbelow who is a renowned authority on Jack the Ripper , and has written the definitive book on the subject. The tour was very good and he took us back to the times and painted very vivid pictures of the life and times of the period. (We also got to see a bit of the east end of London which we might not otherwise have done)

After that, at around 9:45pm, we got a tube from Liverpool Station (its’ beginning to sound like a Monopoly Board) back to Victoria Station and had a short walk to the hotel to finish a very interesting and fun day out.

Congratulations Pat on your new job (GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technician for Sensis working on the maps for www.whereis.com) we will be thinking of you tomorrow)