http://www.westminster-abbey.org/Today I spent 3 hours inside Westminster Abbey. It was really cool!! I was impressed to find several stained glass windows and plaques dedicated to Civil Engineers!!! There were also a few famous South Africans represented.
Unfortunately I did not arrive at the Abbey in time for a guided tour, but I still enjoyed wandering around the buildings alone, reading all the plaques and trying to remember all the history I had learnt.
It was amazing being in such an old building, with so much heritage and history that I have learned about. The tombs and memorials to the various royals were fascinating... Everything from Richard the Lionheart, to Elizabeth I and Mary I...
It was kind of like a scrapbook of every important person and event in British history, and it was nice to see royalty and commoners (well I guess the Organists and Clerk of Works of Westminster Abbey are not really commoners, but you know what I mean).
Poets' Corner, and the Nave (which contained memorials to famous engineers, statesmen and soldiers) were especially interesting, and even though the people are not actually buried there, I had a huge sense of awe and almost wanted to bend down and touch the stones or plaques. I loved the fact that there is no particular order to the memorials, everything is a different size and style, but somehow they all belong together. As I said it's really like a scrapbook made by lots of different people in many different times.
The Abbey Museum and the Cloister Gardens were also very interesting. The Gardens were very peaceful, with tall trees and fresh grass. There were even roses, and a few bulbs which were starting to flower. Spring is almost here!
Coming out of the Abbey, I was rather cold and the smell of coffee from the nearby takeaway stand was very tempting. However, by this time it was after 4pm, so I headed for the station and made my way back to Earlsfield.
By the evening, Dave (who had been in bed with flu all day) was sufficiently recovered to go out. It was Valentine's Day and the other housemates had planned a romantic home cooked meal, so we headed to the mall for dinner anda movie. We watched a pre-screening of the new Heath Ledger film, Casanova. It wasn't what I expected, but it was funny and very enjoyable. After the movie we did an ultra SA thing and went to Nandos!!
The food was very similar, although for some reason they call "mild Nandos", "medium Nandos". The poor Londoners pay horrific prices for their chicken, but one cool thing was that the meal came with copious chips, and bottomless cokes!! All in all a great evening!
It was amazing being in such an old building, with so much heritage and history that I have learned about. The tombs and memorials to the various royals were fascinating... Everything from Richard the Lionheart, to Elizabeth I and Mary I...
It was kind of like a scrapbook of every important person and event in British history, and it was nice to see royalty and commoners (well I guess the Organists and Clerk of Works of Westminster Abbey are not really commoners, but you know what I mean).
Poets' Corner, and the Nave (which contained memorials to famous engineers, statesmen and soldiers) were especially interesting, and even though the people are not actually buried there, I had a huge sense of awe and almost wanted to bend down and touch the stones or plaques. I loved the fact that there is no particular order to the memorials, everything is a different size and style, but somehow they all belong together. As I said it's really like a scrapbook made by lots of different people in many different times.
The Abbey Museum and the Cloister Gardens were also very interesting. The Gardens were very peaceful, with tall trees and fresh grass. There were even roses, and a few bulbs which were starting to flower. Spring is almost here!
Coming out of the Abbey, I was rather cold and the smell of coffee from the nearby takeaway stand was very tempting. However, by this time it was after 4pm, so I headed for the station and made my way back to Earlsfield.
By the evening, Dave (who had been in bed with flu all day) was sufficiently recovered to go out. It was Valentine's Day and the other housemates had planned a romantic home cooked meal, so we headed to the mall for dinner anda movie. We watched a pre-screening of the new Heath Ledger film, Casanova. It wasn't what I expected, but it was funny and very enjoyable. After the movie we did an ultra SA thing and went to Nandos!!
The food was very similar, although for some reason they call "mild Nandos", "medium Nandos". The poor Londoners pay horrific prices for their chicken, but one cool thing was that the meal came with copious chips, and bottomless cokes!! All in all a great evening!
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