London Open Top Bus Tour

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Liani, Luke and I headed into the city to do one of London's famous sightseeing tours on the open top buses. These are old red double dekker buses with an open top, which gives you an awesome view of all the main attractions. We did the combined bus and cruise on the river Thames. On board is a tour guide who runs a live commentary explaining the history and significance of each sight which is really interesting. For example, Green Park is so called because of a royal wife's discovery that her husband was picking the flowers that once covered the park, for his numerous mistresses. She found out about his infidelity and ordered the park to be cleared of all flowers to put a stop to his antics. Unfortunately, it didnt stop his cheating ways!! They also explained quite a bit about Lord Nelson who is remembered in Trafalgar Square, for his galant battles that ended in the Brits defeating the French. On the tour you can get on and off at any of the sites you want to have a better look at. We got off to watch the initial preparations for the changing of the guard, before they do the long walk towards Buckingham Palace. It was very interesting to see some of the pomp and pagentry of the royals. They make the walk to Buckingahm Palace with loads of people following, and then enter the gates to change the guard from in front of the palace. Buckingham Palace looked beautiful on this day, it was a complete contrast to the day before when Luke and I had been there and it was bleak and raining. Its amazing the difference a bit of blue sky and sun makes!!! From here we rejoined the tour toward Westminster Abbey which is beautiful and an imposing structure on the banks of the Thames. Over to the London Eye, which I am yet to go on, but will do when Luke returns from Europe. The eye is very cool, it doesnt stop to pick up passengers just rotates slowly enough for people to hop on and off. Once people get out security clears the carriages of any suspicious packages and then allows people to board. After walking along the bank we boarded a river cruise at Embankment Pier and headed past the Houses of Parliament which are absolutely beautiful. I have seen them at night and they really do highlight the beauty of London's architecture. We then turned around and cruised down river toward East London, passing Tate Modern Museum, St Paul's Cathedral, the Monument, HMS Belfast, Tower of London and London Bridge. The tour continues to Greenwich where the Maritime Museum is, but we decided to get off and look around the Tower of London. The ticket you buy is valid for a 24hr period, so this tour was well worth the effort. I would highly recommend it to anyone coming to London, you get to see all the touristy sights you can miss out on when you live and work here....

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