Day 7 - St Paul Cathedral -> Harrods Department Store

From the Museum of London, it was a 8mins walk to St Paul Catherdal in Newgate Street. Opposite St Paul's Cathedral is Christ Church Greyfriars.

Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street.


St Paul's Cathedral, London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the
mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London.

The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London. Its dome, framed by the spires
of Wren's City churches, dominated the skyline for 300 years.[3] At 365 feet (111 m) high, it was the tallest
building in London from 1710 to 1967. The dome is among the highest in the world. St Paul's is the second-largest
church building in area in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral.

St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity. Services held at St Paul's have included:
the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher; jubilee celebrations
for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of
Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for the Silver,
and Diamond Jubilees and the 80th and 90th birthdays of Elizabeth II.



Old City Gate Near st. Paul's Cathedral

Admission fee applies for entering St Paul Cathedral.

Statue of Queen Anne, 1665-1714, in front of St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Paul's Churchyard.

After departing from St Paul Cathedral, we walked to my son's apartment. Along the way, there were many historic churches & buildings full of character & with beautiful architecture.

First was St Sepulchre, an ancient parish partly within the City of London and partly within Middlesex, England.


Next, The City Temple, a Nonconformist church on Holborn Viaduct in London. It is the only English Free Church still worshipping in its own building every Sunday in the City of London

St. Andrew's Holborn Church with a 1000 year history

LSE High Holborn Residence is a purpose built hall, located north of Covent Garden, between Holborn tube station and Tottenham Court Road.

Our next destination was Harrods Department Store on Brompton Road. The nearest tube station to Harrods is Knightsbridge on the Piccadilly line.

Day 7 - Lunch at Burger & Lobster -> Museum of London

Lunch was at Burger & Lobster, another recommendation from my son and it was a good recommendation
Restaurant Front

Restaurant Interior

We ordered a mix of steamed and BBQ lobsters. It was very delicious, finger licking good, very juicy and fresh. Very Yummy.
Took our time to slowly enjoy the great food. Total Bill was GBP 146.2 for 5 sets.

BBQ Lobster. The set came with fries and greens.

Steamed Lobster

The sauce is very tasty and full of flavour!

After lunch, we proceeded to Museum of London. Admission was free.
The Museum of London documents the history of London from prehistoric to modern times. The museum is located on London Wall.





Life size Queen's carriage

Day 7 - Cook breakfast -> King Cross Station Harry Potter 93/4 platform -> Borough Market -> Tower Bridge -> Tower of London

Today, the itinerary for the day was Borough Market, Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, Hyde Park and finally dinner at Queensway.
From the bnb, We walked to Royal Oak station which is about a 15mins walk. Royal Oakis a very small station. Few flights down from street level
is already the station.
Royal Oak Train Platform

Inside the very busy King Cross Station




En route, we went to King Cross Station Harry Potter’s 9¾ platform. There were many people queuing and the staff helped the tourists to pose for photograph.



Long queue

St Pancras Station

King Cross St Pancras Station with its beautiful design and architecture.
The station is in fact three stations: a single Underground station – King’s Cross St Pancras – and two overland rail stations,
St. Pancras station and King’s Cross station. It links six London Underground lines – Circle, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City,
Northern, Metropolitan and Victoria. This makes it the biggest interchange on the London Underground, and one of the busiest.



Around the King Cross Station, Cute Building

King Cross Station


Borough Market
Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, Central London. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London.
It is a pretty, vibrant, busy and colourful market. Many products are sold here - fish, meats, vegetables, ciders, cheeses, breads, coffees and cakes.
Other stalls specialise in produce imported from abroad. Free food samples were aplenty from many food stalls so you can try the cakes, pastries & products
before buying them. The market is open from Monday to Saturday. The full market operates from Wednesday to Saturday. On Mondays and Tuesdays, shoppers can
find hot food traders, and fruit and vegetable stalls. It is also within walking distance to to Tower Bridge and Tower of London
Read more at http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/285604-borough-market#DbjKdIObxwIbYGl7.99




Brownie





Round the corner of Borough Market is the beautiful Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie,






Enroute to Tower Bridge - Hay's Galleria is a mixed use building in the London Borough of Southwark situated on the south bank of the River Thames.


Tower Bridge



Tower of London





Taken from Towetr Bridge





Long queue at Tower of London - where the crown jewel is






Enroute to Burger & Lobster

10 Trinity Square, Tower Hill is a Grade II listed building in London that was opened by David Lloyd George, then the British Prime Minister, in 1922.
It is best known as being the former headquarters of the Port of London Authority.

Day 6 - Oxford Street

After dinner, it was shopping time at Oxford St, the Orchard Road of London. Generally, London has a lot of old and historical buildings.
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around
half a million daily visitors, and as of 2012 had approximately 300 shops.

Busy shopping area with heavy traffic and many shoppers - it is equivalent to our Orchard Road.










At the end of the shopping trip, we took UBER too bnb and it costed only GBP7, much to our surprise!

Uber to London airbnb -> Check in -> Dinner at Flat Iron , Beak St -> Oxford Street -> UBER to bnb

After chucking some of the luggages for Iceland at my son’s apartment, we returned the rental car and took UBER to the next bnb at Swallow Court in
Kensington area where we will stay for the next 3 nights. We paid S$1278 for the 4 nights for 4 of us and the price is a value for money.

bnb link : https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/7753090
The apartment was clean and bright and worked well for us. We could also do our laundry. Again, it is a home from home. The nearest subway was Royal Oak
about 10-15mins walk away. Queensway is another 10mins away. The nearest grocery store is about 10mins away.

Spacious, bright and cheery sitting room with one sofa bed for my daughter.

Kitchen & a small dinning area. We mainly prepared breakfast here, surviving on maggic mee, bread, cereals and eggs.
We were trying to deplete all the foodstuff before going to iceland. Also, the nearest Mcdonald’s is at Queensway which is about 20-25mins walk away.

Sitting Room viewed from kitchen

One bathroom with toilet.


Bedroom 1 with a double bed for my son


Bedroom 2 for both of us


Hallway


A small toilet along the hallway

Shops around and opposite Swallow Court


Swallow Court Apartment

Key is required to enter the apartment

This was our unit.

Sunset taken from the apartment after we were back.

After settling down, we booked a UBER and went to Flat Iron at Beak St for dinner. The steak was delicious and the meal will not burn a big hole
in the pocket. Good recommendation from my son. Total Bill : 65.75 GBP.
Menu

Special cultery for the steak

Order 5 steaks

Tasty salad/greens

Sides - Brinjals & brocolli - tasted good.

Special sauces which you need to pay. GBP 1 each.

Juicy steak - GBP10

Day 6 - Cook breakfast -> Somerset Lavender Farm -> Drove to London -> Vietnamese Lunch at Banh Mi Bay, Holborn

After breakfast, we checked out and en route visited the Somerset Lavender Farm. The timing was perfect as the flowers were in full bloom.
Entrance is free but we can help the farm by buying essesntial oils or other products from the souvenir shop.






Then it was a 2 hr drive to London. We did not know the area we entering were restricted and we were supposed to pay before driving in so in the end, we got a hefty GBP 60 fine for that.
We had vietnamese food for lunch at Bun Mi Bay near my son’s rented apartment. Service was fast and prompt and the food was authentic and delicious. The pho I took was good.
Total Bill : GBP 40.95.

Curry beef - Hubby said it was good