Westminster Abbey by bike [maybe]

Another cool and cloudy day, so today's trip into London had a goal of Westminster Abbey. It's a royal mausoleum, infested with tourists. Most "real" London churches don't charge admission, so that hefty £15 entrance fee is a clue to its status as less of a church and more of a tourist attraction. Apparently this isn't a new phenomenon. In 1765, author Oliver Goldsmith complained he was charged 3 p to enter! Hmm. Nothing much has changed in the last 300 years then. Unfortunately, taking pictures inside is forbidden. I just paid the equivalent of $US23 to get in, I'm surrounded by wierdly wonderful tombs, and I can't snap away? I wonder why they don't allow "no flash" photography? It's not as if they sell a comprehensive group of postcards in the gift store. There are 3,300+ people buried in here, layered on top of each other. I obediently put away my camera, and spent nearly 3 hours doing a free audio + print guide tour. To see some authorized photos, go to the Abbey's website and click "Highlights of the Abbey." For images of some of the ones I found most interesting, at least from a funerary art point of view, try a Google image search for these people:

• Sir Thomas Bromley
  
• Francis Vere
• Elizabeth Nightingale
• Lady Margaret Beaufort
• Admiral Clowdisley [or Cloudesley] Shovell

Yes, it's worth the £15 to visit. It's amazing to see all the incredible carved marble tombs of knights and ladies, elegant people wearing ruffs, embroidered gowns or pantaloons, and read the strange inscriptions. Some are touching, others are downright funny. Not everyone buried in the Abbey was a paragon of virtue. I also found it cool to read names like Charles Darwin, David Livingston, Laurence Olivier, Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy in the flagstones underfoot.

As for the "bike" angle on this, it's possible to ride to the Abbey. I got off the train to Waterloo one station early, and walked over the Vauxhall bridge. Along the way I saw navy blue bicycle route signs all over the place. It was after rush hour on Monday morning, yet there was plenty of fast traffic around, speeding cabs and double decker buses, noone giving an inch to anyone. Despite this, cyclists, many riding in dress shoes and way too many without bike helmets, were whizzing by, with a goodly number bouncing along on their cute little folding bikes. London cyclists must be a special breed. I'm used to Seattle, where motorists and cyclists are definitely further along in the "share the road" mindset. I later found one of Transport for London's Local Cycling Guides (there are 14 in all!) in a bike store near Victoria Station, so now I can translate those signed routes. Still, no ride for me into Central London until I really get the lay of the land around here.