St. Bride's Church. They say this spire is the inspiration for the traditional bride's cake. This might be one of the oldest churches in London. It's at least the seventh church built on this site, going back to the 7th century. In the late 1580s the parents of Virginia Dare (the first English child born in America, on Roanoke Island in 1587) were married here.
St. Bride's close-up.
St. Bride's even closer-up. This small and quiet secluded courtyard, just a few steps off Fleet Street, seemed to be a popular place for a lunchtime snack.
Next to St. Bride's is The Old Bell pub. I'm sure it has a history, like the other dozen pubs in this block, just off Fleet Street, one of London's prominent streets (famous as the street of journalists and printers).
Pubs in the city are full of suits. Usually with young guys in them, smoking. Lots of young women in suits also. Especially around 5 p.m.
Among the old, historic buildings, modern streetscapes coexist.
We stumbled across The Cartoonist pub, a must-have photo for me.
The walls are covered with vintage, original cartoons. I assume some cartoon friends originally started this pub. Now, as we've come to expect, the people who work here don't know anything about it's history or have any idea why it's called "The Cartoonist." In the late 1940s, from what I could find online, a group of cartoonists met here regularly to draw from life and to critique each other's work.
