Last Day in London

The morning of our last day in London, we tried to see some of the things that we hadn't gotten to on previous days.  We made our way into downtown once again.  We will be traveling throughout this trip using public transportation, which largely means buses and subway trains.  There is quite a bit of walking using this means.  Stacy's fitbit says that we are walking between eight and ten miles per day.

We wanted to get a better look at the Tower Bridge and went through the bridge tour.  It was really quite a feat for its time, trying to incorporate the latest in technology, but keep with the ancient architecture of the city.  We toured the large steam engine room where the motors raise and lower the bridge for incoming ships even to this day.  I suspect it had been raised earlier in the day because there was a cruise ship in the port that had not been there the previous day.

The kids really enjoyed the glass walkways that enable you to see the passing traffic below.  We've been across several of these in our travels, which is much like the glass floor on the Sears Tower in Chicago many people have experienced.  Our ritual is to stand to the side at first, afraid to step onto the glass, fearing that it won't hold.  Eventually everyone gets onto the glass, feeling success.  And then by the end, each child gets a picture laying on the glass, showing how comfortable they've become with what was at first fearful.  There's probably a sermon illustration in there somewhere!

The last thing to visit before leaving London, but first on our list of priorities to see was Westminster Abbey.  This magnificent church, dating back to 1245, is a wonder to behold.  There are no pics from inside the building, since you can't take pictures in most of the churches in this region, but the ceilings inside must be 200 feet tall high, built with giant stones.  Large archways and massive domes are in every direction.  Beautiful stained glass telling the Bible stories and the history of the church adorn each window.

Westminster Abbey

It also holds the graves of many famous Londoners and historical figures.  Great monuments to poets, church figures, kings, and great achievers in other areas are found here.  Many contain headstones that are great statues, some as many as 40 feet high.  I'm really glad that we made the effort to fit this visit in because it is remarkable what people can accomplish when they don't spend all their time watching TV.

After a quick bite of lunch in a little cafe down the road from our digs, we quickly made our way to the train station, where we catch our ride to the next destination.