What can I say about Westminster Abbey that has not been said before? It is a world famous architectural masterpiece that contains the tombs of some of the most influential figures in history. The word ‘minster” actually came from the word “monastery” so it means West Monastery. It’s majestic, gothic and grand. I walked around without the audio guide as I was having technical difficulties with it, but occasionally would come upon a private private tour and listen for a few minutes, just to get an idea of the history of it. There’s too much history and it cannot all be consolidated into a 2 hour presentation. However, there’s this: .https://www.westminster-abbey.org/history
I walked around and quietly admired, lit a candle for Charlie and my mother, after all, it is a church. It was crowded with tombs and way too many tourists. Jeff and I went upstairs to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries which was astoundingly beautiful and considerably less crowded, It’s high above the Abbey and the views from up there were breathtaking. The treasures on display were nice, too (more crowns and coronation paraphernalia) but didn’t compare to the bird’s eye view of the Abbey. Frustratingly, we were not allowed to take photos. I wanted to take some of the view below and the flying buttresses just outside the windows, I had never seen them up close and at eye level before. Every buttress was covered with different animals, no two were alike.
Afterwards, we went to the Florence Nightingale Museum, just across the bridge. Another titan in her field. She and her sister were named for two cities in Italy: Florence and Naples (Parthenope) both well educated, one artistic and the other scientific. The museum is humble, probably what Florence would have liked but she deserves more. There was a nice display about her in the Mathematic section of the Science Museum, but still, she deserves much more.
https://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk
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