Final Day in London, the Pub Marathon

I'll post some other pics from our trip in coming days as I download them from my other camera, but these are from my phone and were taken on our final day in London. We got up early and took the 7:30 a.m. train from Edinburgh back to London, arriving early afternoon. We checked into a different hotel, the Ibis Blackfriars, just on the south side of the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge. Clay chose that hotel for our last night in London because (1) it was cheap; and (2) it was near the National Theatre where we had a play to see that night.








Just across the bridge is a pub called The Black Friar, named for an old monastery that once located in the area. It's a beautiful pub, inside and out. This, and all the pubs that follow, are located in the old City of London. The area is now mostly banks, offices, and financial businesses.

The tile mosaic ceiling in the Black Friar's cozy dining room.

If this isn't the smallest pub in
London it must be close. Fortunately,
you can step outside with your beer.

Shaw's Booksellers is another pub just down a narrow street
from the Cock Pit. After this one, Clay wisely decidedly to go
back to the hotel and take it easy before the play. I continued on.

x

We had been in all these pubs on prior trips but I didn't know
exactly where they were, so I wandered. This is one I was looking
for near St. Paul's. It was an old gin joint.

I stuck with beer but had switched
to drinking half pints so I could
go the distance.

Curved, etched glass booth at the back
of the bar where the proprietress operated.

This is a bombed out church built by 
Christopher Wren (London's most prolific architect).
The city had more churches than it needed (don't they all)
so it was not rebuilt but was turned into a garden.
The surviving spire is now a private residence.

I gradually made my way in a circle around the
streets surrounding St. Pauls.

I ran into this little cemetery, now more of a park.

After circumnavigating St. Paul's,
I headed down Fleet Steet, the site of
several pub crawls in prior years.
This is The Punch.

Interior of The Punch

The Tipperary

Every pub comes with a story.

The George is one of my favorites,
I watched very early morning
Rugby World Cup matches from here
on a prior trip. Had a nice chat with
the bartender this day.

Black Friar's Bridge. I met up with Clay again at yet another pub, Doggets, just off the south
end of this bridge. Then we headed over towards the National Theatre.

We had our final beer here after the show
on the way back to the hotel.

We hit this place en route.

The National is doing three new plays based on the lives of three Scottish kings,
James I, James II, and James III. We saw James I earlier in the trip and saw James III this night.
Both were good and enlightening, given our trip to Edinburgh in between.

View of the Thames after the play.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of visiting this city.