Church, Church, Museum

Well Monday was a very slow day.  It rained quite a bit so I decided to rest after all the adventures of Sunday.  I did have one highlight.  The whole reason this trip got going was to be able to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet.  I ended up buying two sets of tickets just in case.  Monday night was the first one.  My friend Andy was able to come meet me.  So after a quick drink, we headed to the theater.

I know it's a little hard to see, but that's the curtain at the Barbican... fifth row... not too shabby.   Then it was off to bed.

Tuesday I didn't visit too many places, but managed to cover a lot of ground and take a lot of photos.  As I exited the Monument Tube stop, I paused a moment to snap a few shots of the Monument to the Great Fire of London.  I haven't actually been this close to it in about 20 years.  Is my memory playing tricks on me, or did there used to be more open space around it?

I decided to stop for my first fish and chips of this trip.  Happily I walked past this pub and decided I had to have lunch here.

 
Next was St. Dunstan-in-the-East.  Now here's an example of a place I found photos of on pinterest and it turned out to be just as cool in person.  There has been a church on this location since around 1100.  It was partially destroyed in the great fire of 1666, but patched up.  Sir Christopher Wren added the steeple and tower between 1695-1701.  Then came the blitz.  The body of the church was damaged in 1941 and the decision was made not to rebuild.  In 1967 the city decided to turn the remains into a public garden.  And it's quite lovely.  While I was there, I noticed several locals eating their lunch on the benches even in the rain.

So much scope for the imagination.  It was then a short walk to St. Paul's.  I've decided this must be my favorite cathedral in the whole world.  There are beautiful ones, and ones that command respect, but there's just something about St. Paul's.  Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take photos inside, but do look up some of the photos that exist.

Since the rain had stopped I decided it was time to do something very touristy.  So I was off to the Sherlock Holmes museum.  Now I have to say, it was interesting to see, but I can't recommend going unless you are a die hard fan of the stories and the Victorian era.  Basically the museum is a replica of a Victorian home with a Sherlock Holmes twist.  There isn't a whole lot to it, mostly just a walk through of some very very crowded rooms.  There is a little shop next door which features all kinds of memorabilia.  They were clever enough to include items from the current TV show, but nothing you can't find easily online.

As a small curiosity, almost right next door is a huge Beatles store.  Just about anything you could want for Beatles merchandise seems to be contained here.

I then headed back towards the hotel.  I did make my way down Oxford street and did a bit of shopping.  Nothing too exciting, but it was a nice stroll.  Of course then it began to pour down rain so I decided it was time to head back.  I don't seem to be doing as much as I wanted, but I know I've got a couple of big days coming up so I don't really mind the rest.

Last of all, in case you haven't seen him on Instagram, here's #TravelingDean for the day.  I was worried I was taking too many of him, but perhaps I need to take a few more each day.