Last full day in London…Sunday, March 3

When Mark and I travel to another country over a weekend, I always try to find the location for the closest church building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints. 

In London, we found the Hyde Park building situated in Kensington, a very popular area of London. It is directly across the street from the Albert and Victoria Museum and the National Science Museum.  The LDS Church in the British Isles and this building have a great history.  It was most enjoyable to be attend, worship, and feel at home.

This building is home for 4 congregations and has a beautiful chapel and large organ.  It is also a Visitor's Center, London Mission Office, and Family History Center. 

Before the worship service began, a lady came up to me and asked, "Do I know you?"  I said, "I'm not sure."  I introduced myself, said that we live in Warsaw, and that we had lived in Katy, Texas for 30 years prior to that.  Katy, Texas was the connection….she is a member of the same church we belong to, but attends a different congregation (ward) than we did in Katy. She said she recognized me.  How nice of her to come up and introduce herself and talk to us for a few minutes.

I'm so glad we were able to attend church service on our Sunday in London, England.

Leaving the church we saw this beautiful subway entrance…the Kensington Station.

Directly across the street we found a place where we could eat…Paul's…we enjoyed our second visit to this cafe (though at a different location) which served absolutely scrumptious food.

On Sunday after church, we had no tours to take…but left the day open for walking around the city.

We knew that Buckingham Palace was close to our hotel in the Mayfair area… so we decided to walk  from our hotel through Green Park to Buckingham Palace.  This view is from where we entered Green Park, which was teeming with people walking through the park.  We followed the path in the middle of the picture, which lead us to Buckingham Palace. 

Here we are looking back from where we came…a short 10 minute walk.

It was a cool, blustery afternoon, but we still enjoyed walking around.

In the picture below we are right next to Buckingham Palace and the red pebbled road is easy to see….

…like a red carpet leading up to the royal residence.

Below is the beautiful Victoria Memorial which sits directly in front of Buckingham Palace. It pays tribute to Queen Victoria…the longest reigning monarch in the British Kingdom….64 years, from 1837 to 1901.  Some people refer to it as the "Wedding Cake Monument" because of its tiered design.

Buckingham Palace is the official office and London residence of Her Majesty the Queen and her husband Prince Philip.  It was opened in 1703! 

When we peeked in the gates we saw a group of Guard Musicians…coming to retrieve their music stands. We think they were part of the "Changing of the Guard" ceremony…held prior to our arrival.

This is the central balcony of Buckingham Palace…it is where the Royal Family waved to the visiting crowds after Kate and Prince William's wedding almost 2 years ago.

I hadn't realized that Buckingham Palace was such a large estate….it includes not only the white front portion of the building below, but also the yellow-colored part behind it.  There are over 775 rooms inside, but the Royal Family uses fewer than 20 of them.

 I would love to take a tour of the Palace where the public is invited…I will need to add this to our "bucket list" for a return trip to London.

Crossing from Green Park to Hyde Park we encountered the Wellington Arch, built to commemorate Britain's victories in the Napoleonic Wars.

Entering Hyde Park…one of the most famous parks in the world!

Hyde Park is sometimes called the "green lung" as it sits in the center of the city. It is a popular place for cycling, skating, jogging, and walking.  People can also swim, row, picnic and go horseback riding here.  It was first opened in 1637!  I was impressed that a beautiful park could be maintained for so many years!

We walked along only one side of Hyde Park….we had no intention of walking around the entire park…it has 360 acres!

This park is famous for the "Speaker's Corner" which is shown in the pictures below. 

In the 19th century it became a popular place for meetings. In 1872 "Speaker's Corner" was established to create a place where people would be allowed to speak freely. 

Every Sunday people stand on a box, chair or step ladder, proclaiming their views on politics, religion, or other personal items of concern. 

There were people talking about religion ….

…and dissatisfaction with the local government and immigrants.  Perhaps immigration is as hot a topic in Britain as it is in the U.S.

The Marble Arch sits on another corner of Hyde Park.  It was originally a gateway in front of Buckingham Palace…but according to our tour guide, Queen Victoria didn't like it, and had it moved to the northeast corner of Hyde Park.

After Hyde Park our next stop was Kensington Palace.  The palace is located in Kensington Gardens, a royal park which is actually adjacent to Hyde Park.  We might have walked through both parks to get to the palace….but we were on the far east end of Hyde Park, and the palace is in the far west end of Kensington Gardens….so it's actually quite a far distance, and we took the tube 2 or 3 stops to the other end of Kensington Gardens.

This statue of Queen Victoria is located in Kensington Gardens, in front of the palace.

Kensington Palace was built in 1605.  There are many royal apartments inside, and it has been the residence of many royal families….including Queen Victoria and Princess Diana.  Prince Charles and Diana lived here, and Diana and sons lived here until her death in 1997. 

After Kensington Palace we went looking for the British Library….The St. Pancras building (below) is part of the library system and is next door to the entrance to the library.  It holds many of the library's collections.

The British Library is a functioning library with many collections on display. Some interesting facts about the library….

* a copy of every publication printed in the UK and Ireland is sent to the British Library

* the collection is well over 150 million items

* if one were to see 5 items each day, it would take 80,000 years to see the entire collection!

A small area of the library is devoted to historically important documents on display.  Some of the treasures we saw are….an original copy of the Magna Carta, one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, manuscripts from the Beatles (including scribbles and notes when creating lyrics), journals and notes from Jane Austen, William Wordsworth and Robert Browning. 

After the library we returned to the Whitehall area where the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey are located.  

While waiting for an organ recital inside the Abbey, we walked around the streets of Whitehall once again.  There were beautiful buildings displaying the British Flag….

….blue skies….the first we had seen in London....

….and Parliament Square, a small park with several statues…including one of Abraham Lincoln.

Though not in Whitehall, this is a colorful building we saw during the day.

Still waiting for the recital in Westminster Abbey, we boarded a red double-decker city bus and rode for a few blocks….just to be able to say we had ridden in one.  

It was actually fun….but a bit tricky getting back to the Abbey.  Finding a bus going in the opposite direction was not as easy as in Warsaw.

Westminster Abbey….we enjoyed being inside this beautiful and historic place of worship for the recital.  It was relaxing to hear an organ recital as one of the last events in our London trip.

We have had a great four days and nights in London, England

Good night and good bye to a great and historic city. 

Mark and I have been enriched by the sights, the buildings, landmarks and history.  London is a busy place and I am so glad we came to explore and learn from it!