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18 September 2016

London 2016 – Day 11

Steps today: 25 055

And so it ends; another great vacation is over and it’s time to get back to real life.

We covered a lot of ground on our Farewell Tour! As usual, the day began with a walk in the park.

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For the rest of my life whenever I see or think about the Diana Princess of Wales’ Memorial Fountain I will always think of Vesna’s reaction: “It certainly is subtle!” LOLOLOL That must be the BEST way to describe it that I have ever heard!

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Breakfast was at The Lido – it was a little impromptu but I found the weather SO NICE and I thought this might be my very last chance to eat outside for 2016.  You never know, I might get another chance in Paris, but just in case I wanted to eat al fresco and what better setting than this?

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We then went to see The Monument. When I climbed it in 2005 it was being restored so I didn’t get a good look at the base. This time is was bright and clean and marvelous.

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I climbed to the top again (311 steps) while Vesna patiently waited for me below.

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She’s down there near the lamppost by the car…

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Maximum zoom…

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After this, it was time for a drink and I wanted something with a view so we found a nice place along the Thames Tower Bridge in the background.

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Lunch was in a nice Brasserie just across the River from where we had drinks…

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From there we just aimlessly wandered the city saying goodbye to London.

We came across a graffiti’ed phone booth with homages to Sherlock Holmes near St Bart’s Hospital – I suspected it might have something to do with the current BBC TV show so I took a picture. After Googling it, I see that it is indeed a significant location for fans: Holmes fell to his death from the hospital roof… or did he? LOL

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We then explored Smithfiled Market, or rather: the tiny bit we could see since it was closed. Aside from being a meat market, it was also the location where men could sell their wives! HA! gives the expression “meat market” a whole new meaning!

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We gawked at St Pancras Station…

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Then tubed it back to Soho for supper. I thought fish & chips for my last meal would be a good bookend for the trip since it was also my first meal!

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We continued our goodbye tour with a night time stroll through Trafalgar Square…

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And then when we were almost home, we discovered St Christopher’s Place – a tiny road off Oxford street that opens up into a Restaurant Row! I couldn’t resist.

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That’s it! It was 11 fantastic days in London and I can’t wait to come back again. I can’t fathom now that before coming on this trip, I hesitated about bringing the camera. I thought to myself it’s my 5th visit! How many pictures am I going to take??? The answer, with the camera and phone combined: almost 900.

Thanks for following along…. see you in Paris in less than 3 weeks!

1 comment:

  1. hmmm... this Smithfiled Market(the place with the wife sale)... we gotta visit that place next time we're together in London.

    ReplyDelete