6 Days in London - Day 5 city views, tea, and tacos
Sky Garden is in the top of the Walkie Talkie Building in the City of London. It is free, however, tickets need to be booked in advance. They are released about 3 weeks ahead. I really wasn’t sure the best time to go and ended up selecting 10am, right when it opened. I think that was a good decision, as we did not have to wait at all to go in, but as we were leaving the line was growing along the side of the building, waiting for the security screening and elevator.
At the top, there is a garden going up either side, with lots of tree ferns and other plants. There is a coffee shop for a snack and observation decks for great views all the way around.
Just a couple blocks away, the Monument to the Great Fire of London (London Pass covered), is much lower to the ground, with 311 stairs to reach the view at the top.
Continuing west, the huge dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral (London Pass covered), is hard to miss. It’s quite massive and you can climb all the way to the top of the dome. Unfortunately pictures aren’t allowed, until we got outside, but it was a precarious climb. The first part is relatively easy, and goes to the Whispering gallery around the base of the dome. The second part to the top of the dome is on narrow, steep stairways that seem to be hanging from nearly nothing. It was another great view from the top, once I braved the climb.
For lunch, it was time for tea. After much research, I selected the The Savoy, since I wanted a fancy high tea. And I think we were successful. You can read more here: http://www.seeandeat.net/blog/2019/2/13/a-tale-of-two-teas.
After tea, thoroughly caffeinated and full of sugar, we walked, what ended up being nearly a huge loop, all the way west along the river to the scaffolded Big Ben and across Westminster Bridge, along the south side of the river to the pedestrian only Millennium Bridge and back to the north side.
We then hopped on the Tube to Westminster Abbey for Evensong, to listen to the choir sing in that beautiful cathedral.
And then for dinner, we didn’t want anything too serious after our carb laden lunch, so we headed to a new food hall just outside Victoria Station that was absolutely brimming with people. It was nearly impossible to find a seat, and no one was leaving very quickly, but we managed to find a place and ordered Malaysian roti with curry and tacos. Both were excellent and hit the spot.
