Place of Kings and Queens

After a busy day in Paris it was another busy day in London.  We began by visiting Westminster Abbey.

You may recognize it most recently from the marriage of William and Kate two years ago.  However, it is also the resting place of many great persons as well as a working church.  Some of the great personages resting there include Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Edward the Confessor, and Elizabeth I and her sister, Mary I.  The latter was simply amazing.  For sisters who were so divided in life, they are buried one on top of the other with a plaque reading the following:

"Near the tomb of Mary and Elizabeth remember before God all those who divided at the Reformation by different convictions laid down their lives for Christ and conscience sake."

The reign of the Tudor children did greatly divide the country and made life not only difficult for those on the wrong religious side at the time but also cost lives.  It was a moving tribute to see them united even if it was only in death.

After Westminster we visited the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.  The NPG was quieter, cooler, and less crowded than the larger National Gallery so we spent most of our time there.  It was amazing to see the faces of so many famous persons not to mention the original portraits I've grown up seeing in books.  Some of the famous faces we saw were:

• Royals: Kate, Elizabeth II, and Charles; Bonny Prince Charlie, Henry the 8th and several of his wives
• Paul McCartney
• Ernest Shakleton
• Winston Churchill
• The Shelley Family (Mary and Percy)

We even got to see George Washington and an interesting scene of Parliament debating how to respond to the Declaration of Independence (someone apparently had a heart attack).  

 

After that, a few of us headed to Harrod's, the famous ultra posh department store.  5 stories of luxury goods greeted us along with the footman and a friendly security guard.  As I walked through I was reminded of the PBS series Mr. Selfridge.  If you haven't seen the show, it's mainly a drama surrounding the Selfridge family (wealthly Americans who move to London to start a department store) and the people who work there.  What's interesting about the show and what I saw parallels to today was the shopping experience, how sales are made, and customer service.  The staff, for instance, seemed to show no partiality and each section of the store certainly knew the tricks of the trade for getting you to buy (samples, spraying fragrance in the air, etc.)  Beyond that though, the Harrod's building was amazing.  Each room on the ground floor has a theme, whether its food or the Nile, and each room is ornately decorated with features on that theme.  From hanging chandeliers of food to golden pharaohs it was all elaborately designed.  One treasure that we found was tucked in the corner of the men's section.

This is a memorial to Princess Diana and Dodie Fayed, whose father owned the store at the time of their deaths.

It's hard to believe William was only 15 at the time and that he is now a father.  Yes, that's right!  Kate gave birth this afternoon to a baby boy!  I'm sure I'll have more details for you in the days to come.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the first rain I've seen in London since we arrived.  Sweet rain, how we missed you!