So this is it: our final full day in London, and our final full day of our trip. What a time we’ve had!

I woke this morning and took a no-slip shower. (I still say the paper bath mat is not as good a rubber one and it’s definitely too small.)

After showering and dressing I did my finances via Quicken. Yes, I’ve done those nearly every day — I like to know what we are in for when we get home and I have to pay for much of this journey (I love it when I can pay for portions before we get on that first plane as it helps minimize the pain, but we will still have a rather hefty bill, as you might imagine.)

We left the hotel and went back to the same place we went to yesterday for breakfast. The people there are incredibly friendly and, once again, the barista gave Dan TWO little cups! (We later gave him a nice tip. 😊 )

Once we finished our breakfast we got on a train. Today’s first destination was Westminster Abbey. I’d last been to see it all in 1974 and I can guarantee I simply didn’t pay attention to a lot. Dan had only been inside when we went to evensong and we could only see a bit of the place and weren’t allowed to take photos.

Getting off the train, we walked a bit and of course photos were taken.

We arrived early so we walked partway around. (Photos above.)

Then it was back again and after we were admitted to the grounds we first went to St. Margaret’s. Only after we used our cameras did we see the sign for no photography. Oops! I really don’t know why we weren’t to take photos, and I saw others using their phones. I wondered, in fact, if it was a sign left up from a service, as they do say no photography when a service is happening.

Then into Westminster we went. I’m not going to point out everything and/or explain … it’s getting late and I want to get this posted!

(I took a lot more photos of musicians’ memorials, or whatever those are called, but so far they have not drifted from phone to cloud and I can’t get them posted because my phone is misbehaving when I try to post from there. Ah well. Maybe later.)

After we went through it all we did what we had hoped to do at some point: it was afternoon tea time! I had looked up “best afternoon tea” on Google, but gosh it can be costly (as in close to £100 per person costly). This was still costly, but about half the price as the real fancy ones. (And actually we probably didn’t have the right clothing for those in any case.) It was yummy, and much, much more than I needed to eat but I ate it all! (Okay, I ate half of what is pictured: I did allow Dan to have the other half. I’m nice that way.)

From there we went toward Trafalgar Square. There was a anti-Brexit protest going on and it looks to me like it’s probably a daily event. I think a large number of Brits are unhappy with what Brexit did for them. The anti-immigration attitude kind of backfired, eh? Gee, sound familiar?

We decided to go to the National Gallery. First we just sat for a bit (my blood sugar was a bit messed up from the tea), and then we went upstairs. It’s such a fabulous place. We had limited time (I think we got in at about 3 but it might have been even later), so we couldn’t see a ton, but what we did see was wonderful. I took a few photos — it’s never as good a seeing the actual works, though.

We had to leave since closing time was announced, so we then headed to a place for dinner. Our final pub meal was at Horse & Guardsman. I’m sad to say goodbye to pub meals —

but I’m also happy to start to eat more responsibly. Obviously if we lived here we’d not go to pubs nearly as often, but we sure do see a ton of people getting off work getting a pint: most don’t go in to the pubs, but stand outside mingling.

Dinner was enjoyed and that was it for our pub life.

After dinner it was back to the tube, catching the Circle line to Bayswater — Dan’s favorite station and the one I will forever remember since it’s the correct station for our hotel!

A short walk later we were in our room and I began to do a bit of packing. I’m really hoping I can fit my walking shoes into the suitcase and wear my lighter shoes for tomorrow. We’ll see if I can manage. It’s probably going to mean smooshing the luggage down hard with my knee, but I’m pretty determined!

Off with me now!

10,560 steps, 4.11 miles, 7 flights climbed
(Note: it’s so nice being back in a city with good public transportation but it does mean I don’t walk as much. Ah well!)