David and Jo's Adventures: A Day out in London

Thursday 16th Jan

Today we set off in the sun to London. Got the train from Harpenden to City Thameslink station after 9.30am (cheaper after peak hour £38 for two including the Underground, which in hindsight we didn’t need) Within 25 mins we were in the centre of London and headed to the Old Bailey (we were determined to sort this traffic fine out once and for all!!!!!) Had to leave the mobile phone at a local Estate Agents for £1 as you aren’t allowed to take them into the Old Bailey (what a great money spinner-all the shops were offering this service!) About 13 courts all up to choose from, we asked the court clerk if there were any “juicy murder cases “going on and were told off in a very stern manner that there could be family members of a victim walking by or in the Public Galleries and we were not to talk like that! Suitably chastised we chose a robbery case in court 8, very interesting as the Police interviews were being read out - definitely guilty- “hang him my Lord”. Found out later that there was an axe murder case going on in court 13 hence the warning from the clerk earlier. Could of stayed all day but with so much to see had to carry on. St Paul’s Cathedral was next, for £16 you could do a tour with headphones and iPod as a self-guide (we had a 2 for 1 voucher, £32 would be a bit steep!!) Absolutely wonderful building, we were in there for ages, up to the Whispering Gallery where if one person sits on one side of the Dome and whispers something, the other person 34m away on the opposite side can hear it-it worked! Took all of the 528 steps up inside the Dome to the Golden Gallery where you can walk outside around the small circumference, and had a wonderful view of the city (won’t need to do The Eye now) a sunny day made all the difference of course. Had lunch down in the Crypt then walked to Temple Church, featured in The Da Vinci code because of its connections to the Knights Templers (the whole area of this part of London has connections to them). The church has more significance than St Paul’s really as it is built on interconnecting Ley Lines (look it up!!) Wandered back to St Paul’s Cathedral to listen to the Evensong sung by the choir; I challenge anyone not to get a bit emotional listening to it in such wonderful surroundings. How intimidating it must have been for Lady Di on her wedding day (to anyone come to think of it).

Getting dark now so decided to have a walk down to the River Thames. Walked over the Millennium Bridge along the Thames via a pint in the Anchor Inn (one of the oldest pubs in London) back over Tower Bridge with the Tower of London next to it (couldn’t believe how small it looked next to all the new buildings of London) it was all lit up and looked lovely. Had a good meal in the Café Rouge back near St Paul’s before getting the train(11pm) back to Harpenden and a welcome cup of tea and bed.