A Day in London (Part Three)

The next leg of our lengthy walk through central London was along Whitehall, the street which connects Trafalgar Square with Parliament Square.

There are a number of imposing government buildings along the street.

The Women of World War II Monument honors the contributions of British women to the war effort.

The Cenotaph is memorial which was originally dedicated those who died in World War I, but it now also honors British troops who died in World War II.

Whitehall ends at Parliament Square, and there it is... Big Ben, or as I explained in the last post, the Elizabeth Tower.

I don't know if some sort of event was going on, but the Goodyear blimp was flying overhead.

We crossed Westminster Bridge for a view of the Thames River.  On the opposite bank is the London Eye.

The other side of the bridge offers the classic view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  But in the late afternoon, the buildings were a silhouette against the sun.

Looking toward modern high-rise buildings upriver

The Palace of Westminster, or Houses of Parliament as seen from the bridge

 

Although Parliament has met here for centuries, the current palace is relatively new.  It was built in the 1840s in Gothic Revival Style.

Just a block away from the Houses of Parliament is Westminster Abbey.  The Gothic church was begun in the 13th century and has been the site of royal coronations, funerals and weddings.

At this point we went back to Whitehall to find someplace to eat.  I know that restaurants near major tourist attractions are not the best places to eat, but we were too tired to search farther afield.  We went to a pub and ordered fish and chips.  The meal was rather bland.

After walking for hours, there was no way that I wanted to walk all the way back to Paddington Station.  Fortunately, the nearby Charing Cross subway stop was on the direct line to Paddington.  There we caught the train back to Heathrow, and then the quick bus ride to our hotel.  It was a great day.  We saw many of London's most famous sights, but by the end of the day we were exhausted.