Monument and Golden Hinde

Noelle and I took a Mommy-Daughter outing on Sunday afternoon last week. We were originally aiming for the Tower of London, but we diverted at the last minute to "The Monument."

 It's much easier taking one child at a time on the tube.

 My flat friends were no trouble at all.

 The Monument memorializes the Great Fire of 1666! It's this big column, with a shiny set of flames on top! The location is very near where the fire started on Pudding Lane.
 What there is to do here is...climb up the stairs to the top and look out. Round and round you go!

Sit in the window well every now and again when you are dizzy or out of breath. The stairs get narrower as you approach the top, but otherwise it seems there is little way to tell except to count your 303 steps.

Enjoy the view! We finally laid eyes on St Paul's Cathedral! The Tower of London and Tower Bridge are visible on the other side.  Coming down is a bit trickier because it's easy to get dizzy.

 We enjoyed this, the largest window, and were delighted to find that on the outside, it's the middle of an ornate wreath on the inscription part! We received our "I climbed the Monument" certificates with pride and decided to wander around. Look what we found!

Naturally, there was a certain song we were compelled to sing as we strolled across, even though this particular bridge seems sturdy enough.

 I wish I could say Noelle was impressed by Southwark Cathedral. No so much. But we did then stumble upon the Golden Hinde II, which is a reproduction of Sir Francis Drake's ship The Golden Hinde.  She wanted to see this and take the tour. I was glad I followed her inclincation, because it was really interesting and I learned a lot about sixteenth-century sailing!

 Noelle as Sir Francis Drake.

 On the gun deck with the tour guide.

 Do not touch the ropes.

Who would have known that she would find this interesting? But she did. :)