Cubs and Cardinals making most of MLB's London Series - ESPN

LONDON — Some sports are only as international as the International House of Pancakes. Not baseball. It is everywhere, from Cuba to Aruba, from Canada to Panama, from Ty France to Jonathan India.

And this weekend, baseball arrived in England, home to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the royals — but it will be the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, not the Royals from Kansas City, playing at London Stadium. It is international baseball at its best: a 142-year-old Midwest rivalry playing out in historic, ancient and spectacular England. «It will be unforgettable,» Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas said.

The Cubs came to London via Pittsburgh, where they swept the Pirates, then flew to England on Wednesday night. They slept on the plane, and early Thursday, they began walking the streets of London.

«It was amazing,» Cubs manager David Ross said. «We saw everything: Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey. We learned all about Shakespeare and Dickens.… I'm a redneck from Florida. I don't know much about world history. But it was all so incredible.»

The Cubs finished their day with a private guided tour of Westminster Abbey, a portion of which was rented out by Cubs owner Tom Ricketts.

«That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life,» Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger said. «We were all in awe walking around, looking at all of it, the ceiling. I've never seen anything like it. We looked at each other and wondered, 'How in the world did they build this?'»

Mikolas also visited the Abbey.

«People who have a house built today have to deal with builders who are using brick and plaster and concrete… and I'm in Westminster Abbey thinking, 'They did a better job building something a thousand years ago,'»