Advertisement
Published: October 1st 2008
Edit Blog Post
Tower of London
First up was the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. We woke up and London weather was living up to it's reputation as it was cold windy and raining. By the time we left the house though the rain had stopped so we jumped on the tube to Tower Hill.
The best part of the Tower of London was the hour long guided tour by a Yeoman of the tower, or a Beef Eater as they are nicknamed. Lots of bad jokes and interesting bits of information. He had the crowd of about 50 captivated.
Once that finished we headed up to the crown jewels where Paige questioned the size of the diamond on her ring. They looked a bit small compared to the 530 carat
Great Star of Africa.
It was starting to rain again by this time so we thought we'd head back into town to get some lunch. On our way to Leicester Square, we stopped by Trafalgar Square to get some shelter from the rain. After a quick photo Paige's radar kicked in and she spotted a shoe shop. As I waited outside watching everyone battle their umbrellas against the wind and rain
Paige was inside trying everything on. She came out looking very chuffed with a £3 pair of shoes in her hand. Yes thats right £3...
By now the rain had eased so we made our way to Leicester Square to pick up some half price tickets for a play later on that night. We then grabbed a bite to eat in a cafe/restaurant that I frequented when I lived in London 7 years ago. It hadn't changed too much and the food was still inexpensive and not too bad on the palate.
Harrods
After lunch Paige wanted to see Westminster Abbey so we jumped on a double decker towards Westminster. After a few photos in front of Big Ben we found out that the abbey had closed at 12 but was open for evensong again at 5. So to kill some time we headed to Harrods so Paige could spend the rest of our money 😊. Harrods was very busy and very posh. 90%!o(MISSING)f people there were tourists but the other 10%!w(MISSING)ere busy spending lots of money. Paige spotted some shoes and had a look, she turned them over and I spotted a price tag. I
Trafalgar Square
With Paige battling the weather asked her was that £200 or £2000, she informed me it was £2000......... speechless ......... I needed a toilet so I left her to shop, after taking away all credit cards. I spotted a sign for toilets and followed it. The next sign I saw was 'luxury restroom' and I thought "How much is this going to cost me" so I continued to look for the "not luxury" toilet. After going around in circles I asked a security guy and he pointed be straight back to the "luxury" ones. By now I didn't have a choice so I went in only to find that it was free and the guy in there wasn't hassling anyone for money (which happens a bit over here). I went to meet Paige again in the food hall which is full of lots of great looking, and I'm sure tasting, items. I spotted a few people at a food bar eating fish and chips and I thought to myself that it must be reasonably priced. I spotted the menu board and then spotted the price, £19...... speechless again........ It looked fairly similar the the fish and chips we had the first day we got here
and that cost us £5 with a glass of wine. I found Paige and we made our big purchase, a £1.50 chocolate brownie. Big spenders.
Westminster Abbey
Evensong is an Anglican form of prayer where most of the liturgy is performed by a choir. We got to the church early and was shown in to the abbey. This was a great way to see it as outside of worship times costs £12 a head to get in. Because we were there early we got to sit in the choirs, the fancy wood carved stalls in the middle of the church. The whole thing was a great experience and the choir were amazing.
Some Culture
After evensong we made our way back into Leicester Square to meet up with Conrad for a bite to eat and then to see a play. We had a great meal in China Town and then headed to the Criterion Theatre to see "The 39 Steps", a great comedy played by only four actors. One guy only played the one character and the other two guys and one girl played a bunch of different characters. It was very funny and a really great night
out.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0412s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Mum
non-member comment
Hi Paige and Pete!
Thanks for the wonderful tourround Europe and London. Almost felt as though I was there. Have a very happy and relaxing trip back, that's if yu haven't left already. Look forward to talking to you on your return. Love Mum