London Strolling. April 2019.

As we strolled back from the Tower, we made our way back down the Thames. As you walk, you can see a 202ft/6m column. The Monument was built in the 1670s. It memorializes the Great Fire of London in 1666. It burned from September 2-5, destroying 2/3 of the city. Interestingly, the Monument is exactly 202ft (its height) from where the fire started, a bakers house on Pudding Lane.

We then walked over the River via the plain London Bridge to Southwark. Southwark Cathedral is the oldest Gothic Church building in London. It began as a convent in 606. It’s been a priory, a Parish Church, and in 1905, became a Cathedral.

A memorial to Bishop Edward Stuart Talbot. A statue of William Shakespeare. He isn’t buried here, but his Globe Theater was nearby and he belonged to this Parish.

I thought the markers on the wall were so beautiful, each one different and unique.

And they had a Cathedral cat, Doorkins!Right beside the Cathedral is the Borough Market. Loved it. If it was closer to our hotel, I would’ve gone back everyday to try something new.

This Southern girl obviously got the BBQ and Mac n cheese, Andy had fish n chips, and then we shared a piece of fudge.

The Original Globe Playhouse was built in 1599, burned to the ground and was rebuilt in 1613/14, and was demolished by the Parliamentarian Puritans after 1644.

The new Globe Theater was built in 1997 about 750ft away from the original. After our foray down to the Southside of the Thames, we crossed back North on the Millennium Bridge. It’s new and jazzy looking, and it was built in (you guessed it) 2000. On the other side of the Bridge is another Cathedral. This one is the fancy St. Paul’s Cathedral. Prince Charles and Princess Dianna were married here in 1981. The original Cathedral dates back to 604. The current building was consecrated in 1697.

The Chapel on the left is the American Memorial Chapel. It memorializes the 28,000 US troops stationed in the UK during WWII.

528 steps to the top.Some other lovely Churches we passed on our way back.

And last stop of the day- Somerset House. It originally was a Tudor palace, belonging to the Duke of Somerset. (He was later executed on Tower Hill.) In later years it has been added to/rebuilt and served as a residence to Royal consorts, Queen Anne of Denmark, Queen Henrietta Maria of France, and is currently a home of the learning and the arts.