London Day 5

Today we took it easy and rode the bus. As we travelled around the city there was a recorded commentary that talked about the buildings and the history of the city. We passed by St. Mary's Hospital, where in 1945 Alexander Fleming won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of penicillin. We passed by Hyde Park, where Henry VIII once hunted, and which is now a public park. We saw the Marble Arch, which commemorates the spot where some 60,000 people were hanged at the gallows. We drove through the neighborhood where the Beatles once lived and where Paul McCartney wrote "Yesterday." The original score for this song is on display at the British Library, and it says that he woke up one morning with this song in his head. We passed the street where Samuel Johnson, who wrote a Dictionary of the English Language, once lived. We saw the pub where Dickens liked to hang out, the Cheshire Cheese. We saw the Mansion House, where the Lord Mayor of London resides. We saw Lambeth Palace, where the Archbishop of Canterbury lives, and we saw the Archbishop himself, who performed the wedding ceremony yesterday for William and Kate, strolling through the Archbishop's Park. And, we saw the Houses of Parliament:



As we were crossing London Bridge, we saw this new modern glass building that is going up, called the Shard. They claim that when it is completed it will be the tallest building in Western Europe.



We crossed over Tower Bridge. This is a draw bridge to allow large ships to sail up the Thames, but there is a footbridge above so that people can still cross even while the ships are passing.



After we got off the bus, we stopped in at a pub for some tea and a cappuccino, then decided to take in a show tonight. We took the underground over to Leicester Square, where they have the half priced show tickets and bought tickets to see "Dirty Dancing." It was a fantastic production of this now classic musical. The staging, set, choreography and acting were all superb. Interestingly, this theatre allowed people to consume food and drink during the show, so people all around us were munching on popcorn and sipping sodas during the performance.