1) Go to a British market,
2) Go to a cathedral (Church of England this time), and
3) Go to the Museum of London.
Our first stop was the Borough Market, which seems to be the oldest market in London, though it's changed somewhat in nature since its founding in the Middle Ages, which it probably would have sold more British cheese and less French cheese. At this point it seems to have reinvented itself as a French market that has a few stalls selling meat pies, which would have been more appealing were it not for the fact that we'll be spending the next year in France, and that England is well known for two food groups, one of which is cheese.
From there we wandered over to the Southwark Cathedral for a while, which is much older than the current instantiation of St Paul's Cathedral, and also much less pricy. It was founded as an Augustian priory in the early twelfth century before becoming a diocesan church upon the decision of Henry VIII to break with Rome and the accompanying shuttering of the monasteries.
From there, we headed to back to the Underground and over to the Museum of London, which tells the story of London, from Paleolithic times up to the present. We learned, for instance, that while London (Londonium) was founded by the Romans in the first century, it was abandoned in the fifth century because conflict on the continent required that they consolidate their forces. At that point, the city was left abandoned for four centuries, only being repopulated in the ninth century when its walls were used as protection from Viking raids.
We learned about the Black Death and its effect on London, and the nearly two centuries that it took for the population of the city to return to its pre-plague levels. We learned about the conversion of the country under Henry VIII and its effect on the land holding of the Church in London. We explored a debtors' prison cell (why imprisoning someone for debt (and thereby preventing him from working) is supposed to solve anything I will never understand) and the names carved into its walls. We walked through a 17th century pleasure garden and a Victorian shopping district and watched 1950's era children's programming. Apparently it was very interesting because my kids are now quoting Blaise Pandy rather than Airplane. I haven't yet decided whether this is an improvement.
And then, after a stop at the bathrooms, a wander back to the Underground station via a system of elevated sidewalks, and then back home.
From there we wandered over to the Southwark Cathedral for a while, which is much older than the current instantiation of St Paul's Cathedral, and also much less pricy. It was founded as an Augustian priory in the early twelfth century before becoming a diocesan church upon the decision of Henry VIII to break with Rome and the accompanying shuttering of the monasteries.
From there, we headed to back to the Underground and over to the Museum of London, which tells the story of London, from Paleolithic times up to the present. We learned, for instance, that while London (Londonium) was founded by the Romans in the first century, it was abandoned in the fifth century because conflict on the continent required that they consolidate their forces. At that point, the city was left abandoned for four centuries, only being repopulated in the ninth century when its walls were used as protection from Viking raids.
We learned about the Black Death and its effect on London, and the nearly two centuries that it took for the population of the city to return to its pre-plague levels. We learned about the conversion of the country under Henry VIII and its effect on the land holding of the Church in London. We explored a debtors' prison cell (why imprisoning someone for debt (and thereby preventing him from working) is supposed to solve anything I will never understand) and the names carved into its walls. We walked through a 17th century pleasure garden and a Victorian shopping district and watched 1950's era children's programming. Apparently it was very interesting because my kids are now quoting Blaise Pandy rather than Airplane. I haven't yet decided whether this is an improvement.
And then, after a stop at the bathrooms, a wander back to the Underground station via a system of elevated sidewalks, and then back home.
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