The Prisoner of Conscience window inside Salisbury Cathedral
October 8
It was our last full day of our trip, and we had planned to make it a busy one. The plan was to train out to Salisbury to tour the cathedral and then come back to London for some final shopping at Harrods. Given those plans, we had little time to waste. So, we woke up early and made our way to the Tesco for breakfast. With our muffins and juice consumed, we walked across Gloucester Road to the Underground Station. We bought another set of day passes, and then were off to Waterloo train station (taking the Circle and Jubilee lines). After arriving at the Waterloo station, we found a kiosk selling train tickets to Salisbury (£28.60/person/round trip). We purchased our tickets and hurried over to the train, which departed about three minutes after we boarded.
The train trip to Salisbury took an hour and a half. We passed through some pretty, but unspectacular, English countryside on our journey. After we arrived in Salisbury, we walked about 10 minutes before reaching the Cathedral. We spent about two hours at the Cathedral, before walking back to the train station for our return trip to London.
While I didn’t spend much time in Salisbury town proper, I did walk through enough of it to get an impression. It’s definitely not a complete tourist town (like Windsor). There’s enough of a “working class” feel to let one know that they’re in a living community. However, there’s also enough tourist touches (particularly as one gets closer to the Cathedral) that one can’t mistake Salisbury for a tiny village. I guess Beverley would be the closest comparison to the town’s atmosphere: mostly working class, with one big tourist attraction to bring in the tourists.
After another hour and a half train ride, we were back in London. By now, we were pretty hungry, so it was time to find a restaurant. Other than my trip to the Globe Theatre in 1997 and 1998, I hadn’t done much exploring of London’s Southbank area. So, it was time to look into the Lonely Planet – England guide for some ideas about restaurant possibilities around the Waterloo station. The guide book recommended Konditor & Cook, with was about a half mile from the station. However, when we got to its location, we found that it was closed and the building it was housed in was being demolished. Fortunately, Lonely Planet also recommended Meson Don Felipe, which was about two blocks away from the demolished Konditor & Cook. Meson Don Felipe was described as a tapas bar that served very authentic Spanish food. I have to agree with Lonely Planet’s assessment. Our service was prompt, and the food was delicious. We had several tapas ranging in price from £2.50 to £5, which we thought was reasonable. Maybe it was the time we went (a little after 2 p.m), or maybe we were just very hungry. Regardless of the reason, we thought Meson Don Felipe was a great place to have lunch.
After our nice lunch, we walked back to the Waterloo station and continued on to the Thames. Our path took us almost directly under the London Eye. We thought a bit about taking a ride on the Eye. However, the lengthy line convinced us that we should skip this attraction at this time. Instead, we proceeded west along the Thames toward the Westminster Bridge. Along the way, we came across signs advertising the Dali Universe exhibit in the County Hall. Having recently become interested in Dali’s work, we decided to tour the exhibit. The exhibit appeared to be an individual’s collection of various Dali prints and sculptures issued between 1960 and 1980. The collection would probably be interesting to someone who didn’t have knowledge of what Dali had created in his career. But, for those who do have some familiarity with Dali’s work, the exhibit doesn’t justify its £9.50/person ticket price.
After finishing up at the Dali Universe exhibit, we finished our walk to the Westminster Bridge. We took a couple of photos of the Houses of Parliament, and walked across the Westminster Bridge. From the Westminster Tube station, we took the Circle Line to the South Kensington station, and then boarded the Piccadilly line to the Knightsbridge station. There is an exit at the Knightsbridge station that deposits one right outside Harrods’ front door. Consequently, we went inside and purchased all the items on our list that we’d made the day before.
With all of our purchases made, we took the Piccadilly line back to the Gloucester Street station and our hotel. By now, it was about 7 p.m, and I was getting a bit hungry. Dianne was not hungry, but I thought it was better not to wait to eat, so that way we could get to bed early for our trip back to the States tomorrow. So, we walked north on Gloucester Street to see what our options were. With both of us loving Indian food, our selection of the Little India restaurant was no big surprise. We both found the food to be as good as any other Indian restaurant we’ve tried in London. Additionally, the prices were reasonable (about £7 - £10 per dish). But, the waiters here were practitioners of the “push product” school of waiting tables. The waiters continually left curries, chips, bread, and other items on our table. Fortunately, we knew that if we touched any of these items, they would be added to our bill. If one doesn’t find that behavior troublesome, then the Little India is a great place to eat. But, in our case, we’ll probably find another Indian restaurant when we visit London.
It was raining when we left the Little India. The rain seemed appropriate because it matched my mood. For all intents and purposes, our Germany/England trip was over. All that was left was to pack, get on a plane, and fly back to California. Still, there was something magical about once again walking in the rain through London that lightened my mood. I carried that lightness back to the hotel, where we packed and went to bed in anticipation of the next day’s flight.
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