London, Day Two

On Friday we awoke early to discover that the free breakfast included bread and coffee. Anything past that was an extra 5 pounds. Being college students, we ate our bread and we liked it.

Afterwards a small group and I took the tube to a guided tour of the Tower of London. I was thankful my first tube experience wasn’t alone, although it was a mess trying to buy our Oyster cards / day trip tickets all at once, along with everyone else in the morning rush during the tourist season.

 Needless to say, we were 40 minutes late getting to our guide. Thankfully she was friends with one of our profs.

The Tower was incredible. It’s been a menagerie, mint , royal palace, gunpowder store, archive, and, of course, prison. Something else interesting is that the Tower has its own jurisdiction separate from London. This has led to some serious legal tensions in the past. On a lighter note, it also means that the Constable of the Tower owns all of the swans on Tower Jurisdiction.

While there we saw the Royal Jewels and two of the museums housed on the premises. Lunch there was also good, probably because we hadn't had anything since the bread that morning.

Outside the Tower

Outside again, from the other side

Inside the grounds, shot of the White Tower (not so white anymore)

Legends say if the ravens leave, the Tower and Empire will fall. The ravens haven't left in centuries.

A memorial to the many who died in the Tower.

In the top of the Tower... yeah, I don't know either. But I want one.

Armour of Henry VIII!

After seeing the Tower we crossed Tower Bridge and headed towards the Globe. To get there we passed through Borough Market. This part of London is my favorite so far.

The Globe, of course, was incredible. I hope to return for a five-pound groundling ticket soon.

After that we crossed the Millennium Bridge and took the tube to Knightsbridge to look through the high-end shopping side of town. We didn’t buy anything, but certainly enjoyed looking.

Time for the tube again back to the Westminster area. We ate at a fantastic little pier-restaurant off the Thames. It had a view of all of the parks in the area, plus Parliament and the Eye.

The view getting off the tube

Park; Parliament in the background

Our dinner finally in sight

Obligatory photo

Sunset on the Thames

The Eye

View from the Eye

And, of course, we took lots of pictures. Later we went for a night-ride on the London eye, then headed back to our hotel. All in all, a busy and grand day.