The Journey Day 14: London, England

September 16th, 2016 London, England

On the third day I was still a sick in the morning. It was also raining. The plan for the day was to watch the Changing of the Guard. We want to arrive by 10 am to secure a spot so we had to get up early. We went to Nero for breakfast. I had an apircot pastry and Kelsi had a chocolate croissant. We both had lattes. We also bought pastries that we could eat while we waited for the changing of the guard. Kelsi's was the apricot pastry and mine was a muffin. The cashier was a bit surprised when we ordered so much. Kelsi ended up eating both her pastries at Nero's!

We took the underground to Westminster and we managed to get a little turned around on our way to Buckingham. We were so distracted by Westminster Abby, the Parliament house and Big Ben that we weren't paying attention. We didn't take a route that was incorrect, but it wasn't the fastest route. 

By the time we got to Buckingham I had to use the bathroom. So I set Kelsi at the gate and then went to look for a bathroom. I had to go back pretty far, but I eventually went into Royal Cafe. I bought more lattes to bring back to the gate.

When I returned to the gate there was already a crowd forming. I had to worm my way back to where Kelsi was standing. It was raining steadily by that time and kept up as we waited. More and more people arrived. It was a good thing that we arrived early.

Then it happened! A guard on the other side of the gate said there wouldn't be a changing because of the rain! Pooh!

We made a beeline to the tour line for the palace. The tour is mainly to display the royal wardrobe and the gardens, but do see some of the palace as well. The queen's dresses were all on display and they were very cute. There were also beautiful paintings and sculptures. 

After Buckingham the plan was to see the Abby and Parilment houses then we would visit the Eye if we had time. So we went to the Abby. The tour book said that we could get into the Abbey from the west gate without charge, but we had trouble finding it. We went into St. Margret's Church which was nice. At the front entrance we saw a sign stating the time for the Evensong and decided to go back for that.

So we went to the Parliament House across the street. It was a bit of a hassle getting the tickets, but it worked out nicely anyway. The Parliament house was amazing inside as well as outside. I enjoyed learning about the houses of parliament and how it has changed over the years.

By the time we were finished the rain stopped and I suddenly felt much better. It was after I was feeling better that I realized that my head had been pretty fuzzy because of my cold. Once it was gone it was a dramatic difference. 

We went to the Lion Pub for dinner which was around the corner. I had the daily special wthich was steak and leaks pie with chips. Kelsi had a sweet potato pie with chips. We also ordered beers. We tried to eat quickly in order to get back to the Abby. It seem that we are not very good at getting the bill in England. 

We were able to make to Westminster in time, for the evensong. I liked the service at Westminster better than at St. Paul's. The Abby is very beautiful, though I like St. Paul's style better. 

Next, we crossed the jubilee bridge to the London Eye. The bridge is really cute and fits well with the Eye. The line for the Eye was long so we went to the cruise dock and bought tickets for a cruise and the London Eye. We decided to do the cruise that evening and save the London Eye for the next day. We had time so we got yogurt at a stand. We ate it on the dock before our cruise. The cruise goes up and down the Thames and is a great way to see the city. The guide was pretty good, however whenever we went under a bridge the mic cut out. He told us all about the buildings and bridges that we saw.The cruise was made even better because it started getting dark so it was fun to see all the lights turn on. Kelsi decided that Big Ben looked good in green.

After the cruise we walked down the river. We felt peckish and needed refreshers so we stopped in The Warf and ordered bread and oil. As well as a pot of Primm's and lemonade. It wasn't far from there to get to Black Friars Bridge and from there to our room! 

The Journey Day 13: London, England

September 15th, 2016 London, England

After our later night we rested for a bit in the morning. The plan for the day was to take the tube to Tower Hill, see the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral. My cold was lingering. It wasn't really effecting my head, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I managed the cold by stuffing my pockets with tissues, I only needed to reload my pockets every few hours and holding my breath so I wouldn't sneeze on the Crown Jewels. 

We started the day at Pret Manger in Waterloo for breakfast. Kelsi had an almond crossiant. I had a chocolate one. Then, we went to Southwark Station. I planned originally to get an oyster card straight away, however, there were so many options that we ended up buying the day pass. Inside the station some nice attendant helped us with our route. I think we were both pretty wide-eyed at the amount of escalators at the Westminster's stop! 

White Tower

The room we were staying in had a Rick Steve's London book, which told us to buy tickets to the Tower of London online to save money and avoid the queue. We had to print our tickets, but they let us do so there. The book also recommended going straight to the Crown Jewels to avoid the lines. So that is exactly what we did, which was fine advice. We got in without trouble, but when we exited the line was already long, and when we walked by it later in the morning the lines were longer and longer still. Inside there were many and more jewels, from decorative weapons, crowns and necklace. It was really impressive!

After the jewels, we went back to the entrance of the Tower to get a tour with the Yeoman. The Yeoman tour is about an hour in length. It was quite funny and informative. There was a lot of information about the beheadings and the Princes in the Tower. I already knew a little bit about the Princes because prior to the trip I started listening to The History of England Podcast. I started from the beginning, but my podcast app also downloaded new episodes! I really like the podcast, the host has a good voice and even though I have already come back, I still listen to new episodes, though I haven't picked up where I left off from the beginning episodes! The newer episodes kept talking about the princes and said that he/we would get back to the princes and find out what happened to them. He had not gotten back to them by the time I left, but at the Tower I was able to learn the outcome. Anyway, I really recommend the Yoeman tour even if it is September and it's nearly 90°, and you have a horrible cold. I really loved the Abby it was so cute, but then I learned that is was a mass grave...!

After the tour we went to the White Tower. The tower showcases the line of Kings told by the armor that they wore. So there were lots of armor, swords, maces and etc to see. Very impressive. I liked reading the histories of the King's the best. The next stop was the bloody tower. It was good, but we almost missed it since we thought we had seen it before. Finally, we walked the wall. I liked the views of the city from the wall and the views of the Tower of London as well. There were armor and jewels in the wall tour as well, but I had already seen so much of both!

There was one other thing at the Tower that we saw. The Ravens. There are seven kept at the Tower. They are big and not afraid of people so they were funny to watch. 

After touring the Tower we went to look for a place to eat. We found a place called Tom's which had sandwiches. I had a meatball one, it wasn't what I was expecting, but it was still good. Kelsi had a veggie wrap. We ate pretty quickly and then went to Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge

We had to cross the Bridge twice because the exhibit was on the other side! The exhibit was pretty cool. There was a lot of information about bridges and how that bridge was made inside. The best part was the sky platform. It is a glass floor that you can look down to the bridge, and river below. You can see cars pass and when the bridge lifts you can see boats cross under. We were able to watch a boat pass under. 

There is an additional part of the exhibit about the hydraulics, but we didn't do that part, it was hot inside and we decided to get refreshers instead. We had ciders from the Bridge House, a restaurant at the base of the bridge. We were also able to see the bridge life from our table next to the river!

After our refreshers, we went to St. Paul's and only managed to get a little lost! I liked watching all of the people out and about on the warm day, laying in the grass, jogging around, and taking it easy. It was great! 

By the time we reached St. Paul's it was closed for touring! So we waited outside to go in for the Evensong. So I was able to watch more people from a shady spot on the steps. The Church was beautiful! The Evensong was an interesting experience! The singing was not like the Tabernacle Choir, but it was nice all the same. I actually think visiting the Church for the Evensong was better than going for the tour. We were able to see the St. Paul as the Church not the tourist spot!

After the Evensong we went across the street to Go! Sushi. It has sushi on a belt. Kelsi was worried about the freshness of the sushi, because one of our friends was sick at a sushi place with a belt before. So we watch very carefully, and only picked up pieces that were just put down! The sushi in London is different, as expected there were no Las Vegas, Philly or Arizona rolls, and the California roll didn't have cucumbers! Also, some of the pieces were served warm/hot even the raw kind. It was still good sushi, just different. The curry helped clear my nose a bit!

Finally, Kelsi forced me to return home to rest, because of my cold. I guess I looked and sounded pretty poor. I was glad for some rest. We did make a stop to get some cold medicine. It was in blister packs this time, not the kind that is mixed with water. Hopefully that will help!