New's Eve day was spent near the Thames River, perhaps not the best choice. The crowds were so thick we had difficulty walking on the sidewalks. It seems the entire country is in London for the fireworks at Big Ben. We made our way through Westminster Abbey with our wonderful London Pass. It is prepaid and we do not usually have to wait in line. The church is stunning, more so than I remember, I saw the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scotland, Henry the VIII, The Richards, The Williams, James V1, I and Queen Mary (William's queen) were all there. It was pretty spectacular. Melissa seemed to prefer poet's corner, where I took an illegal photo of George Eliot's plaque. :-) "It is never to late to be what you might have been" (Eliot). This is my motto. We then made our way across the Thames and back down to Buckingham Palace. We stopped by 10 Downing, but they must not have got the message to let us in. :-) We saw Scotland Yard and some brave, wet guardsmen on their horses keeping everybody safe. The barriers started going up for the night's festivities so we headed out of Westminster and back to Nottinghill and Bayswater. We planned to head into London Central for the fireworks, but a local told us we could wait up to two hours for a cab or the tube after midnight. Plan "B" is the local pub down the street with what I imagine will be lots of drunk Brits. Yay! Tomorrow is the London Tower, The Globe, and St. Paul's Cathedral. It was soooooo cold and rainy today, but our jackets, hats, and gloves did their jobs. Well time now to "pretty-up" for the New Year's festivities.
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