From Westminster, I set off northeast towards Trafalgar Square, home of the National Gallery (including the National Portrait Gallery and the National Dining Rooms). It’s not a very long walk—only about two tube stops—and since it was only my first day, my feet weren’t already sore.

Along the way, I and many other tourists stopped for photos of the Horse Guard.

Like the red-coated, bear-fur-hatted Buckingham Palace guards, these are stone-faced young men who seem to hold perfectly still at all times, though their horses are not held to quite the same standards. Prominent signs warn onlookers, “horses may kick or bite!”

The Horse Guard is part of the procession involved in the famous Changing of the Guard, which we will glimpse next post.

The National Gallery sits overlooking Trafalgar Square…

…in which twin fountains flank a monument to Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, his likeness set atop a 169-foot-high column and guarded by four enormous bronze lions.

The National Gallery contains works spanning the 13th century to the year 1900, with galleries laid out by artist, style, and subject. One room houses several Dutch Renaissance artists’ depictions of rural Italy; an octagonal chamber contains four works by the same Italian painter representing earth, air, fire, and water (with scenes from the New Testament worked stealthily into the backgrounds). Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh share several rooms; the National Gallery hosts, among others, van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers.

Finally, after hours of walking, I looked for a place to sit down and refuel.

Just off Trafalgar Square is a visually uninteresting 300-year-old Anglican church—that of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, so named because it stood in an open field when originally built. A popular concert venue with both afternoon and evening performances, St. Martin-in-the-Fields contains a beautiful antique pipe organ in an otherwise plain interior.

In the vaulted tombs below, of all things, there is now a café.

The Café in the Crypt helps fund the preservation of the church. Buy cold fare or pastries a la carte, or choose a meat or vegetarian hot entrée, and enjoy a tasty meal… perhaps with a few fellow diners unseen by mortal eyes.

Next up: Buckingham Palace, and a lot of noisy birds.