After a great breakfast we set out on a walk-about route which was designed to have us back at our accommodation in time to visit the Imperial War Museum at 10:00 am (GMT), conveniently located next door to our hotel. In fact, many mornings throughout our vacation in London and Paris, were spent with us making great use of the early hours, prior to attraction opening times. By this time we were just starting to become accustomed to traffic moving in the opposite manner to our flows here in North America. Tricky as a pedestrian... and I'm sure I wouldn't have been safe to drive at all!!!

• Lambeth Bridge - We set out from the Days Inn on foot and trekked down Lambeth Road, past Lambeth Palace and to the bridge. Lambeth Bridge is conspicuously painted in a red color scheme, the same colour as the leather benches in the House of Lords. Walking across the bridge is safe (especially at 7:00 am Sunday morning) and affords an excellent vantage point for glimpses of the parliament buildings, adjacent gardens and the London Eye. Wherever you may land in the city, you should take advantage of the weekend morning walk, as it almost felt like we had things to ourselves and a great opportunity for orientation.
• Parliament / Big Ben - Of the lasting symbols of London, Big Ben is undoubtedly among the most famous. Although the parliamentary buildings were closed and the area secure, we walked across through the gardens and were treated to a quiet morning view of the area. Big Ben actually refers to the bell, and not the clock we have all seen, and it was fun to walk the west side taking in the architecture and attractions. Jane got a great picture from the London Eye that you can see in the Gallery.
• Westminster Abbey - Directly across from the parliament is the back of the famous Westminster Abbey. We chose to attend an early Sunday morning mass at 8:00am (everyone is welcome to these masses). The building is classically gothic in architectural style, and once inside we were treated to an unexpectedly familiar scene (site of Lady Diana's Funeral), with a partitioned nave that divided the church into distinct areas. The mass was simple but formal. Although not Anglican, the mass is very similar to ours and we carefully watched and participated in the proceedings. I enjoyed sitting in the setting and felt very comfortable and welcome among the small congregation. The Abbey remains a working church and a tomb of kings, queens, and countless memorials to the famous and the great. It has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066 and for numerous other royal occasions. Worth the time to visit.
• Westminster Bridge - The way back to the Imperial War Museum led us to Westminster Bridge. In contrast to Lambeth Bridge, Westminster is predominantly green, the same green colour as the benches in the House of Commons at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament. Once again we were treated to a great view of the river, parliament, Big Ben and the area around the London Eye which we had visited the evening prior. A great little loop for the morning before our visit to IWM London.
• Imperial War Museum - Next door to our accommodations is the Imperial War Museum (London), part of the reason we chose the location. If you're passionate about military history, the IWM London should be included among your stops. In the gardens outside there were huge naval guns as well as a sections of the Berlin Wall on exhibit. We spent a solid two plus hours here examining indoor exhibits designed to revisit World Wars I & II, including recreations of WWI trench life and WWII Battle of Britain bombing raids. We also experienced an important collection of video and original artifacts that examine the holocaust. The main gallery displays original tanks, submarines, artillery and aircraft from the past century in an open area where you can get a real feel for actual size. The entire visit was informative and, with our early arrival, unrushed. The exhibits we visited were entirely free and very tastefully completed.
• Tower Bridge - We struck out from the museum to the Elephant & Castle tube station and headed for London Bridge to walk along the Thames past City Hall to Tower Bridge. Conditioned all our lives, from nursery rhyme onward, to recognize the famous London Bridge, one comes to find out that the picture known is actually that of Tower Bridge, which spans the Thames from the Tower of London to City Hall. This suspension bridge, another amazing piece of architecture and important landmark, is over 100 years old. We decided to forego the trip to the upper deck, but did walk across taking advantage of the vista provided of the Tower of London. The bridge was a busy mix of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and directly on our chosen route to the Tower of London.
• Tower of London - We entered, with our advance tickets, through the group entrance. After a simple bag check we secured a map of the premises and wandered in. This world heritage site offers visitors a real taste of English history, especially through the Yeoman Warders who we connected with at several points during our stay. We roamed through medieval rooms, experienced the torture exhibit, explored the armoury lined with spears, knives, iron clad suits and guns, as well as passing by the crown jewels. The warders were particularly informative (or at least entertaining) and as we viewed castle rooms and listened to gruesome accounts of prison tactics, the Traitor's Gate and courtyard gallows, there was indeed a sense of a nation which had evolved from embattled and sordid beginnings. Well worth the visit, and after later discussions Jane and I recommend a tour with the warders to stay focused and make the best use of time on site.
• St. Paul's Cathedral & Virtual Tour - With rain in the forecast for Monday, we decided that a visit to St Paul's would fit better within the Sunday schedule. Little did we know, as we climbed the front steps, that we were about to be treated to a vacation highlight. St. Paul's in itself is spectacular, with a refurbished interior and strong architectural lines. However, the real highlight was to fall into "Evensong" during holy week preparations. As we sat an all male choir, from boys through to men, entered the nave and began an hour of scripture and song that was chilling. I'm not a particularly religious man, but in some small way I found my myself closer to something else that afternoon. I specifically recall a particular hymn in which the power of the pipe organ ceased, and the young voices were left to fill the bowels of the cathedral. As they stopped, the sound bounced from pillar to pillar around the nave... simply astounding. I've connected a virtual tour link above, as photography was frowned upon (not to mention inappropriate). A powerful visit!
• Covent Garden - From here we commuted to the Covent Garden area. With it's covered markets, street performers and eateries, we settled to take in the sites before our Terracotta Army visit scheduled that evening. After scoping out the area we ducked into Punch & Judy for a meal and ales. Very relaxing. Rejuvenated, we walked the market area, stopping to watch the street performers and look at market fodder. After becoming particularly interested in one performer (kind of an English version of Martin Short) we headed up for a beer and a better view from the Punch & Judy balcony. The act was great... a cross between comedian, juggler, clown, uni-cyclist, etc... pretty cool. He was a showman but an even better businessman, as within what seemed like seconds after the bit's end he was roaming with his kit bag through the bar collecting change. After another ale we cruised up Neal Street, destination British Museum.
• British Museum / Terracotta Army Exhibit - While planning we were obviously committed to the dates of our March Break. Thus we scoured the "What to do in London" google searches for opportunities which coincided with our break. Lo and behold, the British Museum was staging a major exhibit of ancient Chinese artifacts, items from the Terracotta Army. I was very interested but Jane was particularly keen, as she is presently a teacher of ancient history. We secured a ticket confirmation through telephone via the box office in early December and built the day's itinerary around this visit. We arrived at the museum early for our 8:30 timed entry but they allowed us to enter immediately. The museum itself is an impressive piece of architecture, and the museum's "reading room" had been seconded for the show. The Terracotta entry and exhibit was crowded but polite. Initially I tolerated the preamble and accompanying background information, however I became impatient in waiting for the clay statues to come into view. A product, I'd guess, of several long days more than actual information value. As we entered the final exhibit the show came together. The treatment of artifacts was profound, as they were very open to examination, protected only by alarms which surrounded the groupings, and set in groups as per the actual site (unfortunately no photography allowed). No regrets in taking the time / price for visiting this exhibit. We planned to return on the last day to visit the rest of the museum (which was closed during our Terracotta visit).
• Accommodations - Days Inn Waterloo - After a switch from the Piccadilly line, we tubed back on Bakerloo to the Days Inn Waterloo. We crashed looking forward to a good nights sleep, expecting vicious weather in the morning, and anticipating another hearty breakfast before check out.