Tuesday and London Formal Tour

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Tuesday was our first formal day on tour. We had an early start to the day about 6:45 in the morning. I jumped out of bed and headed to the window to get a view of the weather conditions to be very pleasantly surprised to see a cloudy but dry day. I checked the weather and was pleasantly surprised again to see a forecast of 64 degrees and a slight chance of rain.

We got dressed and headed down to breakfast. Now tour breakfasts are a feast for sure. We were treated to a full English breakfast served buffet style. There was baked beans, cooked tomatoes, sausage, eggs (powdered for sure) potato fritters, a feast of salami and hams and cheese and finally watermelon. They also had a continental breakfast area filled with many bread choices, baked goods, cereals and a variety of jams and jellies fruits and more. If you could not find something to eat here, well, you were in trouble. Unfortunately, Cathy was in trouble. There were no gluten-free choices, she can't have fruits (too much sugar), no cereal (gluten) and she really does not like powdered eggs and meats. She soldiered through, however, as best she could. They even found her a banana which was not on the menu, the only fruit she can eat. We enjoyed coffee made American style. Soon it was time to hit the road.

We had two tours today, there first was a general bus tour around the major sites, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly, Churches, Etc. Traffic continued to be a major problem so we traveled very slowly as our tour guide, Anita, gave us a full rendition of the history of what we were seeing. We left the bus and took a short walk to see the changing of the Mounted Guard, AKA the British Household Calvary or just the Core.

The Mounted Guard is mostly ceremonial in nature, but they are fully empowered soldiers serving the royal family on horseback. Both the current princes, Harry and William were members of this group. We arrived at the appointed hour, 11 AM to see the mounted soldiers ride in and perform some impressive maneuvers as the old guards lined up awaiting the arrival of the new guard, their replacement. The old guard was dressed in red the new guard in blue. The colors represent the regiments they guards represent. The show lasted about a half hour.

Next, we headed off down the center mall for a walk to Buckingham Palace where we were treated to the changing of the Royal Guard, an unscheduled event. The changing of the guard is usually only done on Monday, Wednesday Friday and Saturday, so a Tuesday ceremony was unusual. The spectacle was filled with pomp and circumstance as the Guards marched, accompanied by their band, out of the palace gates and off to their barracks. We remained in the area and Anita gave us a full education of the history of the area and the monarchy. It was soon time to say goodbye to Anita and off to our second tour of the day.

It was almost noon and we had 45 minutes to walk back across the mall, find lunch, and join the city tour across from Trafalgar Square. We found a deli called Pret A Manger, we have no idea what that means, but it is a self serve food market with many choices of sandwiches, wraps, salads, sweets and baked goods. It was filled with locals so we knew it must be good and it was. I had a delicious Parma ham sandwich and yogurt with granola and berries. Cathy had a chicken salad, truly baked chicken over salad greens. Unfortunately, the bathroom was out of order so we were in a bit of a fix.

We headed back to the tourist office to pick up our tour figuring they had a bathroom, they did not. We both were in need and so I asked the CSR where was the closest bathroom. She told me in Trafalgar Square, a full 5 minute walk each way. The tour was scheduled to start in less time than we could make it both ways so I went outside to look for other options.

There was a restaurant called Garfunkles a few shops away, so I got Cathy and was planning to sneak in and use the bathroom. We entered the restaurant and walked to the back where the bathrooms are usually located and there were none. Now what? I saw a waiter and asked him, "where is the bathroom please?"

"Bathrooms are only for customers." came the snotty reply.

"Fine." I walked to the bar and ordered a bottle of sparkling water.

The waiter was now in a mood for sure and he let me have it. "You do not need to buy water. You should have just asked to use the bathroom."

I kept my mouth shut for once because that is what I thought I did, but I guess it was not done in a proper ENGLISH STYLE.

He then continued to tell me the bathroom was downstairs and I was welcome to use it. I didn't feel very welcome but we used the facilities and got back to the tour office in time to meet our elderly tour guide, Peter.

Now, Peter was well educated, liked to make a joke and knew what he was doing. We were directed to a modern red bus and we climbed on board and off we were, only to hit major traffic. What should have taken 10 minutes took nearly 30 minutes, so we were going to be behind schedule.

Our first stop was St Johns Cathedral, one of the major Catholic Churches built by the most famous architect Christopher Wren. It seems old London was basically burnt to the ground in the 1600s and had to be rebuilt. Wren and his staff designed and built over 50 churches in the one square mile marking Old London. All of his churches were beautiful and most are still in use today. St. Johns, is home of the Bishop of London, so that is why it is a Cathedral. It was large, very open whose crypts are filled with the tombs of the rich and famous. The most famous is Lord Nelson Admiral of the Navy felled by an assassin"s bullet during the war with Spain. There are nobles, Churchmen and politicians throughout the crypts. Most fascinating.

Next stop was the Tower of London, the home of the Crown Jewels and historically the main jail for the foulest of criminal. Here, several heads were removed, including Ann and Jane Boylen. Many others were put to the flame or were drawn and quartered, or hanged, depending on the severity of their crime. Here the rack was used to get confessions from political prisoners or they would be strung up by their wrists until they confessed. Not a fun place to be sent, but a very interesting place to visit.

The Crown Jewels, all of them, from the 1400s to the present are kept here. I was not really impressed with the workmanship on the crowns. The silver work looked rushed, the pearls seemed to be glued hastily to the crown and the diamonds looked dull, but I guess they were priceless and filled with history. Glad I saw them but not noteworthy at least for me.

Our last stop on the tour was a boat ride on the Thames. We had a short walk to the wharf where we boarded a 500 passenger river vessel and off we were for the 30-minute ride back to Westminster Pier. It was time for dinner.

Once again we asked for directions to a nice local pub and once again were given directions that we couldn't understand or follow. We decided to pick a direction and explore, we were glad we did. We came to another Italian Restaurant, with Gelatto and many cakes and pastries in the window. There were pizza and salads on the menu. We went in and were seated very quickly.

The pretty Romanian waitress came up and greeted us, "Oh, hello. It's good to see you again."

Now I was a little off as I am sure I have never been here before.

I chatted with the waitress and came to find out she really thought we had been there before. I assured her we had not and gave her my card. When she found out I was a writer we struck up a very friendly conversation. She wanted to know how hard is it to write a book. How do you write one? etc. We ordered an Antipasta Misti salad (bread, olives, artichoke, and greens with a Margherita pizza. Our waitress came to the table over and over as we dined and chatted. After dinner, she brought me a Gelatto "on the house." We said our goodbyes and she promised to buy my book.

We had another 2-mile walk home but this time it wasn't raining so it was not too bad. We got home in plenty of time to watch the USA thrash Thailand in the Women's World Cup soccer tournament in France 13 nil.

Tomorrow we leave London and head to Bath and my first bucket list stop, Stone Henge.

Things we learned and you should too

Tipping is not necessary in restaurants, there isn't even a place for a tip when you use a credit card.

You should tip both your day tour guide and bus driver. The tour guide should get $2.50 a person and the bus driver $1

The people in London are generally not friendly, but the police officers are very friendly. Seek them out if you need anything.

London is safe but keep your eyes open. There is much political turmoil and terrorism is not far away. If you mind your surrounds you will be good to go.

There is no bargaining in the shops period. Unlike many other countries, the price they quote is the price you pay. There are no bargains in London.

They do not really like Americans. We see things differently I guess and they are very snotty to us. Deal with it a move on.

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

Tower of London
Great photo. I have posted some of your pics in TB's "Palaces & Castles" thread in the Photography Forum. Check 'em out.

[Phil Farina]

Thanks