London Calling...Traveling Monkbot Jumps the Pond

When we last left our intrepid little Traveling Monkbot...he was stranded in the Atlanta airport with some suspicious-looking primates. Read on to see if he made the leap across the pond to the UK.

London, Baybee, London
Text and Photos by Mind Doc

(Click on any image to enlarge)

London is a great city. Rowan and I hit Heathrow and found it really easy to navigate. The Underground has a station right there in the terminal. It is about an hour by train to our first destination, Bloomsbury.



This is the famous Fleet Street, home of publishing and journalism. Fleet Street is named after the Fleet River, one of the many rivers that now flow beneath London's streets to the Thames. Running eastward from the Strand toward Ludgate Hill and St. Paul’s, Fleet Street was once synonymous with Britain's national daily and Sunday newspapers. Monkbot seemed perfectly at home here.



The playwrights William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson were once patrons at the old Mitre Tavern, now No. 37 Fleet Street. Samuel Pepys and Dr. Samuel Johnson drank at the Devil's Tavern, at No. 1, and Dr. Johnson was also a regular of the most famous of Fleet Street's taverns, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Parts of this building, set on the corner with Wine Office Court, date back to 1667, when the tavern was rebuilt after the Great Fire. It is one of the few pubs in London to have retained the 18th century arrangement of small rooms with fireplaces, tables and benches. Dr. Johnson's association with "the Cheese" made the tavern a place of pilgrimage for many 19th century literary figures including Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

A wander through the streets of London leads to St. Paul’s Cathedral.



A Cathedral dedicated to St Paul has overlooked the City of London since 604 AD, a constant reminder to this great commercial centre of the importance of the spiritual side of life. The current Cathedral – the fourth to occupy this site – was designed by the court architect Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1675 and 1710 after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. Its architectural and artistic importance reflect the determination of the five monarchs who oversaw its building that London’s leading church should be as beautiful and imposing as their private palaces.

As the Cathedral of the capital city, St Paul’s is the spiritual focus for the nation. This is where people and events of overwhelming importance to the country have been celebrated, mourned and commemorated since the first service took place in 1697.

This is a view from the back of the Cathedral – St. Paul’s Churchyard, I think. I have looked and looked to see what it is called. Suffice it to say, the lions are fab. The cathedral is to your left and what looks like a smaller chapel to your right.



Off to the Tower of London …

I don’t know what I expected – but I guess I thought that the Tower would be …um … a tower. It is more like a compound.

Monkbot was persuaded to pose with a Beefeater (who was a great guide, btw), but this picture had more gravitas, it seems. The Jewel House, unsurprisingly, houses the Crown Jewels. Let’s just say that there were some big, big sparkley jewels there. Scepters for everyone!



This view is leaving the Tower. You can see the Tower Bridge (Rowan’s favorite) in the background. We had to fend off the famous Ravens of the Tower to get the shot, as they seemed really interested in Monkbot. They kept looking at him with their beady bird eyes, covetously, I thought. Seven ravens are in permanent residence in the Tower of London; their wings are clipped, so they can't fly away. A superstition from the time of Charles II claims that when there are no longer ravens in the Tower, both the White Tower and the kingdom will fall.



A final shot of the Tower Bridge. You can see that it is getting cold and dark, even though it is only about three in the afternoon. Rowan just about froze in place as I got the shot. She might have started to make pathetic sounds right about now, but I was determined to get the best shot.



Next stop, Edinburgh!

Will Traveling Monkbot have to fend off more ravens? Will he bring home a hunky Beefeater to marry Shelley?

Tune in tomorrow...