London Sights and Olde Pubs

I usually find that my visits to London have a specific purpose, for example to attend a concert or a show, leaving little time to do any of the other touristy things. So, on this occasion we decided that we would spend our few days in the capital going just wherever the mood took us. Naturally we were never too far from one of the major sights.

Like the London Eye.





Or Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament where I resisted the temptation to pop in and tell David Cameron exactly what I thought of his leadership.











Fortunately the nearby Westminster Abbey always has a calming effect on me.

A guided walk around the Bloomsbury District brought out many literary references and of course the name of Charles Dickens cropped up as we began the walk in Doughty Street where the great man lived (at number 48) between 1837 and 1839. It therefore seemed appropriate to also visit the Old Curiosity Shop. 







In London one is never short of fine hostelries at which to take some refreshment and we decided to remain with the historical theme and only visit those that had a significant history. These included The Punch Tavern and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street. 

The latter was of particular interest having hosted Dickens, Yeats, Tennyson, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle and many others during it's history. The smell of the open fires that warmed each of the small, dark rooms was welcoming and took me back to my own childhood. Central heating may be cleaner and more efficient but it lacks the character of a real fire.

In High Holborn we just had to visit the Cittie of Yorke and of course my own perennial favourite, the Princess Louise in which I almost feel the ghosts of Ewen MacColl, Alan Lomax and Bert Lloyd who were regulars at the folk club there during the 1960's.







Sadly there was no time to sample the ales at the Black Friar.

Culture awaited in the form of the National Gallery where we were initially a little over-awed by the size of the place and the number of great works of art. It would have been all too easy to become distracted but luckily we had a plan and pretty much stuck to it. 

Despite spending almost a full day there it would have been impossible to see everything but we were able to spend time and study each of the paintings we had listed as 'essential'. Wow!

My next visit to London will be early in May and is for a very specific purpose. More on that nearer the time.