1986 Trip to Europe, London

The next items will be from the journal I kept on our European trip.
May 31st, (Leon’s birthday) we left for England!!! Doug drove us to the airport as Mark was sleeping off the effects of graduation night and Nancy had left the day before with Tricia to go to California. The 747 is HUGE. It holds 400 people. Our seats are right in front of the movie screen. Leon stayed up all night watching a movie but I tried to sleep.
We landed at Gatwick Airport about 11:15 a.m. and took the train to Victoria Station; there we exchanged our coupons for the Explorer Pass to London, which was good for 4 days of unlimited use on buses and the underground. We walked to our hotel, which was about a mile away and found out they had not received the deposit I had sent in April. Luckily they had a room for us. After checking in, we walked back to Victoria Station and took the tube to visit the Museum of London. Wonderful things to see such as prehistoric London, Roman, Saxon and medieval artifacts as well as dioramas. We then took a bus and rode it all the way to both ends of the route. Homes and businesses all have window boxes full of flowers. We were very tired by the time we went to bed about 8:00 p.m.
Next day, Monday, we took the tube to the Tower of London. The tower is very ancient and interesting and the Crown Jewels are magnificent. I’d never seen anything so sparkling, shiny and beautiful. We watched the changing of the guard and a salute was fired because it was Elizabeth II’s 33rd anniversary of her reign. We also saw the remains of the old Roman town’s walls. We visited Trafalgar Square, saw St. Martin in the Fields church and walked along Charing Cross Street looking for books for Syl and my Dad but no luck.
We attended the Evensong service (5:00 p.m.) At Westminster Abbey. The boys choir sang beautifully and the ceremony was impressive. We took another bus ride for the whole route. A good way to see the city.
Tuesday, we went to the British Museum and saw the Elgin Marbles, the Caryatids, some huge Assyrian gates and statues; the Mildenhall Treasure (silver bowls and trays from Roman Times that were dug up early in the 1900s. We saw the Sutton Hoo treasure, a Saxon burial hoard; the Rosetta Stone (I touched it); the Magna Carta, the illustrated medieval Lindisfarne gospels; and some original musical manuscripts of Beethoven and Mozart. What beautiful things; we could have spent a lot more time there.
We visited the Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his cabinet met during the war. It is all underground. We next visited Westminster Abbey for the tour. We had not had time the day before. We saw monuments and tombs of famous people including Queen Elizabeth I; Mary, Queen of Scots; Henry VII, Edward the Confessor and Chaucer.
At one of the tube stations we saw a poster advertising a massed military band review at the Horseguards Parade Ground. We bought tickets and it was one of the highlights of our London visit. The queen was in attendance and we saw her walk out to the reviewing stand and then walk back at the end. The parade ground is about as big as four football fields. There were drums and trumpets on horseback, drums and fifes, full band and pipes and drums. The groups played separately and then together; military band music at its best. It was magnificent, colorful and so exciting. It rained on and off but we just pulled out our umbrella, along with everyone else.
After the retreat we walked over the West Bridge to see the tower with Big Ben and the Parliament buildings. We took another bus and saw Piccadilly Circus, Regent and Oxford Streets and Hyde Park.
On Wednesday, we checked out of the hotel and took our bags to a locker at Victoria Station and went to see Harrod’s, the world’s largest department store. We had a Harrod’s in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but certainly not as big is the one in London. We then visited the National Gallery where Leon stayed while I looked again for those books. No luck. I worried being away from Leon as I had both passports and the traveler’s checks so I was extra careful crossing the streets. Returning I saw some Reubens and Rembrandt’s and other beautiful paintings.
We picked up the luggage and took the underground to White City station where we picked up our rental car.