Dad, Grandma, and I had a list of places we wanted to go while in London. I believe we made it to all of the things on the list but one in the two days we spent there. We decided the best way to get around London was to take a hop-on hop-off bus.
Overall I like the hop-on hop-off bus concept (learning about the history of London while not having to worry about driving and navigating through the confusing streets) but the bus line we used didn't have as many buses as some of the other lines we saw, so basically we were waiting for buses quite a bit. But even with the waiting, we still got to see almost everything we planned to see and buying a two day bus pass, we also got free tickets for a cruise on the River Thames.
Waiting for the bus!
Westminster Abbey was our first stop. We went inside and took a self-guided audio tour.
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but just know it was
beautiful.
Westminster Abbey is where coronations usually
take place as well as some royal weddings including Prince William to
Kate. I didn't realize until we went inside how many famous people are buried here, people
such as Isaac Newton, George Frideric Handel, Charles Dickens and many
others.
Some of the details on the outside of Westminster Abbey.
Grandma and I in front of Big Ben (although I learned on a tour that Big Ben is actually the name of the bells inside of the tower and not the tower but people still call it Big Ben any way.)
Although it was pretty dang cold this day, I couldn't ride a double decker hop-on hop-off bus and not ride on top, so I endured the cold and rode on top. :)
The River Thames!
I like this picture even if does look like Big Ben is coming out of Dad's head. ;)
The lighting was changing every couple of minutes. I would see Big Ben in one light and then a couple minutes later, it would look completely different in another light. It was so interesting and beautiful.
This was on our river cruise and it was awesome! The tour guide was highly entertaining and the views were amazing!
Grandma was a trooper on this boat ride because it was cold outside (and since we were on the river I think it made it even colder) and we could have ridden below on the inside of the boat where it was warm, but Dad and I wanted to ride on the top on the outside so we rode on top and Grandma was cold. (Sorry Grandma.) I think she still enjoyed it though.
The London Eye.
It looks like the spokes of a bike wheel.
Waterloo bridge. The bridge as we see it now was built in the early 1940s. The tour guide mentioned that the bridge work force was mainly women and that it was the only bridge that was completed on time and under budget. :)
These red pillars are the remnants of original bridge that crossed the river back in 1864.
The Millennium Bridge. They said when they first opened the bridge to the public it swayed a little bit (which it was not suppose to do) and so they closed it the same day it opened for two years to fix the problem.
That cool building in the background is the Shard.
Blackfriar's Theatre.
The Shard!
A reconstruction of the ship Sir Francis Drake sailed to travel around the world back in the 1500s.
The Tower of London!
Tower Bridge!
One of the items on our list was to see the crown jewels at the Tower of London. We got to the tower about an hour before closing. The ticket agent wasn't going to sell us tickets since we only had an hour left to tour because she said that that wouldn't be enough time. But we convinced her that we really only wanted to see the crown jewels and she reluctantly sold us the tickets.
I didn't realize how much there was to see inside the Tower of London, but our first stop was the crown jewels so that we definitely made it to that, if nothing else. We couldn't take pictures inside where the crown jewels were, but there were some brilliant, large, and beautiful jewels! :)
We walked along the wall of the Tower of London and saw some more of the animal sculptures that we saw at the entrance of the Tower.
A beefeater at the Tower of London.
Walking along the wall of the Tower. These look like they might be places of residence, but I believe they're still within the walls of the Tower. Can people live within the walls of the Tower of London?
Still on the walking along the wall.
The bridge is up!
We had to get a picture with one of the beefeaters. :)
The field where the ravens are.
Thankfully, there were ravens there that day. They say when the ravens no longer live in this field, it means the Tower and the empire will fall...
London City Hall!
I liked this scooter with the roof. :)
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