London-Day 6-Pubs and walks

When I knew we coming to London, I got excited because I knew it was near Stonehenge.  This was on my original top ten bucket list for Europe!  However, tour companies do not run tours in February.   Also, it isn't really possible to go inside of Stonehenge at this time of year.  So needless to say, we did not rent a car and venture out for the slight prospect of only seeing the outside from a distance.

Instead we slept in and did what we do best--wandered around.  I smashed up three Rick Steves city walks and the city's pub tour.  It required a lot of walking and missing turns, but after you have stopped at a few pubs it doesn't seem too bad.  We started near Covent Gardens, which is an old market and the streets around house the city's theater (theatre?) district.  From here we went back to the Thames & went to the Embankment bridge for photos.  We are grateful our friends travel, as this was a recommendation from Amber.  Sadly, this was our first day with a lot of rain so the pictures were not our best.   From here we meandered through the river gardens to the Somerset House.  This house was important for the British naval fleet, but was closed for Fashion Week!  

After this, we merged the City (old part) and edge of Westminster neighborhoods walks.  The British Queen is still required to get permission from the Mayor to cross from Westminster into the City...and there's a statue to commentate this odd rule.  There were so many great stops, including St. Bride's Church which inspired the Wedding Cake and vaccinations!   

But we had so much fun visiting the touristy pubs.  Here were some of our faves:  The Old Bank (yes it's an old bank),  the Cheshire Cat (where everyone from Lord Alfred Tennyson, Dickens and Johnson wrote), and BlackFriars (a restored 1600s pub).  We love the local pubs here, but the British aren't nearly as friendly as the Irish or Italians.

It was great to wander around such a city.  We walked where so many historic people have walked before us, including Caesar and Churchill.  I'll leave you with this picture of the view from behind St. Paul's from a shopping mall: