Europe Day 3 - London
We rolled out of bed at 7:30 am this morning. After the same breakfast, we headed to the tube station again. The first thing on our agenda today was to tour the Tower of London. It was much colder than we anticipated and we paid for it. I am guessing it was around 30 degrees and the wind was blowing. I had on a T-shirt and sweatshirt. Vanessa was wearing a turtleneck and light jacket. We went on a tour with a Yeoman (Beefeater) who showed us around the grounds for 45 minutes. He was really entertaining and filled us in on the history of the tower. The Tower of London is also where the Crown Jewels are kept. Whoever designed this exhibit was smart enough to put a moving platform in front of the most of the items. This kept the tourists moving (against their will) and allowed everyone to see the jewels. Most of the exhibit was the crowns, scepters, and a lot of gold platters. It is overwhelming and you just can’t accept that there are that many diamonds and gems on one crown (but there are). I’m too tired to write any more detail about the history of the Tower, so follow the link if you would like to learn more. After 4,945 stairs, some amour, and more history, it was time to go.
My feet started hurting much sooner than anticipated. By noon I was already walking slowly and favoring my right foot (the one that was broken). From the Tower of London we took a bus. I knew the bus went by St. Paul’s Cathedral (our next stop), but I wasn’t sure where it stopped. Luckily the bus stopped directly in front of it. Vanessa was less than excited to be there, but I wanted to see the inside and walk trough the crypts. My feet were hurting again, so after 10 minutes I was ready to go. We found an Italian restaurant to have lunch and rest our feet.
Afterwards, we caught a bus to Horse Guards. This is a less known place, but it has the same guards that are at Buckingham palace. Two of the guards are on horseback, and another one stands. I was al little disappointed in all of the tourists touching the horses and the guards. When you know how well trained these young men are, how much they go through to get to do this, and how much of an honor is it to be in such a position, it is sad to see tourists walking up and being so disrespectful. I have no problem with standing next to them and taking a picture, but don’t touch them and don’t touch the horses. Okay… I’m over it.
The last thing on our list for the day was a 90-minute tour of Westminster Abby. The tour started at 3:00 pm and we arrived about 15 minutes early. What I didn’t know as that today the last tour was around noon and there was a service starting at 3:00. I did a lot of research on the internet (using the official Westminster Abby site) and I didn’t see anything about this. The only way they would allow anyone in the church was to go to the service. Vanessa and I decided to sit through the service, just so we could go inside. It was only 45 minutes long, but it was a L O N G 45 minutes. The choir would start a song and I would think to myself, “This won’t be long, the song is only 4 lines long.” Well, it took them 30 seconds to sing each word!
After the service we made our way back to the tube station, stopping to take pictures of Big Ben (yes, I know that’s the name of the clock bell). Our plans for tonight are to go to a restaurant next to our hotel. It looks very friendly and like they really good food. I’m planning on having fish and chips. I think I have had 7 cups of tea in the last 2 days. I’m looking forward to going to Germany were I can drink beer all day!!! Tomorrow we are off to Stratford upon Avon to see Shakespeare stuff. Yippee.
My feet started hurting much sooner than anticipated. By noon I was already walking slowly and favoring my right foot (the one that was broken). From the Tower of London we took a bus. I knew the bus went by St. Paul’s Cathedral (our next stop), but I wasn’t sure where it stopped. Luckily the bus stopped directly in front of it. Vanessa was less than excited to be there, but I wanted to see the inside and walk trough the crypts. My feet were hurting again, so after 10 minutes I was ready to go. We found an Italian restaurant to have lunch and rest our feet.
Afterwards, we caught a bus to Horse Guards. This is a less known place, but it has the same guards that are at Buckingham palace. Two of the guards are on horseback, and another one stands. I was al little disappointed in all of the tourists touching the horses and the guards. When you know how well trained these young men are, how much they go through to get to do this, and how much of an honor is it to be in such a position, it is sad to see tourists walking up and being so disrespectful. I have no problem with standing next to them and taking a picture, but don’t touch them and don’t touch the horses. Okay… I’m over it.
The last thing on our list for the day was a 90-minute tour of Westminster Abby. The tour started at 3:00 pm and we arrived about 15 minutes early. What I didn’t know as that today the last tour was around noon and there was a service starting at 3:00. I did a lot of research on the internet (using the official Westminster Abby site) and I didn’t see anything about this. The only way they would allow anyone in the church was to go to the service. Vanessa and I decided to sit through the service, just so we could go inside. It was only 45 minutes long, but it was a L O N G 45 minutes. The choir would start a song and I would think to myself, “This won’t be long, the song is only 4 lines long.” Well, it took them 30 seconds to sing each word!
After the service we made our way back to the tube station, stopping to take pictures of Big Ben (yes, I know that’s the name of the clock bell). Our plans for tonight are to go to a restaurant next to our hotel. It looks very friendly and like they really good food. I’m planning on having fish and chips. I think I have had 7 cups of tea in the last 2 days. I’m looking forward to going to Germany were I can drink beer all day!!! Tomorrow we are off to Stratford upon Avon to see Shakespeare stuff. Yippee.
posted by Page at
3:22 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home