Westminster
We hiked back to the train station, only to discover a fire near Waterloo had disrupted all train traffic back into London and we would instead have to take a train to Paddington Station and then use the Tube to get back to Waterloo. This disappointed us as it meant our chances of getting to Hampton were dashed and we had rushed through Windsor Castle for no reason. We decided to find a pub and have some lunch. We found a place near the castle and had a couple of beers and some fish and chips and then did a little souvenir shopping before catching the train back to Paddington.
We bought new rail passes at Paddington and headed to Westminster in hopes of making it to the Banqueting House before it closed, but, alas, it had closed early. We knew Westminster Abbey was closed, but since we hadn't gotten any close-up pictures of the outside, we opted to go there and take some photos. We then walked on to Westminster Cathedral to show the kids the differences between the Gothic and Victorian architectures.
Double Decker Bus
Janie had the bright idea to get on a double-decker bus, so we caught the #11 line near Victoria Station and rode around for awhile, finally ending up in Fulham, near Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea F.C. (which is better than we can say for Lord Spencer's daughter, who was trying to get to a Chelsea match and ended up in York). We decided not to wait for a bus back and instead took the Tube back to Waterloo.
We stopped at an Italian restaurant near our hotel for a final meal in London and headed back to the hotel. Janie and J. R. went to the bar for a beer while the kids watched TV, then it was off to bed for the last time in Europe.
