Day Eight - Cambridge & A Return To London

We were up early and on our way by 7am.  We were driving back to London today in time to catch a few sights there before they closed.  We were also planning on spending a couple of hours in Cambridge.  The roads were actually quite busy for so early.

It was another beautiful day.  We arrived in Cambridge just before 10am.  Perfect timing as everything opens at 10am.   Many of the city roads had become pedestrian streets for the weekend.  Fortunately we found a parking garage, parked and headed into the downtown.  Our aim was for the chapel of King's College as well as feel for the city.  It was a very pretty city with numerous colleges.  We passed a couple of different ones on our way to King's College.  The entrance was still quite quiet as we bought our tickets and headed into the church.

King's College Chapel

The church was gorgeous. It was Gothic style with a soaring ceiling over the nave.  It is known for it Peter Paul Ruben's Altarpiece which was full of color and incredibly beautiful.  We enjoyed our visit but felt especially happy to have been able to absorb its beauty without the crowds of tourists who were entering as we were leaving.  We then walked through the main campus of the school which was also very pretty.  What a wonderful place to go to school!

Cambridge

We made some stops in some shops on our way back to the car as well as a M&S to pick up some sandwiches for lunch.  We retrieved our car from the garage and headed back on the road toward London. We soon came upon a long line of traffic headed for an airshow.  As we passed the line in the right lane, jets screamed across the sky leaving red, white, and blue trails behind.  They flew in formation only to break away in opposite directions mimicking fireworks.  It was awesome!  And we didn't even have to join the que to see it! 

As we approached the London ring road, we were on the lookout for gas stations as we had to bring the car back full.  Where are those roadside service stations when you need one?  Janet decided to take an exit and go to the closest town.  Bad idea.  There was no town off that exit but there was a flea market with numerous cars also returning to the highway.  Ugh.  Twenty minutes wasted.  We continued on the highway until we saw a services sign.  Again we exited but this time, there were tricky round abouts and finally, a gas station.  After filling the tank, we headed for the Eurocar return lot at Heathrow airport.  We rejoiced in paying for full coverage insurance, dropped off the battered and bruised Modeo, and headed for the terminal and the tube.  

These kinds of transfers always take more time than planned and this time was no exception.  We finally arrived at our hotel past four.  All our planned activities for the afternoon had closed or were closing.  Bummer.  We decided to take a short rest before heading out for our scheduled evening activities.  We tubed and then took the Millenium Pedestrian Bridge to the Tate Modern, open late on Saturdays.  Most of the modern art left us unimpressed though there was a few we liked and two really good photography exhibitions.  One was portraits of the average German after WWII and another of New York subway riders in the 80s.  

The Millenium Bridge - Pedestrians Only

We recrossed the Millenium Bridge looking for food.   We found Gourmet Burger who packed us burgers and chicken sandwiches to go.  We were headed for the Tower of London where we had tickets to see the Ceremony of the Keys.  Months ago we had sent a request for four tickets, a self addressed return envelope and two international reply coupons to the ticket office and had received four tickets for tonight in return.  We caught a bus and arrived at around 9pm and ate our dinners in the square in front of the entrance.  The tickets were quite specific.  The doors would open at 9:30pm sharp and no late comers would be admitted.

The Tower of London at Night

At 9:30 we were admitted to witness the longest running ceremony in the world or so the Beefeater said, the locking up of the Tower of London, practiced exactly the same way for 800 years!  The Beefeater explained the process and then we were witness to the pomp and circumstance that accompanies the locking of the Tower.  Very cool.  There were no photos or video allowed so you will just have to write for your own tickets and come to London to witness it yourself!

We then tubed back to our hotel and fell into bed for a good night's sleep to be ready for tomorrow's adventures.