Wrapping up Llyn Din

Before Roman Londinium, the local lakeside forests (lLyn Din) along the banks of the Thames are believed to have given the original Celtic name to the settlements of the area. The Queen to this day has to request permission to enter the city from the Lord Mayor of London, a right which the dwellers of early London have earned through vocal and influential participation in deciding who the next regent elect should be. They, for example, favored King Stephen (1135-54) and King John (1199-1216) and opposed Matilda, the daughter of Henry I. The right to elect their own leader (Lord Mayor) was enshrined in Magna Charta. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, the struggle for power between the Monarchs and the Parliament intensified culminating in the execution of Charles I and a brief period of rule by General Oliver Cromwell in the mid 17th century. An effective constitutional monarchy in England runs many centuries back...The areas around Piccadilly, Strand and Soho developed around 1660-1690, through the Great Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666). The Greek Street in Soho was taken over by the Huguenot refugees in 1690 and gave the neighborhood it's early french flavor. I passed by Maison Bertaux and regretted not being able to come in for a glass of champagne or a cup of chocolat religieuse which the place is famous for apart for being run by an eccentric actress Michele Wade who stages tableau vivante of the French revolution every 14th of July. I also missed Kettners, Oscar Wilde's favorite restaurant. I only took a peek at the French House where Charles de Gaulle's subordinates ate and drank and he was running the French Resistance effort of the 2nd WW from a house in Hampstead. I missed seeing the Royal Opera House. I would have loved to visit the Cabinet War Rooms. I did see and enjoy a walk through the Inns of Court and saw the Middle Temple, the only building surviving from Shakespeare's time, where The Twelfth Night opened in 1602. The speakers corner in Hyde Park is all I imagined it would be and more. An amazing event of free speech in its purest. Anyone, just grab a box and speak your mind! Brits come across very outgoing and inherently revising and challenging any presented idea. I wish such exercise in critical thinking was more prevalent here on the American continent. I did remark however, that this speaking forum was especially popular among the religious fanatics of all sorts. At times it seemed Jews, Christians and Muslims were comparing scriptures and arguing their merits over all others. Nevertheless, very entertaining. The Jerusalem Tavern is one of the secret places of London I ended up having a pint of Strong Ale at. It seems unchanged since it's date of building, with rustic tables and wooden benches. I was told by a friendly local that St. Peter's brewery originated sometime in the 8th century on the east coast of England in a monks' convent. The tavern seems to be the only place in London serving up those Ales which recipes are so ancient.
I am barely into the 18th century London, and already enamored. So much more remains to be seen and discovered.
Maybe returns are possible, sometimes...