Day 4: London, England

London, United Kingdom

I certainly had the chance to see quite a bit of London today! I thoroughly enjoyed a guided tour through many of the main sights of London and now have a good idea on the lay of the land and learned so much in just a short amount of time. My tour group had about 15 people and started the day out of Victoria Coach Station. Our first stop was a great photo op outside Big Ben/British House of Parliament and Westminster Abby – I’ll be back later this week to tour the inside. From there we had a nice river cruise down the Thames and got to see all of the following from the river front: – Center Marker for the 1 square mile of original London – London Eye – Globe Theater – Big Ben/House of Parliament – Cleopatra’s Needle with backward Sphinx (3500+ years old) – London Bridge (Built in 50) – Tower Bridge (The beautiful bridge that most believe is the London Bridge) – The Shard (Tallest habitable building in Europe at 1,004 ft) – Modern looking Globe = City Hall – Modern Art Museum – Battleship I could easily write an entire blog entry on each one of the sights I saw today. For the sake of me getting some rest and not turning this into a history book, I’ll try to keep this brief and highlight some of my favorite things! We ended the cruise by arriving at the Tower of London. This is the famous home of the Crown Jewels and many beheadings. I loved the spunky personality of the Yeomen Warder (Beefeater) and was impressed to learn that one requirement of becoming one of these ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London is they are retired from the Armed Forces and must be a former senior non-commissioned officer that hold the Long Service and Good Conduct medal. Their history of once guarding royal prisoners has now transformed into such a unique and honorable ritual. From sharing stories about the moat built to flush out the waste being constructed incorrectly (making it quite the smelly place in London during its prime) to the famous beheadings (both successful and ones that required multiple attempts) and the lovely Crown Jewels this was an interesting place to wonder around and learn more about life in early London. I loved Queen Victoria’s little crown (sorry, no pics allowed there)… It was actually made small to be easily worn with her widows veil, as she lost her adored husband (Prince Albert). Simply fascinating to see so many sparkles in one place 🙂 The grounds also has miscellaneous animal statues (monkeys, lions, polar bear, etc.). This was to representing the zoo like period at the Tower (when gifting exotic animals was appropriate). It’s said the polar bear used to be simply tied to one of the side walls with enough chain it could reach the Thames River and feed itself. From here, we passed the Cabinet War Rooms (where Winston Churchill ran the military plans from during the war), Convent Garden, and the monument dedicated to the Great Fire (it was started from a bakery found on Pudding St – I kid you not!) to make our way to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. We also had the chance to spot the Royal Horse Guards dressed in their “Oxford Blues” protecting the area where the Royal carriages are housed. I loved seeing the guards lined up in the furry Canadian black bear hats (they have tested various furs and artificial furs, but none withstand the weather elements as well) as they prepared for this formal ceremony to relief the guards on duty in a very precisely choreographed manor. Had a traditional English pub lunch (meat pie) with a Pimm’s (gin based with fruit juices, spices and ginger ale or lemon soda) to keep going for more touring! St Paul’s Cathedral (unfortunately no pics allowed of the inside) was next on the agenda and was gorgeous! I loved the stark contrast of the lighter stone walls with the dark metal accents (mostly created from melted armory/weapons of enemy forces) through the church. Interestingly enough, the church has been reconstructed 4 times due to fires/WWII damage and even has a large dedication (The American Memorial Chapel) to the U.S. soldiers lost abroad during the war (President Eisenhower even had the idea to display a large book with each name lost present at this memorial and to have the page turned each day to allow equal visibility to each individual). It was also constructed in only 35 years, allowing the architect that started it to actually be the one the finish it! The view from the Whispering Gallery was breathtaking and quite fun to listen to its unique acoustics. There were also many interesting stories found in the crypt with many famous British Heroes are buried there (Duke Of Wellington – was late to his own funeral; Lord Nelson; Christopher Wren – architect of the church, etc.). So many memorable events have taken place here from funerals of Winston Churchill and Lord Nelson, to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee (for which special trumpets were added to the rear of the church for to complement the organ), to the famous wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana (they viewed it as the “people’s church”). After seeing the Vatican in September, I was astonished to the resemblance of the main alters; and, the area directly below the Whispering Gallery looked so similar to the area where the four relics are found in the Vatican. I could go on about this magnificent church and all its beauty for hours. My tour concluded with tea at the modern Westminster Park Hotel. The glass wall of the lovely atrium stared directly at the House of Parliament (Big Ben) as we sipped on tea and champagne and enjoyed various snacks (small sandwiches, pound cake, desserts, scones, etc.). It was nice to relax after quite a lot of touring. To close out my day I met with Bryan’s cousin Tana and headed to their village of Surrey for the night. We enjoyed dinner with their family at their neighborhood pub (Wildwood) where I also got to try my first true English cider. It was so nice to see her family and meet the newest addition to their fam (their 9 month year old Tristan). On to Hampton Court Palace tomorrow with Tana, her oldest daughter (Emily, 7) and Tristan!