We flew into London - it is an over night flight so you arrive rather early in the morning.

We are spending the night in London and catch the train tomorrow afternoon.

We are staying at St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel, and since it is in such a beautiful and historic building I think it deserves a page to highlight the beauty and history.

My favorite place in London. Why, I have no idea. I just know whenever we have at least one day I like to come here.

Maybe it is the history, or the way London turned a horrible assault into something beautiful and tranquil.

The only trouble is it appears other people have discovered my garden. UGH. Tourists.

But on a good note everyone seems to appreciate it's beauty and I have never heard anyone on a cell phone

Ben Wilson is an artist who finds inspiration - or disgust - in many places. One of the pieces of waste he turned into art is disgarded gum.

There are pieces of his art all over, but the Millenial Bridge had quite a few.

Now you may not believe it, but it is really hard to stand still on a major pedestrian bridge and try to take a decent picture of something so small while being buffeted by the masses. That's our excuse for poor quality pics.

This is said to be the oldest church in The City of London, founded in 675 AD. Besides being quite beautifu it has a lovely museum in the undercroft. During a renovation they discovered Roman floors, part of the old Saxon Church, and expanded on these with many other interesting displays.

Not bad for a church almost burned in 1666 and then bombed in the blitz.

The cabbie we had on our first day recommended we see St. Magnus. London cabbies are full of good tips.

Squished between tall buildings you could miss it but worth the visit.

This particular version was built by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666.

Our cabbie was most insistent we see the miniature display of the original London Bridge as it looked in 1300 and 1400.

For fun we signed up for a small tour of some of the oldest pubs in London.

You would be surprised just how many pubs from the 1600s are still around.

The theme here was, well for me it was cask ale and history.

Yes, cask ale takes top billing.

If you don't know what cask ale is, picture an English show or movie where the bartender is pulling that long handle multiple times to fill a pint glass. That's cask ale.

The Bath Abbey - yes in the city of Bath - was built in the 7th century. Over the years it has been rebuilt, repaired and stands as a beautiful example of Perpendicular Gothic Architecture (whatever that is).

The interior is amazing, and the fan decor ceilings are like none we've seen before

This is the only hot springs bath in England, and naturally it was built by the Romans around 60 AD.

Amazingly quite a bit is still preserved, and archeological findings happen often.

Although much is not original the new additions do not seem to detract. If you love history and engineering this is a must see stop

Bath is fun and interesting to walk around in. So many little things here and there to enjoy.

The River Avon is quite pleasant to walk along.

The Putney Bridge has a long history.

Then there are memorials, old gates, and 2 very famous and old Georgian Terraced Apatments.

Located on the West Indies Quay on Isle of Dogs, the museum highlights and celebrates the port of London and how times and uses have changed.

It fell into disuse in the 1980's but the land was so valuable the banking industry started building large offices in the area.

Naturally a derelict old bunch of warehouses were a distraction, and by the 1990's a new use and resurgence culminated in the lovely museum, shops and restaurants that make it a great palce to spend an afternoon

There are several tube stations around London that are no longer in use and they give tours. Aldwych is one of the oldest.

It's designer was Leslie Green - one of 2 architects hired to oversee the construction of the underground. It was he who chose the distinctive oxblood red terracotta tiles and flat roof deisgn for the exterior of the tube stations.

He also was instrumental in the selection of the interior colors, which we see still today.

It was never a busy station, but it did serve as shelter during war and a safe place to store Britian's art during the blitz.

Until Casey put Le Pere Lachaise on our radar when we went to Paris, we never thought of touring a cemetery. However that was so entertaining and educational we figured we would find one in the London area.

Highgate West opened in 1839 and the East side opened in 1854. It was quite the place to be buried in Victorian times.

Unfortunately the operating company that was responsible for it fell on hard times and by the 1970s the cemeteries were abandoned, unkept, and prone to vandals.

In 1975 the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust took over and have worked to restore and maintain it.

We enjoyed the Aldwych tour so much we booked another tour for the closed section of Euston Tube Station.

Euston is still an active RR and tube station, so getting to the old part meant going through the crowds moving between trains - we were a little huddle of ducks being herded through people and into closed parts of the station.

The origins are in the very early 1900s, and as you can see from the advertisements it was open into the late 60s.

Due to the new high speed train that will come into Euston, a lot of construction has happened and who knows how long the old parts will be around.Go while you can - our motto.

George read about these and thought they would be fun.

It's a little electric motored boat and you meander down the canal. We shoved off at their Paddington Basin port.

It seemed so simple - until we actually found out neither of us is really good at steering when you have to go left to go right thing. AARRGH!

And you do not want to crash into the canal boats moored along the way, or crash in full view of residents and pedestrians.

Thankfully George took some nice shots because I was too busy trying to stay in the middle to look at scenery

We could not leave without visiting one of the oldest pubs in London The Old Bell Tavern.

Built around 1670 by Christopher Wren as a place for his workers to live and eat, Old Chris had a spot by the window so he could watch St. Brides Church construction.

Like so many of the oldest pubs, it's on Fleet Street with a long history of serving the multitude of folks who worked in the press.

It's a must stop for a good pint and great history.

Next door to The Old Bell is St. Brides Church, and it is lovely.

Like most churches the site has been reused by numerous religious groups. The Irish Missionaries in the 6th century named it after St. Bridget, patron saint of Ireland.

In the 11th century there was a Norman church. A larger one was built in the 15th century

In 1670 - 1684 St. Brides was rebuilt after the great fire of 1666. The famous "wedding cake" spire was erected in 1703.