What to do in London . . . ? How about a draught at an olde pub?

Does rebuilt in 1667 sound olde enough to you? I dragged the family to it, since I learned of it on my last (and only other) visit to London back in college with "the boys" (no, not college mates, Tom, Doug, Dad and Rick Sullivan). As Liz mentioned in the last post, we spent the morning and early afternoon reveling in the history of London, so we decided to follow it up with a beer and lunch at one of the oldest pubs in London. It has been a pub in its current form since 1667 when it was rebuilt after burning down in the Great Fire.


Its down a small little alley off of Fleet Street and while it is barely noticeable if you aren't looking for it, there is good reason to look. Starting from the bottom up, the vaulted cellars (which are set up as dining rooms) date back to the 13 century and were part of the Carmelita Monastery which first occupied the site. It is only as recent as 1538 that the pub has been there. It is best know for it's literary associations, one of which is being mentioned in A Tale of Two Cities (a good book if you haven't read it). The notable literary folks who are said to have dined there, and possibly even penned some of their works in dark light of the coal fires are: Mark Twain; Alfred Tenyson; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and Samuel Johnson.

We had a good british lunch. Rusty had fish and chips (check), Dave had pork loin (check), Liz had a chicken salad with pesto (wait huh? Liz, we're at a british pub, get with the program here!) and I had, of course, a lamb shank (check).

If you are looking for a laid back atmosphere with a whole lot of history (and coal smoke) check it out the next time you are in London - 145 Fleet Street. (But they do their numbering weird over here, not alternating left and right as we do. At least that is how they do it on Fleet Street. Very confusing.) Oh, and it is just inside London City. Know how I know? Well that's easy, just look for the dragons that mark the entrances of City of London. Not to be confused with the rest of London. Which is made up of the City of Westminster and bunch of other boroughs. Yeah, I don't get it either (how can a city be made up of cities) but that's the way it is. trust me.