The Fat-Bottomed Girl's Guide To Travel

APRIL 26, 2023

Today we didn’t have anything planned, so we decided to visit areas we hadn’t been able to on the last trip to London in 2017. It meant a lot of walking, because as I mentioned in the last post, “Chuck” is taking up a lot of the airwaves. Many of the sites that would be open to the public and thronging with people, are closed, due to the preparation and security for the ‘big day’. There is bunting hanging from streets, everyone has ‘snacks’ with corresponding monarchy names, etc., the city is ready to party (or not) next week.

We hopped on the bus back to Trafalgar and began our walk, this time down to the Whitehall gardens by the Thames, and along to New Scotland Yard. Across the river was the London Eye and the Customs House, which had been turned into a “Shrek” interactive visit.

I think I’d make a great detective! I really had to pee, but when we walked up to the front of NSY it didn’t look very welcoming for a visit to the loo. Officers dressed in black, with kevlar vests and semi-automatic machine pistols guarded the doors. Now, this makes me think that I WANT to see what kind of fancy cludgie they are guarding. We pressed on. Sometimes I’m like a camel; I can hold forever if I know that in a while, we’ll be at a pub or whatever.

There was an odd duck in the grass that wasn’t afraid of us. By odd I mean I’d never seen one like him. Maybe a wood duck? I don’t know. There was a man in a kilt walking towards us and I asked if I could take a picture and he very rudely ignored me. Maybe he was late for tea or something. I took one anyway.

There are memorials to the dead from every conflict Britain has been a part of; Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, WWII, etc. We then passed the London Eye, the statue of Boadicea (what a woman she was! Check her out here), and Big Ben. These two Bobbies happily stopped for a photo, glad I wasn’t asking for directions. At the museum of the Calvary, two gorgeous horses allowed me to pet their noses. One tried to nibble me, and the guard told me he’s been “moody all day.” If he’s anything like me, his dogs were barking from standing on them all day! The other horse shied a bit so I let him be.

Next was St. Paul’s Cathedral, which cost £23 to get in. Each. It’s their main source of revenue. It was stunning. And thinking of all the historical things that had happened there, like Charles’ first wedding, I loved seeing it after watching it on TV many times. After a trip to crypt to see where Nelson, Lawrence of Arabia, Florence Nightingale, and William Blake, among others, were buried, we walked again, heading back to Trafalgar.

I noticed that almost everything has been changed over to ‘CRIII’ from ERII’ but the post boxes.

We wanted to go over the Millennium Bridge, but it was cold, with a blustery hundred-acre type wind, and we were getting hungry. Stopped in a locals’ pub called “the Bell” where we had Fish n Chips. They were pretty good, but the cider was awful. Flat, and tasted a bit off.

On the bus again, towards the hotel, we stopped at a Skechers store and bought me a new pair of walking shoes. My Supergas are cute, and would be fine for day to day wear, but not for major walking. No support. I could have basically been walking barefoot for ten days and it would have been the same. But the new ones IMMEDIATELY helped. Thank goodness. We have a trip to Stonehenge and Bath tomorrow, an all day affair.