Very Full Day In London

 “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” 

– Andre Gide

With two separate tours booked for the day we certainly had our plate full (and the day hadn’t even started yet).  In order to be ready to be picked up for the tour, we had to be in the hotel lobby by 7:40 AM.  That meant a 6:00 AM alarm to make sure that we were showered, dressed, fed and filled with anticipation.

The Morning London tour was our first adventure.  We boarded a huge tour bus and as it turns out, we were the overflow group for the morning tour and there were only 9 of us on the bus.  Plenty of room to spread out.  A good portion of the tour was looking out the window the bus and seeing the items that the tour guide described.  Kensington Palace (former home of Diana, princess of Wales), Parliament Square and Downing Street.  I knocked on the door of number 10, but before anyone could answer the British Secret Service escorted me off of the property.  Not really; we only got to see the street as we drove by.  We did stop at Royal Albert Hall and spend a few minutes looking at the Royal Albert Memorial.

From there we went to Westminster Abby, the location of all of the coronations of England’s Kings and queens since the 11th century.  We did not get to go inside, but were able to wander around the outside of the building and visit the Westminster shop. The structure is striking and has been on the site longer than the Tower of London which was built in the latter portion of 11th century as well.  Westminster Abby was where Prince William and Kate Middleton were married.

Our next stop was Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Queen when she is in town.  On this day she was not as the Union Jack flag was flying over the building.  When she is there, there is a special Royal Flag that is flown.  We did, however, get a chance to see the changing of the guard, which is a real sight to see.  The guards come out of their barracks marching and playing music all the way down “The Mall” (not the shopping complex you may be thinking – but the street that runs in front of Buckingham Palace).

We stood out along the Mall and the walked alongside the guards as they marched into the palace grounds.   Once inside we moved to the left to view the old guard maneuver out of the Palace grounds.  It’s quite the process and they do it every day!  There are a few police on horseback and bicycles moving along the route, telling people to stay off the road while the guards changed.  We also saw another portion of guards come out on horseback and replace some more horse-bound guards.  It was all pretty cool to watch.  Reminded us of the changing of the guards we saw in Ottawa at the home of the Governor General.

The tour ended with us being dropped off at Trafalgar Square – the very center of London.  We were on our own for lunch; but before we did that – we needed to get a picture of The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.  It is quite the view.

Lunch found us at “The Admiral” pub just on Trafalgar square.  One of the things that we read about before we came was that what we in Canada known as “pub food”, is not the same in England.  The food in the pubs is just as good as the restaurant food in Canada.  We both had a beef hamburger with a lemon-aide.  The food was very good.  Laureen found the toilets interesting, so when I went down for my turn, I took a photograph.

After lunch we made our way across the street from the pub and into a souvenir shop where we were looking to grab a couple bottles of water.  After looking around I picked up a “London” hat as well as the two waters.  Back to the same bus for the next tour.

This afternoon we first went to St. Paul’s cathedral, both outside and in (in this case).  The place is really something else to see.  I would say the beauty of this church comes very close to the Sagrada Famillya in Barcelona, Spain.  We were not allowed to take pictures in the church – so I don’t have any of my own.  The dome is the most striking feature reaching 365 feet into the air and brightly painted with various Christian scenes.  The church survived a number of fire bombings during the second world war, and even though it was damaged in a few locations, it was all rebuilt to its present day splendor.  The dome is the second largest in the world – second only to St. Peters in Vatican City.  We also got to go down to the basement level where a number of the crypts for famous people are located as well as the gift shop.

Our next stop was the Tower of London.  A massive structure built by William the Conqueror.  This building would have loomed over the entire London skyline providing the desired fear effect on the people of the day.  The walls of the Tower of London are 15 feet thick made with stone from the area.  Over the years, the structure had been added to and enhanced by a number of successive kings.  The crown Jewels are housed in one of the buildings on site – and we queued up to have a look at them.  I have to admit – they are something to see in person.  Once again, no pictures allowed.

After that was over we wandered into the central tower portion (the oldest piece) and walked around on the multiple levels.  There were many exhibits including the Armory, which housed a number of the armaments for the various kings.  King Henry the VIII had a very interesting suit of armor made that showcased a certain portion of his anatomy.  It was, yet again, very cool to walk around in this building – knowing that previous kings spent time there.

When that was complete we went out to the river Thames and took a couple of picture of the Tower Bridge.  In the nursery rhyme books I remember as a kid, they showed a picture of this bridge, with the song “London Bridges”.  This is unfortunately, incorrect.  London bridge is another bridge down the river from the Tower Bridge.

When we were done with that, we took a cruise on the River Thames from the Tower of London to the London Eye/Westminster area.  It was interesting to see all of the structures parked along the river bank.  Laureen figured that City Hall looked like a Ukrainian Easter Egg.   I would have to agree.

Upon arrival in Westminster, we walked towards the Parliament block, snapped a few photos and hailed a cab.  Now I can say I’ve hailed a cab in London.  The cabby took us to Harrods; a large and expensive department store that used to be owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of the man killed in the car accident with Diana.  We were told that he had sold it to a member of the Saudi Royal Family a few years ago.  The place was something else!  We wandered around a while and once we found their food stations, we decided to have dinner there.  The food was – unbelievable.

With that out of the way – we jumped back on the Tube and made our way to the hotel.  We have an early start tomorrow, with a wakeup call scheduled for 4:00 AM.  We are expected to be on the road at 5:15 AM to our next destination – Paris, France.

Curt & Laureen in London