London: Day Five

On Tuesday, we took the tube to the Westminster stop and took a river cruise down the Thames to the Tower of London. It was a beautiful day; we had the best weather in London, I was amazed! I never once had to use the umbrella I bought specifically for this trip! Our river cruise was refreshing; it was nice to be on the water on such a hot day. Our guide was knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time; a good combination! We saw the London Eye (a Ferris wheel I will never, ever go on, since it's almost $50/person; I don't think that's worth it. I guess the guide says it brings in 250,000 pounds a DAY, so apparently some people think it's worth it! Crazy).

We got off the cruise at the Tower pier and walked the short distance to the Tower of London. As an English history buff, it was so amazing to be at the actual site of so much importance to the British historical record. We saw the beautiful rooms (well, they were beautiful at one time; now they were kind of empty and rundown) where Anne Boleyn stayed in the days leading up to her coronation on June 1, 1533, and then Traitor's Gate, where she was brought back a mere three years later as a prisoner. We saw where she was beheaded (I know, I know, this sounds rather gory and depressing, and in a way it was, but yet it was oh-so-interesting at the same time. I do hope to write a historical fiction novel one day, and I feel like I got so much background material by going on this trip).

We saw the Crown Jewels, which were so big and bright, I thought they were fake at first! I mean, I thought we were going to see the real ones, but I thought these were replicas just enlarged for comparison or something. Nope, they were real! Holy cow. Pretty cool to see those.

We also saw the White Tower, which some king (Edward? I don't know... my knowledge basically begins and ends with the Tudor period) had built in the 1100s, I believe. Very, very cool to be in a building that had stood for almost a millennium! Dan was fascinated by this exhibit they had in there on the suits of armor; crazy to see how big those things were!

We had SO much fun seeing all the sights in downtown London. This trip really was a dream come true!

 This was our view as we got off the tube at the Westminster station (well, our view once we got out of the tube station, I suppose). I just gasped, I was so happy; I couldn't believe we were actually in London!

 A shot of the Houses of Parliament rising above Westminster Bridge.

 The London Eye

 London Bridge; not nearly as cool as Tower Bridge!

 Tower Bridge

 Me being a cheesy tourist

 Traitor's Gate

 Me trying to take some artistic shots; I thought this one was kind of cool, although I don't think I should quit my day job.

 They had one of the rooms in the tower made up in the medieval style, so more 1300s-ish

Me in front of the White Tower

I just liked the color of this blue door; that is the sole purpose of this picture.

 This is the building where the Crown Jewels were stored

 A memorial sculpture on Tower Green, where some people throughout history lost their lives

 That is St. Paul's Chapel in the background; Anne Boleyn is buried there. We unfortunately didn't get to that; the chapel was only open to people on the tours led by the guards (Beefeaters, I think they were called?) and we kept missing the tours. Agh!

 The Queen's House; I guess the queen actually lives here occasionally (or at least stays there on occasion?)

Me enjoying a cup of tea (I REALLY got into tea when we were over there!) and a delicious scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam. I'm thinking the US needs to adopt the custom of afternoon tea...

 Dan listening intently to the audio guide

The view of Big Ben as we came back into Westminster Pier that evening.