Day 7 - London Eye and the Tower

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This morning started with a “flight” on the London Eye wheel. The weather was a little overcast, but dry, so the viewing was still good. The views from the top are wonderful and it’s a great way to identify where in London everything is.

Following this we crossed the bridge to Westminster, past Big Ben, and walked on to Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is an amazing place with ornate stonework and stained glass, not to mention the marble floors in some areas and the ornate tombs of Kings, Queens, and other people. This is a walk back in time which I found fascinating. The self paced audio guide devices are a real help as they explain the significance of many parts of the Abbey; and they are available at no extra charge. Once we had wound our way through the Abbey we walked down past Downing Street. For some reason Gordon hadn’t received my letter asking for a meeting so we continued through the Horse Guards and on to St. James Park for a leisurely stroll and a bite of lunch.

We took the opportunity to pre-purchase tickets for a tour of Buckingham Palace for tomorrow following the changing of the guard, and then grabbed a London Cab down to the Tower of London. The cabby was a Londoner with a great accent so I kept up a conversation with him asking about different things in London, just to hear him speak.

The Tower is an experience. This is the second time we have both visited and we enjoyed it immensely. The Yeomen “Beefeater” who present the story of the tower are interesting and very entertaining in the way they tell the story. An exhibit of King Henry VIII armour was in the white tower which made for interesting viewing. And of course we had to go see the Crown Jewels which are always spectacular, although not quite so spectacular as the first time we saw them. Maybe this was due to the way they are laid out, which is different from the last time we visited.

Our evening began with dinner at a London Pub in Earl’s Court Road and then a visit to Harrods, where we spent way too much. I was impressed by the fact I was offered that I could pay for my purchase in GBP or Australian Dollars thus saving the transaction fee. Now that’s Harrods service for you.

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