Woke up by Stu's phone buzzing at 5:30 and couldn't get back to sleep :/
Breakfast - same.
Today we decided to go our own separate ways for the day. The sun was out so I wanted to do some touristy things while Stu had a relaxing day off.
So my first stop was Buckingham Palace. I considered going in, but the sun was out! So decided to go down past Westminster station to photograph the barriers (a la Order of the Phoenix), across the Westminster bridge, and up the London Eye.
Buckingham Palace in sunlight
Queen Victoria Monument in sunlight
Buckingham Palace gates in sunlight
Westminster Station, as seen in Order of the Phoenix
London Eye
London Eye
Houses of Parliament
Had about a fifteen minute wait in the queue to get tickets, then a fifteen minute wait to get on. There were some pretty annoying people (a couple of girls and also a bunch of guys that just wanted to pose for each other non stop through the whole ride). The view was decent enough and the clouds parted enough for me to get some ok photos.
Charing Cross station
The Thames
St Paul's Cathedral
Buckingham Palace
At the top of the London Eye
Guys taking photos of themselves
Government buildings including 10 Downing Street and Treasury
Houses of Parliament
Tower of Big Ben
Clock tower and Westminster Abbey
Hopped on a train (when I eventually found the right line at Waterloo station) to London Bridge. And from there went across and up Tower Bridge. You go up in a lift in the north tower, then you walk across to the south tower across the top. There are all these info boards setup to read. Then you can go across the top on the other half as well - this part was only opened a few months ago. Then you take steps most of the way down the south tower (there is a toilet near the top of the south tower you can use - this would be one of the cooler places I've gone to the toilet :) ). After the bridge tour you can also go see the old steam engine rooms that were in use until 1976. They were pretty cool to look at with lots of useful info.
Waterloo Station
Crossing Tower Bridge I had to stop because it was opening!
Interior of Tower Bridge
Tower of London
London office buildings
HMS Belfast
Looking up the Thames
Inside the top of Tower Bridge
Looking down on the road
Furnaces
Engine room
It was pouring with rain at this point. !? So walked across the bridge and it was already clearing up again.
Tower Bridge, with tide as high as I ever saw it
At this point I didn't know what to do next. Stu would have been interested in the Tower of London. But it was just there. Or I could have gone into Buckingham Palace. Either way I was going to miss out on the Monument because it was getting too late in the day. Even considered doing the Monument and the Belfast. So sat there for about ten minutes trying to decide what to do. In the end I went to Tower of London.
Went in around 3pm and stayed til closing at 5:30. And probably only saw half of it - and a lot of that was rushed :/ The place generally works pretty well in terms of crowd control - everything has an entrance and an exit so you're not battling through people going the other way. However some of the rooms are quite small so it's still a people battle that I find quite stressful. And that was late in the afternoon when the numbers were dwindling - I'd hate to see the place in the morning!! Anyway the main thing I wanted to see were the crown jewels. Which are spec-fricking-tacular :) The Cullinan I diamond in the sceptre is truly a sight to behold. Would loved to have been able to take photos, but alas not. Did a bit more wandering until closing time.
Tower of London
Traitors' Gate from the outside
Tower of London
Tower of London
Traitors' Gate from the inside
State room
Tower of London
Tower of London
Buildings in the Tower of London
Buildings in the Tower of London
The Crown Jewels are in there!
Model of the Tower of London
Tower of London
The Rack! Part of the torture exhibition
Canons
Tower of London
Obligatory me in front of Tower Bridge shot
Last stop of the day was The Leaky Cauldron!!! This was the first one in Leadenhall Markets. Extremelly squee :):):)
The Leaky Cauldron!
Harry and Hagrid walk here in the Philosopher's Stone
And then back to the hotel to collapse.
Last night of guaranteed internet for who knows how long. So I've been trying to do things that require internet. And not succeeding very well and doing any of it :/
Geotagging - Day 13
Photos on the Canon: 443
Photos on the Sony: 40
Videos on the Sony: 1
Photos on the iPhone: 2
Steps walked: 16056
Pounds Spent: 148.57
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