Bridges to the Beatles
Walking back past the Tower north of the river Thames, we followed the streets until we got to London Bridge, only making a stop at the oldest church in London, "All Hallows by the Tower". We visited their crypts and saw Shackleton’s keep, reading all the historical information. The Monument appeared around a street corner out of nowhere, tall and hidden in London’s narrow streets, standing proud from the horrible fire that happened so long ago.
The London Bridge didn’t look like anything special; it was just another bridge. People so often mistake the Tower Bridge for the London Bridge, and they are so different from each other. We walked across all the same.
From there, we took a double decker bus to the next underground station we passed. We just had to ride on top, as this was a new and exciting London experience for us. We took the tube to the British Library, just outside the Kings Cross Station.
With millions of volumes and thousand year old manuscripts, it was one of the most incredible places I had ever been to. Their collection of best things was absolutely wonderful, between original Jane Austen, Mozart, Shakespeare, to ancient biblical texts and artwork, to the Beatles scribbled lyrics on an envelope, I loved it all. It was a beautiful place filled with beautiful words.
When the library closed at 6pm, we headed to Covent Garden for dinner. We stumbled upon this adorable pub on the corner, full of history and delicious British specialties. A very narrow staircase brought us up to the restaurant where we sat and the waitresses used a dumbwaiter to bring the food up and dirty dishes down. It was called The White Lion, and The Bedford was the upstairs dining room. It's part of Nicholson's collection of great British pubs.
We toasted with a smooth British Ale. I enjoyed a meat pie with mashed potatoes and peas for dinner. It was hot and wonderful in my grumbling stomach. After, as the busyness of Covent Garden was coming to an end and the sky was getting dark, we walked to the nearest tube station to make our way home to Kensington West.
I fell asleep right away in our tiny, cramped hotel room that smelled of cigarettes and musty mold, only to be woken to the sound of the Beatles being played loudly from a window nearby.
