Tower of London

On Thursday, Oct 8, we took the kids out of school for our first major London Adventure. We parked at the Epping station (about an hour from our house) and took the tube downtown. We had purchased tickets on the Big Bus tour, which was supposed to be a "hop-on hop-off" guided tour around London. We got on at St. Paul's Cathedral and rode across the London Bridge over the Thames and then crossed again at the Tower Bridge. We got off at the Tower of London so we could do that tour with Megan and Peter. The Tower is a huge complex of buildings, as you can see behind the kids in the picture. We got a tour from a Yeoman Guard (aka Beefeater). He was very entertaining and informative--showing us the Traitor's Gate, the Bloody Tower, the Tower green where two of Henry's wives were beheaded and the Church of St. Peter in Chains where said Henry's ill-fated wives are buried. We then got to go in and see the Crown Jewels. THAT was pretty astonishing--and well-guarded. We walked the tower walls and pretended to guard some prisoners (see Colin's pic--is that an adorable torturer or what?) and went into the oldest part of the tower to see an exhibit about Henry VIII and his changing battle dress and armaments. After the tour, we hopped a river cruise down the Thames, which took us past some incredible views from the water--I especially enjoyed seeing the buildings of Parliament from the water (almost like looking at a Monet). We walked (further than we intended) past Westminster Abbey, and down Victoria Street, as we looked for a bus stop. We finally found the bus again about three stops from the end of its last run...not our finest hour, but we made the best of it--found some yummy dinner at our new out-and-about favorite restaurant, ASK. All in all a great day--and again the Meldrum weather charm held true--perfect day!