Today was a great day! We started with the Tower of London. I will apologize now ... When I get input from the peanut gallery, they use their limited vocabulary. When they like it, I get a "pretty cool" comment. The Tower of London was unanimously pretty cool! I personally feel it is the absolute do-not-miss of London. The guys took their time in the White Tower, so I had to chuckle when the Beefeater said it has "all the boys toys - take your time guys." During our tour, Greg learned that not only do the 37 Beefeaters live inside the tower, but their doctor does as well.
Minding the Gap on the way to Tower of London
At the Tower Bridge, waiting for the Tower of London to open
Admiring the "modern" toilet in the Tower of London
We moved onto our next experience of London - riding a double decker bus. It is an odd sensation to ride in the front seats of the second level. As Chris put it, it felt like we were crushing all the cars because they completely disappear beneath you as you get near them.
Jeremy gave us bad juju today. He didn't want to go on the 3 hour walking tour of London. We show up at the tour starting point and voilà...no tour! The company had changed its starting time for the summer, which actually was a gift. Of course Jeremy was happy, and so was I - now we could relax our pace, and go to the British Museum!
I really wanted the kids to see - at least get a taste of - the British Museum. It does an amazing job of capturing artifacts from each civilization in time. When we got there, Kate saved the day - trip even. I had "home" made ~7 various audio tours of different places we will be visiting over the next month. The British museum was our 1st one. I *thought* I had added the playlists to everyone's phones but the playlists were all empty :'( Panic!! Quickly Kate announces, "They are under voice memos!" In summary, it was absolutely worth a visit. "If I had more energy, I would have liked to stay longer." --Jeremy "They should have more seats."--Kate
Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon
Next was the realization of the likely reason Kate was so bored yesterday ... her only reason for visiting London is to visit Brandy Melville!
Brandy Melville is all Kate needs to be happy ... Very happy.
For dinner we had to sample pub food: bangers and mash, meat pie, and fish and chips. It was ...pub food, with beer as its saving grace.
Our evening stroll took us through Trafalgar Square, the Horse Guards Parade (staged for the Trooping of the Colors), Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Big Ben.
Horse Guards Parade set up for the Queen's birthday celebration
Buckingham Palace
Jeremy's British alias is John Paddington (for free internet access)
Distance Walked: 12.25 miles
I Wish I Knew:
- At the Tower of London, they don't open the ticket booths until they open the tower, so unless you have pre-purchased or have the London pass, you will have to wait in a couple lines before you can get in, after opening time.
- Technically here I should say that I wish I knew Sandemans free walking tours changed their times for summer, but my last tour here with them was so disappointing, and us missing this one was so beneficial ... I can't say I wish I knew.
