Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and the British Museum

We went for our daily (sometimes twice daily) walk to the tube station. Look at this adorable Nissan car…everyone was stopping to take photos.

One of the Cruise Critic members had arranged a dinner at a pub on Fleet Street, and we thought it would be a great way to meet some people before we got on board the ship. We walked by the Blackfriar pub, a unique building which was built in 1905 on the site of a Dominican friary.

And arrived at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub. It’s not the oldest pub in London, but pretty old by our standards.

It's supposedly where Charles Dickens hung out. I wonder if he wrote any of his books here...like an older version of JK Rowling writing much of Harry Potter in a coffee shop!

Pretty amazing to see how few monarchs there have been since the pub opened. Of course, when you have ladies like Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth with 60-year reigns, it’s not hard to see why.

There were about 20 Cruise Critic people, some whose flights had just arrived that morning and they were still powering on. One of those couples was going on from the pub to see a play. That's stamina!

Walking home, there was a full moon over St. Paul’s cathedral. Gorgeous!

On our last day in London, we finally went to the British Museum. We’ve been talking about going there on each trip to London, so it was now or never for this trip. Look at the detail in the building.

The museum is absolutely stunning inside…

And what’s the first thing we see? Totem poles from British Columbia. Awesome! 

The story of this Tree of Life was wonderful. During Mozambique's civil war, weapons poured into the country and many remained hidden or buried in the bush. People were encouraged to turn in weapons that they found, and in return they were given items such as ploughs, bicycles or sewing machines to help them build a better life. So that the weapons could not be reused, artists cut them up and this is one of the sculptures they made out of the pieces.

A photo (a bad photo) of the Rosetta Stone. It has been on display at the British Museum since 1802.

We spent our last afternoon sitting outside a pub and watching the people go by. It has been a great trip to London visiting the places and people from Dad’s past.

We walked past the white buildings of Notting Hill for the last time…

And purchased some flowers to put on Dad’s father’s grave when we make our first stop in Le Havre, France. 

It would helpful if I learned how to spell Granddad. It looked right at the time. I didn't think he would mind....

Next stop…Southampton to begin our cruise across the Atlantic.