London - Day 3

Another big day of tourism.  Since I missed the horses on duty at the Horse Guards yesterday, that was my first destination.  And blow be down, if after me getting up early to get the most out of the day, it turns out the horses aren't on duty until 10am... this would necessitate a trip back later in the day.  ARGHHH!  I did get a photo with a guard, though.

I then got on the ferry which sails along the Thames with my destination being the Tower Bridge.  Along the way, I was able to see many of famous landmarks of London.  Of course, another photo or two featuring Big Ben was essential!

The red pillars stand between the two Blackfriars bridges.  They are what remains of the first ever rail bridge in London.  When the new bridges were built, they left the pillars for fear that removing them would compromise the stabillity of the new bridges.

I then did a tour of the Tower Bridge.  Built between 1886 and 1894, the structure was designed by Horace Jones.  He died one year into construction and never got to seen his bridge completed.  The bridge is built of steel and the bricks on the outside are purely for aesthetic purposes to help them blend in with the nearby Tower of London.  Surprisingly, there were only 10 fatalities during the construction of the bridge.  this is incredible becasue the builders worked without the use of harnesses.  The original chocolate brown colour of the steel was replaced with red, white and blue for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

I then boarded the tube to head back towards the centre of town.   Although I'm not a big art lover, I do love impressionism and I was eager to visit the Courtauld Gallery which houses works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gauguin, just to name a few.

Of course, no trip to a cultured city such as London would be complete without a visit to M & M's World.  OMG, I have never seen so much chocolate in one place at one time in my entire life.  It was literally four floors of chocolate and merchandise. The smell acutally became quite overpowering after a few minutes and I had to leave (but not before stocking up on some chocolatey goodness).

M & M's World takes up some pretty prime real estate in Leichester Square, so it was only a short walk to Picadilly Circus which, really, wasn't all that impressive.  Maybe it has more of a waw factor at night.

So finally, I headed back towards the Hourse Guards... and yay, success!

Exhausted after a HUGE day and looking forward to a little sleep in tomorrow.

London - Day 2

Another busy day and I have to say I love this city.  There is so much history in one tiny area.  I took the tube to Charing Cross and took some photos at Trafalgar Square.  When you turn the corner and see Nelson's Column for the first time, it is simply breathtaking.  Apparently, it's height from base to tip is exactly the same as the masthead on Nelson's ship.

I boarded my hop-on hop-off bus again and headed towards Kensington Palace.  This was the birthplace of Queen Victoria and the home of Princess Diana.  Currently, of course, it is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  One of the first images you see when you enter the interior of the palace is a beautiful photograph of Diana.  Within the palace, you can visit the King's Apartments which gives the history of King George II (who reigned from 1727 - 1760) and Queen Caroline.

Another section gives information about Queen Victoria and her reign. They have some of her dresses on display, as well as her children's clothing and bassinets.

The final section looked at fashion during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and a number of gowns worn by her, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana were on display.  Some of the items from the 50s revealed that she had a tiny waist as a young woman.

On the bus, we drove past Harrod's and one of Princess Diana's favourite department stores, Harvey Nichols.

One of the interesting things I learnt on the bus trip was that some of the buildings have windows that become increasingly smaller towards the higher floors.  This is because in the 18th and 19th there was a window tax.  It was abolished in 1851 after a Member of Parliament spoke out, calling the practice "daylight robbery."

Next I headed for Buckingham Palace.  I've been there before, but really felt that it would be wrong to visit London and not visit it.

I then headed across the river and took a ride on the London Eye.  It's funny because I'm not really great with heights, but this didn't worry me at all.  What a spectacular way to see the entire city.

By this time I was becoming decidedly peckish!  What better way to settle the hunger pangs than with a meal of fish and chips.

I then headed back across the bridge to find #10 Downing Street.  Unfortunately, you can't get up close or even see the door but I guess that's to be expected.

On my way back to my accommodation, I caught the final ceremony of the day for the Horseguards.  I'll have to go back tomorrow to get a photo of them in their sentry positions.

London - Day 1

I boarded my hop-on hop-off bus this morning to begin my siteseeing of London.  First stop was the Tower of London (which isn't actually a tower at all).  This place really deserves a much longer visit than I gave it, but as I have so many things to see in three days, I did a flying visit of the torture chamber, got some up close photos with a Royal Guard and had a look at the crown jewels.  The size of the diamonds, sapphires and emeralds in the crowns was just incredible.  Unfortunately, photos of the crown jewels were not allowed.

Next stop was the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.  England is the only place I have been to where you have to pay to get into a church!!!  £20!!!!  Fortunately, I had pre-purchased a tourist pass which gives me free entry into a number of places and Westminster Abbey was one of them.  Photos were not allowed inside, but let me say this place is immense.  It would be quite easy to get lost in there.  It houses the tomb of the unknown soldier and is filled with amazing statues and tombs.

I then headed over to St Paul's Cathedral but it was not included in my visitor pass and at £18, I decided to give it a miss.

I walked across the Milennium Bridge to the Globe Theatre.  The 40 minute tour was very interesting, giving a history of the three Globe Theatres that have existed on the site.

It doesn't sound like I did a lot, but I was on the go for 8 hours and the tour bus was quite slow due to heavy traffic.  I look forward to Day 2 tomorrow.