London Tower, Tower Bridge, South Shore, London Bridge St. Paul's Cathedral

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I'm sure that I learned about the Tower of London somewhere along the way in my stellar Michigan education, but I somehow was not prepared for the size and magnitude of the tower complex. It was pretty crowded so we decided to take the free tour to get the "show" and a sense of the history and drama that had taken place for hundreds of years. We were not disappointed by our guide who had a genuine mix of theatrics, knowledge, humor and passion to really help us understand what had taken place throughout history. He focused on the children, being careful to answer their questions in an appropriate fashion while being respectful of the place and his position. We learned a lot and enjoyed our time there, although the White Tower turned out to be more military museum than anything else.

When we walked across Tower Bridge and crossed to the South Shore the whole area suddenly became so much smaller and less significant compared to the new construction going up all around the complex. we counted over a dozen cranes as we walked along the shore of the Thames River. There is some extraordinary architecture--the old and the new all mixed together.

Coming back we realized we were very close to St. Paul's Cathedral and that they had a service of carols beginning in a few minutes....so we went in and sat down. It was a lovely interlude; the priest had a very thoughtful sermon, the music was beautiful, the organ magnificent and we enjoyed the time in the cathedral.

When we came out we decided to walk back to the hotel and find a restaurant on the way--this has been the plan every evening with some being more successful than others. Tonight the plan was to stop at the Indian restaurant near our hotel, however, when we reached it there were no customers although it was open. We decided not to take a chance on our last night in London; a Mediterranean restaurant was recommended but we opted for the hotel--enough walking around for one day.

Tomorrow we will finally go to Westminster Abby, Big Ben and all those areas. There is so much we haven't seen, but we have managed to pack a lot in the last three days. And now I'll see if I can add some pictures!

Alas, I tried. For whatever reason I can't get the pictures from my photo album to load onto the blog. If anyone has any helpful suggestions please email me at [e-mail]. This is not user error; it is a documented problem with the program. So, all of you techies can stop being smug--you know who you are...

See you tomorrow. Margaret

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