Our last 2 days in London

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Just as quickly as we got to merry ol England it was time to go. Our last two days we packed in a lot of site seeing but it was well worth it! Places we went to included: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and of course Harrods.

Our first stop for the day was the Tower of London. It was built over 900 years ago and has acted as a royal palace, a fortress, a prison, the official mint, and even a menagerie, it is located in East London.
Three queens had lost their heads on Tower Green. The White Tower is in the center of the Tower of London, and it was built in 1078. Ravens have always been in the tower since it has been built, and it is said that if the ravens leave the tower, the tower would fall and a disaster disaster would happen. The Ravens have their wings clipped so they can never leave the tower.

Tower Bridge was opened in 1894 and it is London's best known bridge.

We walked through Piccadilly Circus, it would've been great to have seen it lit up at night.

St. Paul's Cathedral was also on our to visit list. The cathedral was undergoing some renovation while we were there. It is a stunning cathedral, and once inside, there are no photographs allowed.

It seemed as in the very early years, St. Paul's Cathedral had some bad luck, as it was rebuilt several times. In 604, it was built for the first time. In 962 it was rebuilt for the second time as the Vikings had ransacked and destroyed the cathedral. In 1561, the cathedral was struck by lightning and Queen Elizabeth contributed to the renovation. In 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed the cathedral. In 1710 Sir Christopher Wren completed building the cathedral. In 1997, St. Paul's cathedral celebrated its 300th anniversary!
The dome of the cathedral is built in the shape of a cross, and is one of the largest Cathedral domes in the world.

In the crypt of the Cathederal is the tombs of Admiral Nelson, Duke Wellington, and Sir Christopher Wren.

Hamleys toy store was on my wish list to go see, I was curious as to how a toy store could occupy over 7 floores. It is one of the largest toy shops in the world. The history behind the store is quite fascinating to read, and it is one of those "feel good" deeds!

Ending the day, we even managed to see a play "Phantom of the Opera", however on the return back to our hotel we managed to be in a downpour. Thankfully we were wise and had carried umbrellas, but nonetheless, we were chilled to the bone walking back to our hotel! One thing that I didn't expect was to see Big Ben beautifully lit up at night! It was well worth the sight!

Our last day in London we spent the morning viewing Buckingham Palace. Since it was in October, we couldn't go inside of the palace. We did see the Guards ride around the grounds. The best is always for last and that was a trip to Harrods!

Harrods is over one million square feet and sits on 4.5 acres. My favorite areas were the food halls where you can buy fresh meats/fish as well as cheeses, teas, and coffees. I also enjoyed the Egyptian Escalator. Mohamed Al Fayed created the Egyptian Escalator, a magnificent £20 million homage to ancient Egypt, designed alongside with experts from the British Museum for authenticity.

One cannot go hungry in Harrods, there are over 7 floors with 28 restaurants. We had a late lunch at Harrods, I had smoked salmon with a glass of white wine, it was out of this world! One thing that I thoroughly enjoyed is the butter they served with the bread. It isn't this crappy margarine that is typically served with bread, but it was creamy, smooth and real butter.

Harrods is pricey but it is an enjoyment to see. I didn't feel compelled to buy anything except lunch there. It was a great way to end our trip!

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Photos

Tower of London
The Tower of London has 13 small towers within the inner walls and the outer wall has six towers.

Tower Hill
I am ready to enter the Middle Tower

Jewel Tower
This complex houses the crown jewels. There are mini movies that feature the jewels. One of the movies features the Queen when she was being coronated in the 1950's. You can't take pictures of the jewels but you can buy postcards.

Medieval Room
This is in the White Tower.

Chapel of St John
This is the chapel of St. John the Evangelist in the White Tower. This is supposedly the oldest church in London.

Toilet in the White Tower
This is one notch above the hole in the ground! No place to hang the toilet paper.

Arms & armour
This is bigger than any Texas sized gun collection I've ever seen. You can view these in the White Tower.

Coat of Arms
These are in the White Tower. It is amazing to see the different types of arms.

View of Tower of London
You can see the entry to Traitor's Gate, at the lower left corner of the picture.

Monument
This monument is topped with a flaming golden urn. The monument represents the Great Fire of London in 1666. It is 202 feet high. If you want to climb the steps, plan on climbing 311 steps! The monument is located on Pudding Lane.

St. Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1675 and 1710. The tower is 355 feet high.

Hamley's Toys
My friend had to literally drag me out of this toy store. I felt like I was in a "candy" store.

Hamming it up
Yours truly - I would've loved to have taken him home with me.

Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is the heart of the West End of London. At night it really lights up! This is London's main entertainment and shopping sector.

Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace has been the royalty's residence since Queen Victoria in 1837. There are over 600 rooms. The Royal Mews houses the royal carriages.

Queen Victoria Memorial
Outside of Buckingham Palace is the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Soldiers on Parade
Changing of the guard takes place at 11:30 a.m., daily in the summer and on alternate days in the winter.

St. Jame's Park
This is the nicest of the royal parks and is not far from Buckingham Palace.

Wellington Arch
Wellington Arch is located in Hyde Park. The sculpture shows a small boy (actually the son of Lord Michelham, the man who funded the sculpture) leading the quadriga, with Peace descending upon it from heaven.

Double decker bus
It was fun riding the Double decker bus.

Harrods
Harrods moto is "Omina Omnibus Ubique" which means all things for all people, everywhere. Harrods originated as a grocer in 1834. It has 300 departments which occupy 7 floors. At night, around 11,500 lights will light up the store.