On our lunch break during the second day of DevStation we took a short trip away from the convention center toward Fleet Street and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Lunch was at a teeny, tiny place called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It is well and truly “olde” with the current incarnation dating back to 1667 after the Great Fire of London. Other pubs occupied the site as far back as 1538. I especially loved the plaque on the outside listing all of the kings and queens that have ruled during the pub’s lifetime.

Many of famous folks throughout history have paid Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese visits. Samuel Johnson, Voltaire, Charles Dickens and Aurthur Conan Doyle were frequent patrons. I was happy to add my name to the list. (I sat in Johnson’s seat. Peter sat in Dickens’ favorite spot.)

Lunch was thoroughly English fare: steak and kidney pie, a pint of stout and sickly sweet treacle. I’m not sure what it is about the English and guts/blood but I had a fair bit during my trip. Haggis in Edinburgh (thanks, Peter!), black pudding, kidney… yum!

After a filling lunch we made a quick tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral and then took wandered back to the convention center along the Thames. (I can’t say that I visited them but I at least saw both the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe Theater.) St. Paul’s was amazing. I could have spent hours wandering through the Whispering Gallery and the Crypts. Instead I read about them after the fact :(