London - the Tower and Cherrio

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The final two days of London seemed like a whirlwind. We woke up on the 11th, hopped on the tube and headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. It was very crowded, but it had to be done. You can’t come to London without seeing the changing of the guards at least once. It would be like going to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower. We really couldn’t see much, but Tricia had her selfie stick, so she set up her phone and just videoed away. She did get several brilliants on her nifty gadget. She also got some awesome footage.

After the changing got the guard, we found the hop-on-hop-off bus tour and rode around the town. We drove by Trafalgar, Picadilly, Tower Bridge, etc… all the sites… We decided to get off at the Tower of London stop to visit that. BUT before going in, we had lunch at KFC. Yes, that is Kentucky Fried Chicken. We were hungry, desperate times, called for desperate measures. Felt unhealthy after, but not going to lie… it was pretty good.

After lunch, we headed into the Tower. It was really cool because this was they were “celebrating” the anniversary of 100 years since Britain’s involvement in WWI. They had a special exhibition called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. They were creating 888,246 ceramic poppies to fill the Tower’s moat. 888,246 represent each British military life lost during the war. Amazing to see.



After the Tower of London, we got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. Conveniently, the bus had a stop right outside of our hotel. For dinner, we had a miss mosh of food from around the area. We had a mediterranean mixed plate, couscous chicken from the Mediterranean place. We had a Beet salad from Muriels’ and Chinese takeaway from the same Chinese place we had dinner from the night before. I think the restaurant was called Chopstix. All in all a good day…

Our last day on the 12th had us getting back on the bus to finish out our tour. Jim and the kids got off at Kensington Palace and Park, Tricia and I got off at Harrods. We did a few hours of shopping along Brompton and then returned back to the hotel to afternoon tea in the tea room. The tea room was very quaint and very accommodating. They made eggless, nut less pastries for Noah to enjoy. Very good. After tea, we walked around Kensington and then headed back to pack….



Final thoughts… Loved Edinburgh in the summer, fabulous weather. Never get tired of London. Rice-Wong travel a success!

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Photos

Buckingham Palace - Changing of the Guards
Victoria Square

Afternoon Tea
Ampersand Tea Rooms