Day Three: Singing In The Rain

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After day two which was fantastic we were very excited to get back on out and enjoy the sights
of the city.

We hopped back onto the double decker bus tour and enjoyed our last hour or so of the ticket.
We traveled along the blue line and saw parts of London that I'd never seen for, Baker St,
parts of Marylebone and sherlock's original home. It was at the latter location that our ticket
had expired from so we had to get off the bus and took the tube to Piccadilly Circus, which
I wanted Dad to check out.

Upon arriving at Piccadilly its neat walking up the stairs out of the tube and seeing the large
advertisement screens and gorgeous archictecture. Piccadilly is after all, the Times Square
of London. We enjoyed a quick browse around the circus and had some snacks and bought an umbrella
(if need be) from Lillywhites. From there we went to Tesco and bought some water to keep us
hydrated or the busy day to come. We started to walk down Regent Street which connected us to Pall
Mall Rd where we went to the London Tourist Info and looked around it and I partaked in a travel
survey.

From there we walked to Trafalgar Square which is gorgeous and is in honour of Lord Admiral
Nelson. Once we hit the square however, it started POURING. And I mean POURING. Good thing we had
umbrellas with us though and we then took the tube to St. James Park which was the closest stop to
our next attraction; Buckingham Palace. The tube I actually quite enjoy, its easily marked and very
efficient on getting to specific areas, but its a lot of walking for Dad so we have typically been using
the buses more which are comfier and have more seats but take longer to get from Point A-to-B.

From the station we walked a few blocks to Buckingam Palace Gate (the road) and went through the queue with our
ticket to begin our exploration of The Queen's staterooms. It was staggering. Not only was the interior
of the palace incredible but it was so fascinating to not only be in the home of a monarch but be somewhere
where diplomats and others from all over the the world stay. The tour of in the interior of the palace
is only open for a few months during the summer while the Queen is in Scotland so it was fantastic fo that
that opportunity to see it. The security however was so tight that I was a bit nervous to take out my camera so didn't get many photos of the interior annoyingly. The one thing about the UK and Europe is that it doesn't seem very accessible to older or handicapped people. From the exit of the Palace to the street it was like a 2 mile walk or something through gravel road. Bit annoying for Dad, but we got there nonetheless through the pouring rain.

From there we took a bus back to Trafalgar Square and then again to Tower Hill. We had arrived at our
last large attraction of the day; The Tower of London. The building (fortress) itself is actually a world heritage sight and is one of the oldest strucutres in the entire city. Parts of the building date back to the 1200's and feature some of the most beautiful stone work and best preserved buildings ever. We walked through the stone courtyards and went up into The White Tower. Now, in its Hayday, the tower was a prison, a menagerie and a home to many people, most famously King Henry VIII. This was where he beheaded many of his wives (most famously Anne Boleyn) and where he practiced other cruel techniques. Within the White Tower we saw some of the old armour he would wear, his jousting outfits, weapons
of torture, and clothing he himself wore. It was so incredible! Fantastic building and of course I snuck some pictures within even though we weren't supposed to, Ha! I was getting a bit more brave after Buckingham Palace. After leaving the White Tower we went to the Jewel tower which features, you guessed it, The Crown Jewels. Dang! The Queen has swag! It was incredible to see and the English do crowns RIGHT, I must say.

After leaving the Tower of London we had a quick snack at an amazing place called Paul UK and from there took a bus back to our hotel. We were pretty tired but wanted to see more of our surrounding area of Queensway. First we went to a dinner at some Pizza place and then went to a mall called Whitleys. Beautiful area and amazing mall, however in the centre and hub of the mall there was an open fish market. STINKY AS HELL. After the mall, we decided to head back to the hotel and it was pouring!! In hindsight it was hilarious, but during it my gosh the rain was coming down in buckets. I hadn't seen that much rain in awhile and it makes you realize some of the benefits of having a car!

That was it for day three, next I will fill you in about Day 4.

David

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Comments

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you've got rain, we've got . . .
FOG!!! it's about 12:44 am (yes, should be in bed), but if i was i would have missed your blog! i can see about 2 blocks down and the rest if fog. ooooohhh, love your blog. brings back such wonderful memories. i do remember we had a scorcher of a day in berlin the day we arrived = it was abt 40C - burning hot, had rain off and on in denmark, but all the other countries we were lucky with the weather. with the rain you are experiencing just makes it so you don't forget what home is like. anyways, you're definitely having a blast with your dad. off to bed now, cause i'mma working tomo morning. have a great day, love to you,