Christmas Adventures Part 4

Day 4 – Boxing Day

Our last day at the Dukes started with breakfast at the same patisserie as on Day 2. Once you find something that works, you have to go back to it. Also, we needed proper fortification for the morning. We took the path through St. James Park again and headed for Westminster Abbey in the hopes of actually making it inside.

Westminster Abbey is the second major cathedral we’ve had the opportunity to tour; the other being York Minster. It seems to us that Westminster Abbey is taller but York Minster covers a larger area (and also has better stained glass). What Westminster Abbey does have is tombs. A lot of tombs. Most interestingly, the Abbey housed the tombs of Edward I, Edward III, Richard II, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Quite a collection. After all these reminders of our mortality, we thought a drink was in order! We found a cozy pub just around the corner from the Abbey (and around the corner from the #1 voter recommended public WC in London for those of you who know the area and the facilities – you know who you are!)

Then it was back to the hotel to check-out. We took a taxi to our new (cheaper) hotel in Kensington. We were not instantly impressed with the Avonmore Hotel. It is hard to know if the caliber of the hotel is really quite poor or if it was just the effect of leaving the Dukes Hotel – nothing will ever compare! Our room in the Avonmore smelled of smoke and was well….frankly, dirty. So we were offered another room about the size of a bathroom, but which nicely did not smell of smoke and was clean. I guess £95 per night doesn’t go very far in London.

On the bright side, this room did encourage us to go out and see the sights so after dinner we headed out to see the best of Kensington. Unfortunately, it being Boxing Day, all of Kensington was closed. Except the movie theatre. We took in a 8:30 pm showing of The Holiday. That Jude Law, he’s so charming. Beth used some fancy Ph.D words like “juxtapose” to describe how the plot “mirrored” our experiences of life in England/Canada but Brent had no idea what she was talking about. (He only went to law school and doesn’t even have a Masters like the rest of his family.) He just thought Jack Black was funny.