After a not-so-great night of sleep (I woke up at 11:35pm, suddenly wide awake), we made our way down to the breakfast buffet at our hotel. It was surprisingly good! There was a hot food line with poached eggs, back-cut bacon, sausages, noodles, beans (they looked like pork-n-beans), "burnt ends", mushrooms, and stewed tomatoes. There was a cold line with thin slices of fish, prosciutto ham, melon and fruits, yogurt, and cheeses. I should stop here and mention that there was a platter of what looked like soft, pale yellow cheese in rather large, flat pieces. Thinking that it was a soft English cheese maybe, I had some. After tasting a big fork-full, I realized it was butter... Back to the buffet- there were waffles, crepes, pancakes, breads, honey and jam, hot and cold cereal, and juice, milk and coffee. The coffee was very strong.
After breakfast, we walke to the bus station and paid 2 euros each to ride to Westminster. At Westminster, we walked over to Westminster Abbey to see the beautiful cathedral and St. Margaret's Church.
We saw Big Ben, the Parliament Building, and several other beautiful, antiquated buildings.
We walked along the Queen's Jubilee Walkway down toward Buckingham Palace, stopping at St. Jame's Park to stroll along the edge of a pond. It had a nature area with geese (even Canadian Geese), pelicans, and several other interesting birds. And lots of pigeons. We saw a few squirrels that look identical to our American squirrels. The weather was beautiful and sunny, with temperatures in the 70s.
It was around noon when we made it to Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guard as in progress, and there were throngs of people craning to get a glimpse. We just saw some red uniforms. We were getting ready to leave, when the police closed off the street and the royal marching band marched by, playing, across to a building on the other side. This we were able to see close up, and take plenty of pictures of.
We asked about going to see the inside of the Palace, but were told this only happens on July 27th or later, "when the Queen goes away." We crossed over to the other side of the Thames River, back by the Parliament Building and Big ben.
We walked to the "London Eye", which is a huge ferris wheel with viewing capsults. It takes 30 minutes to complete one trip around. We stood in line for tickets, which were 17.95 euros each. A free "4D experience" came included. It was a short little movie showing the London Eye and a sea gull, complete with smoke, fake snow, and squirts of water. We had another line to wait in to get on the Eye, but it moved quickly.
It was around noon when we made it to Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guard as in progress, and there were throngs of people craning to get a glimpse. We just saw some red uniforms. We were getting ready to leave, when the police closed off the street and the royal marching band marched by, playing, across to a building on the other side. This we were able to see close up, and take plenty of pictures of.
We asked about going to see the inside of the Palace, but were told this only happens on July 27th or later, "when the Queen goes away." We crossed over to the other side of the Thames River, back by the Parliament Building and Big ben.
We walked to the "London Eye", which is a huge ferris wheel with viewing capsults. It takes 30 minutes to complete one trip around. We stood in line for tickets, which were 17.95 euros each. A free "4D experience" came included. It was a short little movie showing the London Eye and a sea gull, complete with smoke, fake snow, and squirts of water. We had another line to wait in to get on the Eye, but it moved quickly.
We boarded our capsule with 18 other people, and started our trip around. Someone offered to take our picture...
The view was beautiful, and we could see for miles.
After leaving the Eye, we continued along the Thames, looking for a place to have lunch. We decided to eat at "Eat." It's a very common cafe-type eatery in London. It, along with Starbucks, was seemingly on every corner!
The view was beautiful, and we could see for miles.
After leaving the Eye, we continued along the Thames, looking for a place to have lunch. We decided to eat at "Eat." It's a very common cafe-type eatery in London. It, along with Starbucks, was seemingly on every corner!We had traditional British Pies with "mash and gravy." After lunch, we continued along the Thames River towards the London Tower and Tower Bridge.
We stopped at a little pub called "The Anchor" to have a beer. Bryan had a traditional English Ale, and I, thinking I was choosing something more like an American beer, chose the "Extra Chilled Strongbow." It WAS extra chilled, but it tasted nothing like beer. It was more like a white wine or a sour apple juice. Choosing beer in London can clearly be a little tricky! Bryan enjoyed his beer, and together, we finished most of mine.
We walked, and walked, and walked. We got to the Tower Bridge, and walked across to London Tower. It was very pretty and castle-like; and almost 1000 years old! It was almost 5pm by this time, so we didn't go inside to see the Crown Jewels. At this point, we were quite a ways from our hotel. We decided o use London's underground train system to get back.
We learned that "subway" doesn't mean the same thing as in America. Bryan saw this sign, and thought we were going down to the subway... which was actually just a tunnel under the street!
We stopped at a little pub called "The Anchor" to have a beer. Bryan had a traditional English Ale, and I, thinking I was choosing something more like an American beer, chose the "Extra Chilled Strongbow." It WAS extra chilled, but it tasted nothing like beer. It was more like a white wine or a sour apple juice. Choosing beer in London can clearly be a little tricky! Bryan enjoyed his beer, and together, we finished most of mine.
We walked, and walked, and walked. We got to the Tower Bridge, and walked across to London Tower. It was very pretty and castle-like; and almost 1000 years old! It was almost 5pm by this time, so we didn't go inside to see the Crown Jewels. At this point, we were quite a ways from our hotel. We decided o use London's underground train system to get back.
We learned that "subway" doesn't mean the same thing as in America. Bryan saw this sign, and thought we were going down to the subway... which was actually just a tunnel under the street!
We asked for some help at the information window after staring at the train routes for several minutes. We had about a 20-30 minute train ride back to the station near our hotel. We walked back, sent some emails to family, and fought the urge to take a nap!
We walked from our hotel towards the King's Mall area and stopped at the Hammersmith Ram for dinner. It, too, was a traditional English Pub. We both had the fish and chips, and while Bryan had another English Ale, I decided to stick with my tried and true Diet Coke. The World Cup Soccer game between Uruguay and the Netherlands was on, and it drew quite a crowd. I helped Bryan finish a second ale, that wa actually good, even at room temperature. We went back to our hotel, where I tooke a bath in the strange, narrow, but very deep bathtub while Bryan got things together for our departure in the morning.
I thought I'd mention a few peculiarities/differences we've noticed during our time in London. Some restrooms require that you pay to use them. For instance, we paid 50 euro cents a piece to use the restrooms at the Tower Bridge. Oh... and they're called "toilets." Instead of a sign that reads "restroom", you'll see "toilets". Also the toilets themselves are different. There are no tanks on the back. They all seem to flush very violently, and many have a sensor you wave your hand in front of to flush. I should mention that this is what the ladies room was like... Bryan said the men's room was "just a urinal" and not much different from the US. We also saw a cute sign on a pole that read, "Anyone who allows a dog to foul the footpath will be fined a prosecuted." Susie would have been in trouble... or rather, WE would have! ha ha!
And just some other word differences:
"Mash"- mashed potatoes
"Bangers"- sausages
"Crisps"- potato chips
"Lifts"- elevators
"Clotted cream"- we have no idea!
"Banoffee"- Something with banana and toffee
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