Mind the Gap!

You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. - Samuel Johnson

We stopped in London to spend a few days on route to Portugal. London is one of our favorite cities to visit.  It has a long history and is a fascinating place with museums, churches, food, and centuries of culture to explore.

Over the years we’ve stayed in lots of different locations around London – from Knightsbridge, to Hyde Park, to Camden Town and many places in between.  This trip we found an Airbnb a few blocks from the Victoria Station.  It was a nice apartment close to many restaurants, bars, and markets.

The first night we arrived we went for a walk around the neighborhood to familiarize ourselves with the area. Depending on our energy levels, we thought we might even walk the 20 minutes to Buckingham Palace.

As we walked past Victoria Station, we saw the brightly lit Victoria Theatre advertising Hamilton - a popular play we’ve been wanting to see - so we wandered over to check it out.  At this venue there are no off market resale tickets, rather, people queue for unused tickets to that evening's performance. We decided to join the queue although we were unsuccessful in getting tickets. However, we learned we could return on Monday morning to try again for tickets which we did.  We ended up being first in line and got two tickets to the performance!  It was a terrific show and venue.

A great way to experience the majesty of the churches in London is to visit during a service. Westminster Abbey has resounded to music every day for more than a thousand years. Attending one of the services at the Abbey allows you to hear the Choir singing from their stalls in the quire - continuing a tradition dating back to the plainsong chanted by the monks of the 10th century monastic foundation. We picked a morning service which included a Mozart song.  

When you arrive for a service, you enter the main doors and are greeted by ushers. Generally you are seated in one of the rows of chairs but this time the usher asked us if we would like to be seated in the Quire? We took our seats in the row of choir stalls directly behind the Choir of Westminster Abbey. The Quire has stalls assigned to clergy and officers of the Abbey and to High Commissioners for the Commonwealth countries. Who knows who has sat in these very seats over the years? The medieval stalls were replaced in the 18th century and again in 1848. The black and white marble floors date back to 1677. The music was spectacular, the service was stunning, and the experience unforgettable.


After the service, we visited the cloisters to see the memorials to service men and women of all wars, to scientists like Edmund Halley, to explorers, to the various clergy who have served their congregations, and to the citizens of Westminster who have lived and celebrated there for centuries.

While in London we always try to visit the British Museum otherwise referred to as the British Museum of Stolen Antiquities. Full of treasures, there is always something new to see and learn.  Unfortunately, on this visit we found the line-up was snaking through the entire courtyard and didn’t seem to be moving too quickly. We decided to head over to Knightsbridge and visit the Victoria & Albert Museum instead.  We have been there a couple of times before and wanted to check out Beatrix Potter's 'Drawn with Design' exhibit.

As a young girl Beatrix Potter showed keen design skills. The Victoria & Albert Museum has a display that tracks the development of her artistry and showcases examples of her childhood sketches and domestic projects alongside her adored, famous illustrations that came later.  The exhibit includes a series of letters Beatrix Potter sent to the children she babysat that shows the origins of Peter Rabbit and his family and friends.

We also signed up for a walking tour of 20 of the treasures of the Museum. Some of our favorites include Raphael Cartoons (tapestries made from Raphael’s designs), Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, William Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, and the illustrated choir manuscripts which are quite large in size.