I feel like all of my mornings begin with some adventure at the YMCA. I was confused when I walked in today because the lane I normally swim in was divided into two lanes (the lanes in this pool are double the width of the lanes in American pools). A woman approached me and explained that three lanes were reserved for the masters team's swim practice and asked if I'd like to join. Since today was my rest day, all I had on my swim agenda was to do about 1,500 meters so I decided to swim two warmup sets with them (and make new friends, of course). Before I jumped into the water, a guy in my lane pointed to another young guy who was already swimming and said half-jokingly, "Can you please beat him if you're able? He is fast, but he knows he's good." Geez! Three days in London and I'm already getting in the middle of the London masters team's business! I swam with them for about forty-five minutes and I have to admit, the guy's "front crawl" was pretty good. As I was getting out to leave, one of the women in the group hopped out of the water and told me when the rest of their practices were this week and asked me if I wanted to join the masters team. I told her I would love to if it was plausible, but since I live in the United States, it probably wouldn't work out. She said if I'm ever in London again to make sure I swim with them. I'm actually going to miss some of the people at the YMCA when it comes time to leave!

Today, Caitlin and I went on one of the many walks London offers (really, it's amazing how many they offer. They even have a Harry Potter walk! Check them out here: London Walks). We chose "Shakespeare's and Dickens's London - The Old City," which was fantastic. We toured the city for over two hours and visited historical buildings and landmarks that were present when William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens roamed the very same streets we walked today. Our tour guide, Dave, was an American who moved to London forty years ago. He was enthusiastic, intelligent, (he has his Ph.D. in Dickens studies and was quoting both Shakespeare and Dickens from memory throughout the entire tour) passionate, and incredibly entertaining. Below is some of what we learned and saw today:

You can usually deduce the age of a window in London by simply looking at it. The window on the right is in line with the wall of the building, whereas the window on the left is set back a couple of inches from the brick. Typically, windows like the one on the right were constructed before 1709. The ones that are recessed back into the brick were built after 1709, once new building regulations were enacted after the Great Fire of London. In the event of a fire, only the narrow wooden ledge is exposed to the flames with a recessed window, as opposed to the entire wooden frame of the flushed window.  

Left: post-1709 window. Right: pre-1709 window.

One of the best parts of the tour was when we arrived at the house Charles Dickens referenced in his novel, Martin Chuzzlewit. At this point, our guide pulled out his Kindle and read us excerpts of the book, detailing the very house we were viewing. It was amazing to be able to see the structures Charles Dickens was describing in his novel. I felt like we suddenly transcended the limits of time, and it was a strange feeling to think of both of us staring at the same building, separated by 150 or so years. 

"The room in which he had shut himself up, was on the ground floor, at the back of the house. It was lighted by a dirty skylight, and had a door in the wall, opening into a narrow covered passage or blind-alley, very little frequented after five or six o'clock in the evening, and not in much use as a thoroughfare at any hour. But it had an outlet in a neighbouring street." 

In the picture below, you can see the alley he references. There is a small door on the right side of the wall. Our tour guide said one time he was reading this excerpt aloud and was startled by a man who walked out of the side door. Our tour guide didn't miss a beat and asked, "Do you have a dirty skylight in your house?" to which the man replied, "Why, yes I do!"

Building and alley referenced in Martin Chuzzlewit

We also visited St. Lawrence Church on our tour. It was originally built in the 1100's, but was destroyed in the fire and was rebuilt by none other than Sir Christopher Wren. On the top of the church is what appears to be a weather vane of some sort. Our guide informed us the structure that sits atop the church is actually a gridiron, which is now the symbol of St. Lawrence. The greedy Prefect of Rome asked St. Lawrence to bring him all of the Church's treasure. St. Lawrence brought the Prefect all of the poor and sick people and proclaimed that these were the Church's treasure. Disturbingly, the angry Prefect condemned St. Lawrence to death by cooking him on an iron grill. 

St. Lawrence Church 

The Gridiron

Below are more snapshots of some of the sites we visited. 

Entrance to the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great

Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, founded in 1123

Believe it or not, this building in London's financial district used to border the arena where Roman gladiators competed. In fact, all of the streets in this area start off straight and then bend, because they were once bending around the arena. 

This is the London Wall, the first defensive wall built by the Romans in Londinium. It is believed to have been constructed in around AD 200!

The building no longer exists, but this is the plot of land where William Shakespeare lived. 

Shakespeare was here

Remember the scene from Mary Poppins where the homeless woman feeds the birds? These are the steps (in front of St. Paul's Cathedral) where this was filmed. 

Feed the birds