We let ourselves wake up on our own today (Monday, actually), then we headed out to start the day of sightseeing. We walked, and as we crossed Waterloo Bridge, Nikki warned me that I was just about to see like nine famous things at one time. I didn’t believe her, but then I spotted pretty much every recognizable landmark of London in about three seconds. It looked like someone photoshopped everything they knew was here into one picture, but it really is all right there! They sky was astounding too, and with the double decker buses passing every twenty seconds, I just wanted to sit there for hours, proving to myself that I was really in London. We walked to a pier located directly under the London Eye, and bought tickets for a boat tour on the river, which would let us off at the Tower of London. Unfortunately, our boat was cancelled, so we walked to Waterloo Station and took the Tube to Tower Hill. London smacked me in the face again as I saw the Tower Bridge behind this huge castle. The history At the Tower of London just beats you over the head (in a good way). It was so freaking cool. We joined up with a tour group led by a Yeoman Warden, and visited the site where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey were executed, as well as the church they are buried in. The tour guide was hilarious, and the stories were excellent.
Afterwards, Nikki and I went and saw the Crown Jewels, which look kind of tacky, because you can’t actually wrap your mind around the fact that those humungous stones are real. It was a lot of very shiny things. We also joined up with a tour in the White Tower and saw the armor of lots of kings and a chapel of St. John the Evangelist. This chapel has had many famous things happen in it; one of which was King Henry sitting on a pew in the back, waiting to hear the verdict on Anne Boleyn. This story wasn’t fact, but it seemed to be pretty accepted. Then we took the longest spiral staircase ever. ever. It was like the staircase in the nursing building times ten. We finally got out and went to the fusilier museum. Then, we climbed up some stairs to get some pictures from above, but we had to cross through all of these towers to get down. We couldn’t get out, and we just kept stumbling into these room with people in costumes giving intense monologues. We stopped and listened to some of the first one, but after that, we just ran through these rooms, averting our gaze and searching desperately for an exit. I told Nikki that I now knew how it felt to be a prisoner in the Tower of London.
Eventually we got out, and we picked up a river tour boat by the tower and went to Greenwich. By that time, though, It was freeeeeaking cold, and there weren’t many boats left that day to get home. So we sped off through Greenwich to get the the observatory on the Prime Meridian. Unfortunately, I costs five pounds to stand on it, so we just watched other people stand on it for a while. Then we headed back to the boat, flailing and whining the whole time about how cold it was. We had eight minutes to kill, so we stopped at the info center and built with the foam blocks they had set up for children to be “architects”. I just stacked a few things and called it a day, but Nikki build this intricate cathedral thing. I have pics lol. This man who worked there came over and asked us if we were architects, then said he would give us a prize, but the blocks were for children between the ages of 5 and 11, so he couldn’t. He was funny, though, and he asked Nikki was denomination her church was He made up some funny name, but I can’t remember it. Then we ran to the boat and saw lots of amazing things (The bridge the dementors destroy in Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe’s school, Big Ben, Helen Mirren’s house....). We took the Tube home, met up with the gang, and bought our tickets for Wicked.
Afterwards, Nikki and I went and saw the Crown Jewels, which look kind of tacky, because you can’t actually wrap your mind around the fact that those humungous stones are real. It was a lot of very shiny things. We also joined up with a tour in the White Tower and saw the armor of lots of kings and a chapel of St. John the Evangelist. This chapel has had many famous things happen in it; one of which was King Henry sitting on a pew in the back, waiting to hear the verdict on Anne Boleyn. This story wasn’t fact, but it seemed to be pretty accepted. Then we took the longest spiral staircase ever. ever. It was like the staircase in the nursing building times ten. We finally got out and went to the fusilier museum. Then, we climbed up some stairs to get some pictures from above, but we had to cross through all of these towers to get down. We couldn’t get out, and we just kept stumbling into these room with people in costumes giving intense monologues. We stopped and listened to some of the first one, but after that, we just ran through these rooms, averting our gaze and searching desperately for an exit. I told Nikki that I now knew how it felt to be a prisoner in the Tower of London.
Eventually we got out, and we picked up a river tour boat by the tower and went to Greenwich. By that time, though, It was freeeeeaking cold, and there weren’t many boats left that day to get home. So we sped off through Greenwich to get the the observatory on the Prime Meridian. Unfortunately, I costs five pounds to stand on it, so we just watched other people stand on it for a while. Then we headed back to the boat, flailing and whining the whole time about how cold it was. We had eight minutes to kill, so we stopped at the info center and built with the foam blocks they had set up for children to be “architects”. I just stacked a few things and called it a day, but Nikki build this intricate cathedral thing. I have pics lol. This man who worked there came over and asked us if we were architects, then said he would give us a prize, but the blocks were for children between the ages of 5 and 11, so he couldn’t. He was funny, though, and he asked Nikki was denomination her church was He made up some funny name, but I can’t remember it. Then we ran to the boat and saw lots of amazing things (The bridge the dementors destroy in Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe’s school, Big Ben, Helen Mirren’s house....). We took the Tube home, met up with the gang, and bought our tickets for Wicked.
There seems to be an intense focus in The U.K. on not tripping. The Tube always reminds you to “mind the gap,” and every tour guide we had warned us about some step or gap that may trip us. There are also signs everywhere warning about tripping hazards. Actually, they may not be more concerned about tripping in general: they may just have more things to trip over. Anyway Nikki tripped over a stone as we were heading back to the boat, and I decided it must have been because there was no huge sign warning her about it.
We also were talking as we trekked up this huge ramp to the observatory at Greenwich about them eventually having to change the monarch on the currency. Then we were talking about succession and when the monarchs may die. We were joking around, and Nikki said something about Charles dying by lance blow, and I just doubled over laughing and asked her if that’s how people die here. We were so slap happy from the cold, but it was so much fun.
Nikki’s in class right now, but I’m about to go shower, then meet her at King’s College to grab a late lunch (wish me luck maneuvering on my own lol). We’re supposed to ride The Eye, tour the Glob Theatre, and see Wicked tomorrow, so I’m beyond excited! Other events we’re trying to fit in include St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kensington Gardens (Peter Pan statue), Harrods, changing of the guard, Abbey Road, Primrose Hill, the National Portrait Gallery, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Oxford.
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